Representatives of the estimated 72 million Europeans living in poverty will today have their say in Brussels on how to tackle social exclusion in the EU at a major event organised by the German Presidency and the European Commission. The sixth annual 'European meeting of people experiencing poverty' will assess results achieved so far and help develop strategies for the future.
Vladimír Špidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, said: “The Commission will continue to support the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Our goal must be to eradicate poverty in Europe. But we must not forget, that whenever we talk about targets and percentages we are in fact not talking about figures, we are talking about people and their potential and talents."
The Commission will provide considerable funding to promote an inclusive society and allow progress to be achieved above all in the framework of the European Social Fund (ESF) and the EU's new PROGRESS programme.
16% of Europeans live under the poverty threshold (defined as 60% of their country's median income) and 10% live in jobless households. Across the EU, 19% of children are at risk of poverty. Having a job does not always protect people from the risk-of-poverty: 8% of Europeans in employment (aged 18 and over) live under the poverty threshold.
Today's (4.05.2007) meeting will be attended by over 200 people, including delegations of people experiencing poverty from 25 countries together with representatives of national governments, EU institutions and European NGOs.
(Commission Européeenne>Employ, Affaires sociales)