EU Stakeholders Expert Group and the European Commission taskforce got together at a meeting held on June 21st in Brussels, to give input and updates on the activities carried out under the EY 2010 to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion. The Belgian presidency, the future governance of the OMC, the reduction of the poverty target and the new calls for proposals, were among the key themes of discussion.
Ms Antonia Carparelli opened the meeting identifying the two main lessons being learned from the EY 2010; ´there is a need to share costs of the crisis in an equitable manner, and combating poverty and social exclusion is not a cost, but rather an investment for the future.' It was made clear that the situation at the moment reflects that there is an important media monitoring taking place, with very few negative articles. Also the poverty reduction target adopted in June is based on an aggregate of three indicators (at risk of poverty, material deprivation and jobless households) and 120 million people fall under such aggregate.
For this reason, a series of activities are yet to take place under the European Year's motive, and stakeholders were therefore invited to take part in the soon to come Riga Solidarity Days (28-29 October) and the Participatory Forum in Brussels (19-20 October). Jan Van der Velden took this opportunity to introduce the activities of the European Parliament which hosted the European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty in June. MEPs will exchange views on the EY2010 during the October plenary in Strasbourg, possibly leading to a resolution. In addition to this, the European Parliament has agreed to hold an agora linked to the EY2010 and EU2020. The exact dates have not been set but it is certain that the organisations involved in the EY2010 will be invited.
The European Economic and Social Committee have also been carrying out activities under the European Year, such as the biennale conference on Education as a tool to prevent and tackle poverty, organised in May. In addition to this, it has also issued a declaration to the Council of Ministries. Maureen O'Nell and Nicole Prud'homme stressed that the EESC has yet other events to come such as the popular university with ATD Fourth World on 8 November and a conference, organised jointly with EAPN and other NGOs on 22 November, to jointly assess the impact of this European Year. Overall EESC has proven to be very active under the EY2010, not only through the activities planned, but also by setting a standing group on this matter. It has also issued many opinions and is currently preparing explanatory opinions on the OMC and Child Poverty.
The Committee of the Regions, EAPN, the EY2010 NGO Coalition, Eurocities and ESAN are not far behind on this matter either. They too, have been working under the European Year umbrella to combat poverty and social exclusion. For instance, the Committee of the Regions organised a Forum on June 8 to highlight a total of 24 projects carried out at regional and local levels actively involving members of the CoR. Sessions and debates were held on local services, on preparing people for integration into the labour market, and on inclusive citizenship on rural and urban areas. In addition to this, the EAPN and EY2010 NGO Coalition have been working on flashmobs, TV programmes, TV clips, and on organising meetings of people experiencing poverty, especially during the National Focus Weeks. The human ring organised by the coalition is likely to coincide with the European Parliament's agora on Poverty and the Crisis. Eurocities, on the other hand has held three thematic seminars in which they have highlighted the need to act in an integrated way (partnerships and different government levels) and the need to take universal approaches with variable intensity of interventions. Last but not least, ESAN has been supporting through the Secours Populaire français a holiday for 3000 children in need from across Europe to France.
Altogether, stakeholders proved to be actively involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion under the European Year 2010 and Elise Williame took this opportunity to present the Belgian presidency's plans regarding the European Year Final Declaration. Its aim will be to highlight the endorsement of the European Year's political outcomes, building on the framework provided by the June Council agreement and the European Platform against Poverty. The creativity and involvement under the EY2010 must remain unforgotten in the text of such declaration, and citizen's involvement together with their claims to achieve a more inclusive society should also be present. The text should be agreed by the EPSCO Council in October and endorsed by the European Council in December.
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