Brussels, 18/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - After opening in Madrid on 21 January (see EUROPE 10060), the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion was launched in Paris on Thursday 18 February, with a conference, “Faire reculer la pauvreté, c'est faire avancer la société” (“Pushing back poverty takes society forward”). Martin Hirsch, French High Commissioner for Solidarity against Poverty and for Youth, and Benoît Apparu, French Secretary of State for Housing and Town Planning, opened the conference along with European Commissioner for Employment, Social Policy and Inclusion László Andor. National President of the Catholic Aid charity and European Year 2010 Ambassador François Soulage closed the event, which took the form of three round table discussions, focussing on: (1) “Reducing poverty: the challenges of the European Year 2010” - what does Europe want? What can it do? The targets and challenges for this year for Europe, how to go farther together, preparing post-Lisbon, what recommendations could be expected; (2) “Plans for greater social cohesion” - presentation of innovative ways of tackling poverty and social exclusion, involving all stakeholders; (3) “Working together to reach poverty reduction targets”.
The key question for those taking part in the conference was, however, what could be expected of Europe in this issue. In an interview with daily Le Monde of Thursday 18 February, Hirsch said: “The paradox is that citizens expect Europe to protect them against poverty, but they have the feeling that Europe is a threat to them. However, things have started to move, especially under the French Presidency”. He noted that the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, suggests that among the five main objectives of the EU2020 strategy is poverty reduction, with detailed funding. “This would be a radical shift,” Hirsch stated, adding that “the Belgian Presidency, in the second half of this year, also believes in setting a poverty reduction target, with figures attached”. He said, too: “We are sticking by the target of reducing poverty by a third by 2012”.
What is Europe doing? “The European Union is currently working on a new strategy for jobs and growth up to the year 2020,” said Andor. This strategy will have a clear objective, he stated: “to promote a social market economy that is greener, more competitive and more socially inclusive”. As part of this, “I personally believe we need to set concrete poverty reduction targets at EU level. This would send a strong signal about the EU's genuine commitment to achieving visible results in this area, particularly in the context of this European Year,” he added. The Commission is keeping a close eye on what is being done by a number of member states, including France, where work is being carried out under the guidance of Martin Hirsch. “France has always shown a constant involvement in the fight against poverty. Here I warmly welcome your target to reduce poverty by one third in two years. Poverty is not just about material income. It is about lack of opportunities. Access to the labour market is a key factor in fighting poverty and breaking the cycle of exclusion,” he said. That is why there is an urgent need to reduce in-work poverty, to make it easier for young people to join the labour market, to raise the employment rate for the over-50s, and to ensure that workers who are made redundant can find a new job quickly, said the commissioner, concluding that social welfare systems were in need of reform. It was clear, he said, that every country's social protection schemes would be under increasing financial pressure in coming years. (G.B./transl.rt)