Brussels, 02/05/2000 (Agence Europe) - "A door opens. The International Movement ATD Fourth World called for a strategy against poverty and social exclusion based on guidelines, national plans, qualitative and quantitative indicators and an annual evaluation. This request has been accepted. We believe that the EU is thus equipping itself with a good working method, already tried out for employment." This is what "Fourth World Information" asserts when commenting on the results of the Lisbon Summit on the 23 and 24 March in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. Very few newspapers looked at what is, in the Council conclusions, concerning these themes, asserts Fourth World, who, on the other hand, underlines that a "sub-section" of its conclusions, titled "Promotion social inclusion." The sub-section asserts, in particular, that it is necessary for the EU Council to adopt, by the end of the year, objectives in view of the "eradication of poverty."
Fourth World recalls with regard to the above that, before the Lisbon Summit, Portugal proposed ambitious statistical objectives" (such as the eradication of child poverty by 2010) and that the European Commission proposed to reduce from 18 to 10% by 2010 the number of people living below the poverty line, but that, in Lisbon, there was no agreement, and the definition of objectives was deferred until the end of the year. "What is our view on this question?", asks Fourth World. Its answer is that "setting purely statistical objectives can only serve to create a new gap between the poor and the poorest" and that, "during this year, we will have to argue that case for Qualitative objectives to be chosen in relation to genuine universal access to fundamental rights, the implementation of consistent and global policies, and partnerships with the most excluded." In noting that the Commission must present a action programme by next June and notably make proposals for the "guidelines that will support the open method of coordination" launched in Lisbon, Fourth World asserts that all this must be done "in close cooperation with the relevant NGOs." While admitting that "we would have liked to see economic and social policies also made to contribute to the eradication of poverty," Fourth World underlines that "words are important" and that this summit "went as far as to speak of eradication of poverty," without settling for "the vague notion of social exclusion."