The time of responsibility

Patrick De Bucquois, social policies consultant of Caritas Europe, urged the European Commission to “take on its responsibilities” regarding the financial crisis in order to “avert the risk of economic nationalist approaches and a worsening of the present situation”. The statement was conveyed to SIR during the pilot-conference “Together against poverty and social exclusion” that was held in Charleroi, Belgium, on October 24-25 on the initiative of Caritas Europe. The topic of the financial crisis was brought up on the side. What are the causes? “We have come to realize that we mustn’t simply focus on the crisis’ impact on the poor, rather, we should investigate the causes, that are the same of poverty”, said Mr. De Bucquois. Indeed, these causes consist in “the ever-increasing divide between high-income workers and the rest of the population, that is unable to keep pace with price increase and fulfill basic necessities”. A number of financial experts, he explained, “have identified increased income inequalities as one of the causes. People with high revenues, who gamble in the economic casino, expose society to serious risks, thus affecting the entire community”. A European regulation. In practical terms, De Bucquois pointed out, the after-effect will be “higher unemployment rate, with repercussions on poverty status throughout European countries, since the problem involves public spending. Government bailout involves serious risks. However, “banking establishments aren’t national but European, thus European solutions should be found”. According to Mr. De Bucquois, who specified that he is personally speaking, “government intervention in the banking sector was crucial”, but now “we are looking forward to developments”. “It is necessary to continue developing European and international regulations regarding the financial sector, to the benefit of a European social policy”. A number of experts “agree that Europe made a mistake in pursuing the objective of greater growth according to the American model, that proved disastrous. On the contrary, investments should be made in sustainable developments and social protection”. As relates to the pilot-conference that took place in Charleroi, attended by some 60 people from Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Czech Republic and Poland, De Bucquois said that “it gave people living in situations of poverty the possibility to meet with volunteer workers along with the leadership of different Caritas and solidarity agencies. The poor were given priority over the word”. Urgent social issues. The areas addressed in the course of the meeting include a number of projects developed by ex-detainees. “To them, material aspects such as a house and a job are important, however they equally conveyed the need to recreate a network of relations and of interests such as arts and music”. According to Mr. De Bucquois, two strong messages have emerged from the conference: “There are those who believe that Europe is not poor, but poverty truly exists; the poor don’t only complain about the lack of financial resources. The yearn to be identified as individuals and count on a network of friendships”. Some of the most urgent social issues at European level include the problem of housing (“throughout Europe, perhaps more in France than elsewhere”) and the relative price increase. In Germany, for example, prices increased from 12 to 20% while minimum wages stayed the same. In Europe 14-15% of the overall population lives beneath the threshold of poverty representing 70/75 million people (out of some 500 million) who are “at poverty risk”. However, concrete figures are certainly higher, since those who don’t have a legal status don’t figure in official data. Fact fileCaritas Europa is one of the seven regions of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development and social service organisations working to build a better world, especially for the poor and oppressed, in over 200 countries and territories.Caritas Europa was created in 1971 and brings together 48 organisations that are working in 44 European countries. Caritas Europa focuses its activities on issues related to poverty and social inequality, and issues of migration and asylum, both within the European Union and in all other European countries. The organisation is strongly involved in supporting the activities of its members in the fields of international cooperation: Humanitarian aid, Development and peace. With regard to the areas of work named above, Caritas Europa and its members develop and implement policies related to political advocacy and lobbying at a European level as well as at national levels.The Secretariat in Brussels co-ordinates the institutional support to the member organisations.