European Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu said in an interview with Euronews on Wednesday that she is committed to eliminating poverty in the EU within 25 years.
Her comments followed the Commission’s presentation of its first-ever anti-poverty strategy, which aims to eradicate extreme poverty and social exclusion by 2050 through non-binding recommendations and best practice guidelines for member states.
The strategy comes amid alarming statistics: around 92,7 million people are today at risk of poverty or social exclusion in the 27 EU countries, almost one out of five Europeans.
Mînzatu acknowledged that the strategy’s objective is highly ambitious, noting that the EU remains far from meeting its 2030 target of lifting at least 15 million people out of poverty. “We have only managed to help around 3.7 million Europeans,” she said.
The energy crisis due to the conflict in the Middle East is also set to add an economic burden on households, with a significant impact on the bills and the cost of living. “This 93 million number [of people at risk of poverty] could become higher in a few months or in a very short time,” Mînzatu said.
The EU anti-poverty strategy focuses on several aspects, from helping children in disadvantaged families to expanding social and affordable housing.
However, the plan does not come with a dedicated budget for its implementation. The Commission considers that the EU already provides significant funding to tackle poverty, such as €50.2 billion from the European Social Fund Plus to address social inclusion and material deprivation as well as €100 billion for social policies earmarked in the next multiannual budget.
Strengthening the EU programme meant to help households, supporting unemployed people to get a job and improving support for older citizens through adequate pensions are among the strategy’s key objectives.
For example, the Commission will pilot the “child guarantee card” in some countries, a digital tool allowing governments to track children in need and offer them free services.
“If a child in a precarious situation needs medical attention, dental health care assistance, for example, we should know that this is the case, and make all necessary so that he gets this support,” Mînzatu said.
Tackling homelessness is another of the key priorities set out in the strategy. “We recommend member states […] to prevent housing exclusion, for example through early warning systems, debt counselling so that you avoid situations where people get evicted,” Mînzatu said, also underlining the need to make long-term rentals more attractive than short-term rentals for landlords.
However, according to NGOs like Caritas Europa, the absence of concrete legislative proposals in the strategy risks leaving its most ambitious goals without the necessary tools to achieve them.
The network of organizations promoting social justice welcomed the EU’s anti-poverty plan, but criticized it for failing to include measures like a proposal to protect “mobile” citizens, who are excluded from social protection both in their country of origin and their country of residence.
On Wednesday, the Commission also presented a review of its strategy to boost the inclusion of people with disabilities, who who account for roughly 90 million individuals across the EU.
It encompasses the full rollout and digitalisation of some initiatives such as the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card, meant to allow people to enjoy the same rights all across the 27 countries.