EAPN: Serious failure of Europe's 2020 Strategy
Europe
2020’s poverty target will not be met with current approach!
EAPN’s analysis highlights serious
failure of Europe 2020’s Strategy to promote coherent anti-poverty strategies,
undermined by economic governance
Brussels, 16
July 2012 - As the internal EU debates about new priorities for Europe 2020 in
the Annual Growth Survey 2013 commence, EAPN has published its Analysis of the
2012 National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and National Social Reports (NSRs): An
EU worth defending: beyond austerity to social investment and inclusive growth.
The report assesses the contribution of all areas in the NRPs and NSRs to
effective policies for poverty reduction: macroeconomic, employment and social
inclusion policies, Structural Funds and participation of stakeholders. The
overwhelming verdict is a ‘fail’, in all fields.
Despite the promises
of the Commission’s Annual Growth Survey priority 4 – to tackle unemployment
and the social consequences of the crisis -, poverty has increased by 2
million since 2010, and the analysis of the NRPs demonstrates how macroeconomic
focus on austerity, driven by economic governance, is directly undermining
benefits and public services. Whilst poverty is mainly invisible in the
reports, the main strategy offered is a job at any price, hardening
activation, when there are few jobs to go and excluded groups are the last to
access them. Investment in integrated, person-focussed strategies which
promote active inclusion and provide access to rights, resources and services
are largely absent, nor EU Structural Funds being used to promote them.
“The NRPs’
assessment shows that the European Union doesn’t care about poverty reduction.
Its priority is deficit reduction through austerity which, particularly in
Troika countries, is an explicit attack on welfare States. The “growth and
jobs” rhetoric makes no difference for people who are currently bearing the
brunt of the crisis – single parents, working poor, disabled, migrants, Roma,
the homeless as well as youth and children, said Sergio Aires, President of
EAPN.
“All the
important work in developing effective anti-poverty strategies through the
Social OMC, now just seems forgotten. It more and more seems a deliberate
decision to force people into poverty jobs and/or into destitution. It’s hard
to see why people should defend an EU that offers a steady slide to more poverty,
exclusion and inequality for the majority”, EAPN’s President added.
The democratic
deficit is another major finding, with only 12 national networks having
low-quality engagement in the NRPs, and minimal involvement of national
parliaments, despite a specific partnership principle (Recital 16 in the
Integrated Guidelines) and guidelines from the Commission.
“The only hope
that Europe 2020 has of making progress on poverty and social objectives is if
it actively engages concerned stakeholders and parliaments at the national
level. We are the best guarantee of a Social Europe. But the reality of
stakeholder engagement at the moment is little-more than lip-service, which
EAPN members are increasingly unwilling to be a part of”, declared Fintan
Farrell, Director of EAPN.
1.
Back Social Europe and restore balance between economic and
social objectives.
2.
Re-focus on the poverty target through integrated
strategies, prevent austerity from increasing poverty
3.
Launch a Social Investment Package to support Inclusive
Growth
4.
Make Structural Funds a key instrument to deliver on poverty
reduction
5.
Re-launch Europe 2020 as a democratic, participative social
as well as economic process
6.
Seize the opportunity of the NSRs to launch a dynamic
poverty strategy and process
See: - EAPN Report: An
EU worth defending – beyond austerity to social investment and inclusive
growth: EAPN analysis of the 2012 National Reform Programmes (NRPs) and
National Social Reports (NSRs).
- See coming up EAPN’s
Conference: Is the Europe 2020 delivering on Poverty? – 28th
September 2012, Brussels
