RIGHTS-EU: New Push to Combat Social Exclusion

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Stefania Bianchi

BRUSSELS, Dec 17 2003 (IPS) - Tackling poverty and social exclusion within the European Union must be made a priority, says a report released by the European Commission Wednesday.

The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the European Union (EU), calls on the 15 member states in its draft Joint Report on Social Exclusion to keep up the momentum in tackling social issues related to poverty.

The number of EU citizens at risk of poverty has dropped over recent years, but there are still more than 55 million people at risk, the report says.

That includes one in five children. One in ten children lives in a jobless household.

The report reviews progress in implementing the Open Method of Coordination for social inclusion where member states have coordinated their national policies to achieve objectives.

The results show that the EU population at risk of poverty fell from 17 percent in 1995 to 15 percent in 2001. But the Commission says much more needs to be done to eradicate poverty.

“Member states must keep up the momentum and ensure that those most at risk do not suffer disproportionately from the slowdown in economic growth or budgetary adjustments,” Anna Diamantopoulou, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs said in a statement Wednesday.

“It is vital that member states ensure a consistent link between their inclusion strategies and their economic and employment policies so that they are mutually reinforcing,” she said.

The Commission recommends several priorities over the next two to three years.

These include a drive to reduce poverty and social exclusion of immigrants and ethnic minorities, promoting investment in the labour market to meet the needs of those with the greatest difficulties in accessing employment, and increasing access to decent housing, quality healthcare and lifelong learning opportunities.

The Commission is also urging member states to focus on ending child poverty.

The report says young people leaving school without the skills to cope with a global knowledge society are a particular risk category. Such youngsters now account for 18.5 percent of the 18-24 age group. This average is down from 20.6 percent in 1997, but the figure is at least one in four in Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Despite the new push, it would be “unrealistic” to set a common goal for 2010, Armindo Silva from the Employment and Social Affairs in the Commission said while presenting the report. “We have to assess each country individually and on its own merit.”

Silva added that enlargement of the EU next year will bring its own problems. “With enlargement, the Union will have to face new and comparatively greater challenges in social inclusion,” he said.

The report shows that the risk varies widely across the EU, ranging from 10 percent of the people in Sweden to 21 percent in Ireland. The report shows that the risk is higher for the unemployed, single parents, older people living alone and families with many children.

Belgium, Germany, Portugal and the United Kingdom succeeded in reducing the risk of poverty by at least 3 percent between 1995 and 2001. The report noted that countries which invest more in social protection, such as the Nordic countries, Luxembourg, Austria, Netherlands and Germany have lower levels of poverty and social exclusion.

The social inclusion process was launched in Lisbon in March 2000. Members of the European Council agreed then that the number of people living below the poverty line and in social exclusion was unacceptable.

The Council encouraged efforts to improve skills, promote wider access to knowledge and opportunity, and to fight unemployment: the best safeguard against social exclusion is a job.

The report Wednesday will form the basis of a joint Council/Commission report on social inclusion to be presented to the European Council early next year.