EAPN press release
Member
States must support investment in a strong European Social Fund (ESF) if they
are serious about Poverty Target
Brussels, 21
June 2012 – Today, 18 social NGOs have sent a joint letter to Prime Ministers
ahead of their General Affairs Council meeting on 26th June, urging
them to back the European Commission’s proposal on the Cohesion policy budget
and on the European Social Fund (ESF) for social inclusion and fighting
poverty. This proposal is vital as nearly 1 in 4 persons are already
experiencing poverty and social exclusion in the EU, a situation that demands
urgent social investment. Still, a vast majority of Prime Ministers are ready
to reject this proposal, jeopardising any potential delivery on the Europe 2020
poverty reduction target and, more widely, any kind of recovery, and giving
signs of indifference to the - more and more numerous – people living in
poverty and social exclusion.
The European
Commission made a proposal in October 2011 to allocate 25% of the Cohesion
policy budget to the European Social Fund (ESF) and to earmark at least 20% of
the ESF for social inclusion and fighting poverty.
“Rejecting the
European Commission’s proposal is unacceptable considering the current poverty
and inequality rates in the EU and how fast they increase every day”, said Fintan Farrell, Director of EAPN. “This
proposal is key to ensuring social investment that could support the
implementation of the Active Inclusion Recommendation and the commitments made
in the Europe 2020 flagship initiative ‘Platform against Poverty’”, he
added.
On 15th
May, a coalition of 18 NGOs launched their campaign and petition EU
Money for Poverty Reduction NOW!, calling on Member States to back the
European Commission’s proposal and secure:
- The
allocation of at least 25% of the Cohesion Policy budget to the European
Social Fund (ESF);
- The
earmarking of at least 20% of the ESF to social inclusion and poverty
reduction.
Alongside
initiatives at EU and national levels carried out by the NGOs involved, this
campaign aims at gathering as much support as possible through the petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/EU_Money_for_Poverty_Reduction_NOW_1/
The campaign will
run till the end of this year, when Member States adopt the Multi-annual
Financial Framework and Cohesion Policy budget for the next 7-year cycle
(2014-2020), including the ESF’s budget.
/END/
Useful information: Read
the social
NGOs joint letter to Prime Ministers.
The campaign EU
Money for Poverty Reduction NOW! is coordinated by the European
Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) together with its members the European Federation
of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), Caritas Europa,
the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), Eurochild, Eurodiaconia, AGE
Platform, Salvation Army, Mental Health Social Exclusion Europa (SMES
Europa), as well as the Platform of European Social NGOs (Social Platform),
Solidar, the European Women's Lobby, the European Disability Forum (EDF), the
European association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities
(EASPD), the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) Europe, Mental
Health Europe, Workability Europe and the International Federation of
Social Workers (IFSW) Europe.
For
more information on this press release and on the campaign, see EAPN’s
website: www.eapn.eu and contact:
Vincent Caron, EAPN Policy Officer vincent.caron@eapn.eu
or Fintan Farrell, Director of EAPN fintan.farrell@eapn.eu.
