Still distant objectives” “

17% of the European population is living below the poverty threshold (for the 14 EU member states see the following page) and the European governments do not seem to have any great political will to achieve the objectives fixed at Lisbon in 2000, in other words, to eradicate poverty by 2010. That’s the conclusion of Simon Wilson , director of the European Platform of social NGOs, an umbrella organization founded in 1995 with its headquarters in Brussels. It represents at the political level, in relations with the European institutions, hundreds of Catholic and lay organizations, associations and other volunteer services that work in the social sphere (in the fields of the disabled, racism, work, youth, women, etc.). To review the social situation at the European level and formulate new proposals, the Platform has organized a Conference on social policies in Europe due to open in Rome on 7 November, in the context of the Italian Presidency of the EU. We interviewed Wilson. Has any progress been made in reducing poverty in Europe?“No great progress has been made. 17% of the European population is still living below the poverty threshold. So the first question is to create an alliance between all the representatives of civil society to conduct an action at the European level and at the level of the individual countries. At this time the necessary means to effectively combat poverty don’t exist, especially in the countries of Eastern Europe that are really in difficulty”. Yet in 2000, during the Lisbon Council, the European governments made specific pledges on poverty reduction… “Yes, a strategy to eradicate poverty by 2010 was adopted in 2000. The objective, in effect, is ambitious, but since then the situation of the nations has changed. It’s said that the same priorities as then, or the same determination to tackle the social questions, no longer exist today. This is also because, at the economic level, there’s a less positive situation now than there was in 2000. The result is that situations of marked injustice and social discrimination remain within Europe” Does a European civil society already exist? “Most of the NGOs are well informed on social questions, on the objectives to be reached at the European level and on the means to persuade the governments to pursue the necessary processes and achieve the objectives set out in Lisbon”. What will change with enlargement? Are the countries of Eastern Europe ready to tackle social questions with a European approach? “It’s a process that is being realised very slowly. We bring together European networks that represent NGOs working in the same spheres. In some countries of Eastern Europe there’s a well-organized civil society, in others there’s not the same tradition in the social field. At our conference we’ll also discuss how European policy will change in this sense, with the difficulty of taking on board the aspirations of the social NGOs in these countries. It will be a big challenge”. What’s the aim of your conference in Rome? “It will serve to prepare the national and European NGOs and update them on what the objectives proposed by the Italian Presidency of the EU are in terms of social policies. Our intention is to examine what progress has been made by the Italian Presidency, and to review the challenges that await the NGOs that deal with social problems in Europe and campaign against poverty and exclusion. We need the support of the Italian government to support the process that leads to a European Constitution founded on fundamental values and rights. We want a Constitution that is focused not so much on the economic, as on the social and environmental questions”.   CLIC HERE FOR TABLE ABOUT  “Social policies in the 15 EU member states”