EU fight against poverty and social exclusion

SUMMARY OF:

European platform against poverty and social exclusion — COM(2010) 758 final

SUMMARY

WHAT DOES THIS COMMUNICATION DO?

It establishes the European platform against poverty and social exclusion, one of the key initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It sets out how different policies and specific actions can contribute to the target of lifting at least 20 million people out of poverty and social exclusion by 2020.

KEY POINTS

Objectives

The Platform is designed to create a partnership between different groupings in society including national governments, EU institutions, regional and local authorities, NGOs and persons who are themselves in poverty.

Their partnership is aimed at developing EU-wide approaches in all areas relating to social inclusion, particularly:

• access to employment, by assessing national inclusion strategies and European strategy to develop jobs and workers’ skills
• access to basic services and social protection, particularly in the context of ageing populations and the increase in social exclusion
• education and youth, to reduce early school leaving and inequalities in education
• economic and social integration of migrants, through a new European strategy
• tackling discrimination, especially against minorities, persons with disabilities and the homeless, but also improving financial independence and gender equality.
• access to information and communication technologies, network services, as well as financial (basic banking) and energy services (lighting and heating).

5 areas of action:

• 1.

  Action to fight poverty across all policies areas but particularly the labour market, minimum income support, healthcare, education and housing.

• 2.

  Better use of EU funds, including Structural Funds, to support social inclusion.

• 3.

  Extensive testing and assessment of what does and does not work in social policy innovations (methods and instruments used to address social issues) before implementing them more widely.

• 4.

  Working in partnership with NGOs and interest groups to support more effectively the implementation of social policy reforms.

• 5.

  Improving policy coordination among EU countries through the use of the open method of coordination for social protection and social inclusion (Social OMC) and the Social Protection Committee in particular.

Key action

All EU countries have established national targets and policies for growth with the Europe 2020 strategy targets in mind. The Commission monitors these reforms through a yearly cycle of economic policy coordination called the European Semester. It then provides recommendations for the next 12-18 months.

Progress in the 5 areas of action is recorded on scoreboards. As of July 2013, 23 of 64 Commission initiatives had been completed. These include:

• a Commission recommendation to EU countries on simplifying banking services and
• a Council recommendation on policies to combat early school leaving.

Ongoing action includes launching a European innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing and ensuring that the objectives of poverty reduction and social inclusion are maintained in Horizon 2020, the 2014-2020 research and innovation framework programme.

BACKGROUND

European platform against poverty and social exclusion.

ACT

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – The European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion: A European framework for social and territorial cohesion (COM(2010) 758 final of 16.12.2010)

last update 15.10.2015