Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Poverty in Europe: New Developments – EAPN’s Perspective

Fintan FarrellEAPN Director

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Outline

• Presenting EAPN

• Trends on poverty and inequalities in the EU

• EAPN’s assessment of Europe 2020: NRPs

• EAPN’s perspective on the new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Presenting EAPN

• Independent EU Network of NGOs • Fighting for a social EU free of poverty• Started in 1990 – key actor in Social OMC• Working with and for people in poverty• Financial support from EU (PROGRESS)• 30 National Networks + 18 European Orgs

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Start from Reality• Situation of Humanitarian Crisis in Europe (reality in in many EU Countries for example Bulgaria, Spain, Portugal, Greece…….) – Needs Emergency Response

• Complete failure to respond to the real causes of the crisis: growing inequalities, poor quality jobs, loss of respect for social knowledge, unsustainable forms of capitalism (Hedge Funds - Derivative Trading – Tax Havens) - Needs Structural Response

• Competition rather than cooperation on social policy in Europe Union

• Patent lack of solidarity within the EU (debate on the EU Budget)

• Rise of Racism (Ethnic Groups, Travellers/Roma – Islamaphobia, attack on Migrants) Europe is not immune to violence and rise of fascist groups and parties is a cause for real alarm.

‘swimming against the tsunami’

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Europe 2020: A step forward?

•Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive growth not just growth and jobs…

•Poverty Target (1 of 5): at least 20 million by 2020

•European Platform Against Poverty and Guideline 10

•Participation of govt + stakeholders: Guideline Recital 16

•Reinforced Social OMC with National Social Reports

•2013 Annual Growth Survey Objective 4: Tackling unemployment and the social consequences of the crisis.

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

What progress for poverty reduction in the EU?• Risk of poverty threshold: < 60% median income, material deprivate

indicator (lacking 4 of 9 ‘essential items), jobless households with low work intensity

• 119,6 million at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion in 2011 (EU SILC 2012)

• Almost 4 million increase since 2010

• Shortfall on setting national targets (only 12 million not 20)

• Increasingly divided Europe – N/S and periphery: ≥ 40% BG/RO/LA to ≤ 17% in CZ, NL, SE, LU and AT.

• Increasing inequality – the top/bottom 10%

• New risk groups – youth but also children, older people, single parents, long-term unemployed, homeless, migrants, Roma..

• Working poor – 8.9%, most poor parents work.

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

What ‘s happening to inequality?

• Gap between rich and poor has widened in 2/3 of OECD countries(1980-2000)• Richest 2% have 50% of the world’s wealth, while the poorest half have only 1%• Growth in inequality due to richer households doing better than low and middle-income families (OECD)• In the EU, income inequality (S80/S20 quintile) grew from 4.9 to 5.1 in EU27 between 2009-11• “You can’t speak about poverty and remain silent about wealth”

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Assessment of Europe 2020

• Reality is that at least since (2007) there has been little or no distinct national stakeholder process associated to the EU Inclusion Strategy/Europe 2020 in almost all Countries

• Confusion re EU Inclusion Strategy: Social OMC, PaP, SIP and how they relate to each other and to the Europe 2020 Strategy. Loss of Rights based approach (Social Open Method of Coordination has become the closed method for mutual learning)

• Europe 2020 totally over run by austerity and economic governance. Not influencing political choices but positive in shaping some second level approaches particularly at EU level (Structural Funds – Research Agenda – Cooperation across DGs…)

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

What way forward?

1.Social Pact: balance economic + social governance + obj

2. Urgent delivery on viable poverty target: restrict austerity + integrated, multidimensional anti-poverty strategies adequately backed by EU Funds ( especially Structural Funds)

3. Social Investment Package to support Inclusive Growth (quality social protection, jobs and services with tax justice)

4. Social Standards: concrete EU action on social rights – EU unemployment and minimum income system, SGIs?

5. Europe 2020 as a democratic, participative social process!

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

EAPN Perspective on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAMD)

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

EAPN welcomes

• The continuation of the Food Aid component in the FEAMD as a way to address the basic needs of a growing number of people in the EU

•The new possibility given to Member States to deal with severe types of material deprivation (homeless and child poverty)

• The complementarity with the ESF with social re-integration measures for the most excluded: first step to accessing rights and empowerment/participation

• A strong partnership principle with NGO involvement

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Key concerns

• A limited budget under threat:

- EC proposal already not sufficient to address the growing needs

- 20% cut proposed by the EU Cypriot Presidency (and maybe more)

• A budget carved out from the ESF: a risk to reduce funding for socially integrated projects

• The delivery on the poverty reduction target through Structural Funds can’t be limited to the FEAMD : ESF leading role on it should be defended

• A missed opportunity to address the issue of access to quality food?

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

Recommendations

• Integrated anti-poverty strategy at EU level with adequate funding : defend a strong ESF (i.e the « minimum shares ») and a separate budget for FEAMD

• Back the 2,5 € Billion proposed by the Commission for FEAMD

• FEAMD as an entry point to engage the most excluded in integrated pathways to social inclusion and participation

• FEAMD to promote access to quality food (including through local/short supply chain systems)

•NGOs to be deeply involved at all stages of the OP process with technical assistance and capacity-building made available as well as transnational partnerships.

Right and Access to Food: What Food Aid Strategy for the Europe of Tomorrow? 18 Dec 2012

For More Information

Contact

Fintan Farrell, EAPN Director

Fintan.farrell@eapn.eu or phone: 0032 22265850

EAPN: Square de Meeus 18, 1050 Brussels

www.eapn.eu