A European campaign for "everyone to have access to a dignified life" through an "adequate minimum income", a system that is currently applied in 24 of the 27 member states (except Italy, Hungary and Greece): it was launched yesterday in Brussels by Eapn, the European network of associations engaged in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The minimum income, explains Ludo Horeman, president of Eapn, "does not exist in all European countries, and access to it is not guaranteed to everyone even in those countries where this system does exist. Some groups are not entitled to such income because of their age, professional status or because they are migrants". Even if "poverty does not depend only on the lack of money he specifies , having enough money is a prerequisite to have a dignified life". The complexity of the system to apply for such financial support "prevents people asserting their rights highlights Horeman -. In addition, the money that is handed out is not enough to enable these people to get out of poverty. Such amounts do not consider the rise in the cost of living or the rise in the prices of services and utilities: rents or electricity, for instance". (continued)
