An ambitious social plan to combat poverty in the EU, was unveiled today by theEuropean Commission, as one in two European citizens cite cost of living.
EU citizens face three urgent challenges: the housing crisis, with 40% of citizens identifying the lack of affordable housing as an immediate and urgent problem, barriers to participating in a rapidly changing market for work and the risk of poverty affecting 1 in 5 Europeans and 1 in 4 children.
The EU strategy charts a clear path to reduce at least 15 million people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by 2030 and contribute to its eradication by 2050.
It is based on three pillars: strengthening quality jobs as the main route out of poverty, ensuring effective access to quality services and adequate income support, and strengthening coordination between Member States, institutions and social partners for more targeted interventions.
At the same time, a package of actions to “break the cycle of poverty at all ages is foreseen, including possible new initiatives to integrate those outside the labour market and measures to support older people through adequate pensions.
A particular emphasis is placed on tackling child poverty, which remains at high levels in the EU without a substantial reduction in recent years. In this context, the European guarantee for children is being strengthened to ensure free and effective access to basic services such as pre-school education, health care and school meals. At the same time, measures to support families are being promoted, such as facilitating parents’ access to quality employment, childcare services and strong social safety nets. The strategy also includes new interventions to improve children’s mental health and access to guidance and integration programmes, and a pilot European card for children in need to facilitate their access to services.
Particular attention is also given to the housing crisis, as house prices have risen by an average of 60% in the EU since 2013, while European citizens face increasing barriers to accessing adequate housing. As the Commission is not proposing directly binding measures in this area, it calls on Member States to adopt policies to prevent housing exclusion and strengthen affordable housing, in the context of a proposal for a Council Recommendation that is currently being adopted. The approach emphasises strengthening social housing and providing integrated support to help people obtain stable and decent housing, while promoting long-term solutions to prevent housing exclusion and reduce the number of homeless people, which has now reached 1 million in the EU.
In parallel, the Commission announced that it will strengthen its strategy on the rights of people with disabilities,with 90 million people, more than 1 in 5 Europeans living with a disability. The Commission notes that there are still barriers to the inclusion of people with disabilities: only 55% are employed, compared to 77% of people without disabilities; 1.4 million people with disabilities still live in institutions and 1 in 3 are at risk of poverty – almost double the EU average. The actions proposed by the Commission include developing the European disability card and the European parking card across the EU, launching an ‘independent living alliance’ to replace institutions with community-based support, improving transport accessibility and investing in assistive technologies such as AI tools.
Commission Vice-President, Roxana Minzatou, responsible for social rights and quality jobs, said: “Europe has always been defined not only by its economic strength but also by its social model and solidarity. In the coming years these values will be put to the test and our response will shape not only our economies but also the confidence of our citizens in Europe. That is why the EU’s anti-poverty strategy, the first of its kind, is vital for our future: with strong policies and implementation across all Member States, it must help prevent poverty and accelerate action for those already affected.”
