An international conference and a Council of Ministers will tackle, on October 15th and 16th in Marseille, the problem of poverty in the EU. Two dates that have been set for months, which even the promoters say are becoming even more important because of the current instability of the financial markets, that promises to have direct repercussions on the families’ incomes and savings. Just before the seventh "European workshop on poverty and social exclusion", the current presidency of the EU recalls that "16% of the European population live below the poverty risk threshold". In this scenario, the meeting in the French city "aims at convening all the players and try to find effective answers to fight against" the different forms of poverty and social exclusion. The conference will be chaired by Martin Hirsch, French High Commissioner for solidarity, and will be focussed on the "strategy for the active inclusion of the people who are most distant from the employment market". Such strategy rests on three "pillars": a guaranteed adequate minimum income, policies that promote inclusion on the employment market, and accessible, high-quality social services". (continued)” “
