Nearly 1 in 4 persons is in or at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion.

Member States all committed to fighting poverty and social exclusion when they agreed the European Target on poverty reduction, i.e. lifting out 20 million people out of poverty by 2020.

The story differs when it comes to action, despite the situation of emergency.

EU Members States fail to respect their commitments in the fight against poverty

In Oct 2011, The European Commission made a sensible proposal to allocate 25% of the Cohesion Policy budget to the European Social Fund and 20% of the ESF to social inclusion and poverty reduction, welcomed by all social NGOs. At their June 2012 General Affairs Council meeting, the vast majority of Member States rejected it. They will give their final vote at their next Council meeting next November, sealing a 7-year programming period!

We witness that while banks and financial institutions gets billions in loans and investments, nice words and targets seem all that is on offer to people in or at risk of poverty: 1 in 4 of us all, children included.

Austerity measures are investing in poverty, inequalities and darker days for future generations. This is not acceptable from elected representatives.

We say NO and we want to be heard. We must increase the pressure on political leaders so they respect their commitments, and our votes!

ESF role is key in the fight against poverty and social inclusion

The ESF is a key EU Fund for investing in people rather than just investing in infrastructure. The ESF has been essential for ensuring educational, training and work opportunities, for people who have for one reason or another missed out on formal education opportunities and found themselves at great disadvantage in finding decent work.

In time of economic crisis and austerity measures taken by Member States, the role of the ESF is all the more crucial

For the programming period (2007-2013), 13,2% of ESF is allocated to social inclusion measures.

Considering Member States have agreed to lift out 20 million people out of poverty by 2020 and given the consequences of the financial, economic and social crisis at stake, the ESF allocation needs to be higher, as proposed by the European Commission.

For more detailed information, see campaign’s website:

http://www.eapn.eu/en/what-we-do/our-campaigns/eu-money-for-poverty-reduction-now