Combating poverty” “” “

On the occasion of the fifth international day against poverty promoted by the UNO on 17 October, the Employment and Social Affairs Commission of the EP and the Belgian Presidency of the Union held a special meeting attended by representatives of the institutions and NGOs in the sector and experts. Michel Rocard, chairman of the commission, emphasized the fact that some “60/65 million Europeans living below the poverty threshold oblige the EU to conduct a careful evaluation of the current situation, avoiding manifestos and continuing along the path traced by the Lisbon Process aimed at equipping member States with a joint strategy in the campaign against poverty”. In view of the current world phase of a slowdown in economic recovery and the shock following the attacks of 11 September, Rocard affirmed that “if it is true that the European social model constitutes a productive factor for the EU, it is equally true that the time has now come for a social Europe based on quantified and realistic objectives, on effective methods of coordination between member States and on adequate instruments and resources”. Alongside the need to incorporate measures for social integration in all Community policies, Rocard urged the definition of common indicators of poverty which would permit a better understanding of the various aspects of the phenomenon, the compatibility between national statistical systems, which are still too heterogeneous, the involvement in the strategy of all the players concerned, and the reinforcement of the role of the EU, in particular that of the European Parliament. Anna Diamantopoulou, European Commissioner for employment and social affairs, called for an analysis not only of “what is being done in Europe, but also of poverty as a global phenomenon”. If in Europe it is possible to speak of “relative poverty”, elsewhere poverty is “absolute”. “In the world – added the Commissioner – over ten million children die each year of diseases that are perfectly curable. The alliance against terrorism ought to be extended to other issues and also deal with social exclusion and poverty that are in part the cause of terrorism itself”. The purpose of Europe, she added, consists in sharing the benefits of globalization with the whole world. As far as the European situation is concerned, the 60 million and more poor people in the EU should be considered a “social failure” that urgently needs to be combated. In the Commissioner’s view, we need “to ensure that the new generations be not too paralyzed by unfavourable social conditions, at the risk of making it impossible for equal opportunities to exist”. This is the objective of the joint Report on social inclusion recently adopted by the Executive: the Report is especially aimed at harmonizing the national Plans, ensuring that solidarity is shared between State and Society, reinforcing the systems of social protection and boosting access to education (cf. SirEurope no. 3/2001 page 11) In the view of Marie-Françoise Wilkinson, head of EAPN (European network of anti-poverty and social exclusion associations), “the problem consists in the fact that we know what the right approaches are: namely, multidisciplinarity, integration of anti-poverty strategy in EU policies, open dialogue with the involvement of all the players; we know what we must do, but fail to do it”. The problem is one of resources: “we need to give more resources to social policies and achieve an indissoluble link with the economic policies”. EAPN also believes that only the participation of the associations, of the NGOs and of those directly concerned in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of anti-poverty measures may help the responsible political authorities. Marie-Françoise Wilkinson also expressed her concern about the fact that the national Plans make little or no reference to the synergies between the various internal levels of power for the conception and management of measures against social exclusion. G.A.G.