Brussels, 24/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - In an open letter to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and to the Heads of State and Government, who are meeting for their Summit this Thursday 25 and Friday 26 March, the director-general of the International Movement ATD Fourth World, Eugen Brand, calls on the EU to adopt a scoreboard to monitor the fight against poverty and social inclusion. This scoreboard should be subject to annual assessment by the European Parliament and Council and published every year on 17 October, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. As regards the monetary indicator setting the monetary poverty threshold at 60% of median income, the Movement also calls for the number of people at the 50% and 40% of medium income levels to be monitored. Lastly, ATD Fourth World calls on the EU to establish a partnership with people living in situations of poverty and the civil society organisations where they choose to speak freely.
Meanwhile, the director of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), Fintan Farrell, declared: "For EAPN, the specific objectives for relative poverty proposed by the Commission bear witness to the Union's commitment to a strategy which can create a Europe which is better for everyone ". "If the targeted objective on poverty is rejected, this will be a severe blow to the credibility of the Union and send a signal that the EU is not ready to respond to the call of the citizens for a more social Europe", he added. The main targeted objective proposed by the Commission is to be accompanied by a series of national targeted objectives, decided upon jointly by the Member States and the Commission, on the basis of a rigorous assessment of the social and economic reality of each country, and on commitments already made in a number of sectors, such as active inclusion, child poverty and homelessness. Action plans clearly detailing the political priorities to feed into the achievement of these objectives are also required. Fintan Farrell goes on to note that "in order for these commitments to be properly followed up, we must reinforce the open method of coordination on social protection and inclusion, by creating dynamic partnerships involving civil society at European, national, regional and local levels". (G.B./trans.fl)