Brussels, 10/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - Seizing the opportunity offered by their participation in the debate on social inclusion, on Friday at the informal Social Affairs Council in Lisbon, the Platform of European Social NGOs and the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) will be calling on the Council to: 1) adopt a common strategy to combat poverty and social exclusion, supported by an action and legislative programme based on Article 137 of the Amsterdam Treaty; 2) give the Commission a mandate to draw up proposals for implementing Article 137 in time for an initial debate at the Social Affairs Council on 6 June next.
EAPN also wants the special European Council (like the Employment Summit in Luwembourg) officially to launch the process of combating social exclusion.