SIR EUROPA: POVERTY, CAMPAIGN FOR "A DIGNIFIED LIFE" THROUGH AN "ADEQUATE MINIMUM INCOME" (2)

The poster of the campaign shows gigantic shelves overflowing with goods and a Lilliputian figure of a woman with a shopping trolley. The slogan is: "Not everyone has access to a dignified life". Materials in French and English can be downloaded from the Eapn website (www.eapn.org): posters, leaflets, postcards, information sheets and letters to be sent to government and EU leaders. Eapn calls all the member states "to admit that an adequate minimum income is an essential part of the welfare system". And they ask them to "take part in a proactive way in the consultation of the European Commission on active inclusion, which is under way (since 17th October 2007) until February 2008. The draft of the letter to the heads of state mentions that "nowadays in the European Union over 748 million people are in a state of poverty and social exclusion: this is unacceptable". "We believe – it reads – that an adequate minimum income is an effective way to prevent poverty, which helps people when they have to face the problems of life". This system, "implemented with accessible quality services and a customised support for access to the employment market", can "offer a sustainable social inclusion to the outcasts".