The hopes of the poor

“80 million poor people in Europe are waiting for the promises of the EU in Lisbon 2000 to be kept and a social Europe for everyone to be realized”: on the occasion of the recent International anti-Poverty Day, the Austrian Armutkonferenz (Conference for Poverty) has sent an open letter to Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer and the Minister for the Economy Martin Bartenstein, urging them to take the necessary measures to reduce poverty. At a press conference held in Vienna in recent days, Michaela Moser and Martin Schenk of the Armutkonferenz spelt out what needs to be done “to lay the foundations for a social Europe”, expressly hoping that the social objectives would be integrated in the Directives for growth and employment in the EU. “A higher political priority needs to be devoted to the fight against poverty not only at the EU level but also at the national and regional level”, involving “all protagonists, such as networks of anti-poverty associations, social organizations and other interested bodies”. Michaela Moser, vice-president of the EAPN (European Anti-Poverty Network), lamented the failure to realize the significant contribution to the reduction of poverty pledged by the heads of state and of government at Lisbon in 2000. For his part, Martin Schenk, social expert of the Protestant humanitarian organization Diakonie, emphasized that “the provisions to slash welfare costs are not only short-sighted but also unproductive”. For, he said, “sustainable systems of social security make an essential contribution to prosperity and well-being, as demonstrated by the experience of some EU countries”.