Networknews

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE EUROPEAN ANTI NETWORK

Nr103 I NOV.-DEC. I 2003 What is an “indicator” of poverty and ? FOCUS ON INDICATORS aving assessed the content of the National Action Plans on social inclusion 2003-2005, Network News wants now to look into the key issue of indicators. How are they CONTENTS

Editorial worked out and worked up? How can the experience of Social inclusion peopleH experiencing poverty and social exclusion inform them? How do exist- Indicators... for what? ...... 2 Interview with Laura Bardone, ing indicators apply to the future Member States? These are the questions that European Commission ...... 3 this issue sets out to address. Controversial statistical data in Hungary ...... 4 First, though, we need to be straight about what an “indicator” is in terms of Poverty in acceding and candidate the European social inclusion strategy. It is actually a statistical variable used countries...... 4 Informing the figures by experience ..5 to analyse how far Member States have gone towards achieving the objec- Interview with Saskia Richter, tive of “having a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty” by 2010, as EAPN Germany ...... 6

laid down by the Lisbon European Council of March 2000. An “indicator” News from Ireland The Irish Presidency, by Mary Coughlan, also sets out to give a fuller picture of poverty and social exclusion, and iden- TD Minister for Social and tify good practices so they can be spread around. Family Affairs ...... 7 EAPN Ireland’s profile ...... 7 The balance of opinion is that the existing list of common indicators is not deliv- Sophisticated strategies… ering because it does not address all the issues, especially access to health but little impact ...... 8 and housing. A more qualitative approach is also needed if figures are not to be misinterpreted - or massaged. These data need to reflect people’s real lives. NETWORK NEWS COLOURS UP! So anti-poverty policy measures must be looking for real, measurable changes You’ve certainly noticed that Network News looks different. (through appropriate indicators) in the living conditions of women, men and That’s because EAPN has given itself a full image makeover in children who are at present shut out of society. recent weeks, including a new logo. Network News has got more colourful, with a page V. Forest layout that’s easier to read. We hope you’ll like it!

1 EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 Indicators... for what?

Indicators are central to the European Social Inclusion help interpret the primary and secondary indica- tors. These indicators would not be harmonised Strategy. How have they been worked out? And what at EU level. Social inclusion Social

practical use are they? In the first round of NAPs Inclusion (2001-2003), the Member States did not really have time to go here are many facets to the European into the indicators issue. The NAPs Inclusion 2003- The Laeken “18” inclusion strategy: common objectives 2005, by contrast, will be a base point for The 18 statistical indicators of poverty and social T are adopted, based on which the analysing the use made of the indicators (number of exclusion adopted by the Laeken European Council Member States are asked to submit two-yearly indicators used, interactions between European in , December 2001 are: National Action Plans (NAP Inclusion). The policy and national indicators, main types, etc.). It will not

Primary indicators measures are then analysed for their relevance and be easy to puzzle out something which was until 1. Low income rate after transfers with low applicability to other countries. But does that make recently the Member States’ prerogative for one income threshold 60% of median income the measures really effective? Statistical indicators clear reason: statistics can be political dynamite, (broken down by gender, age, most frequent are only central to the strategy because there would and so there is an interest for Member States to activity status, household type and tenure be no point trumpeting “good practices” on action keep them under political control. status; as illustrative examples, the values for typical households); against poverty and social exclu- 2. Distribution of income (income quintile ratio) sion that are not backed up by an One key aspect of evaluating the 3. Persistence of low income assessment of the real impact of There is no point use of indicators lies in how they 4. Median low income gap the measures on the daily lives of trumpeting are applied to target-setting. 5. Regional cohesion 6. Long-term unemployment rate those personally affected. In a “good practices” Other than their pledge to “have 7. Persons living in jobless households nutshell, common indicators are that are not backed a decisive impact on the eradi- 8. Early school leavers not in further education useful to compare progress within up by a real impact cation of poverty” by 2010, the or training Member States and help people Member States balk at setting 9. Life expectancy at birth assessment learn from one another. quantified objectives, such as 10 Self perceived health status eliminating extreme poverty. That Secondary indicators Since December 2001, 18 “Laeken” indicators may well be because moving from a statistical vari- 11. Dispersion around the 60% of median low (named for the Summit where they were adopted) able to setting credible targets depends on know- income threshold (see opposite) have provided the basis for mapping ing the potential direct effect that policy measures 12. Low income rate anchored at a point in time the state of poverty and exclusion in Europe. They will have on that variable. In other words, if anti- 13. Low income rate before transfers 14. Distribution of income () were drawn up in 2001 by a Council body, the poverty measures are taken, but poverty keeps on 15. Persistence of low income (based on 50% of Social Protection Committee (SPC). In its final report rising, is that down to failing measures or the influ- median income) (*), the SPC argued that a large number of indica- ence of other unidentified factors? Hence the impor- 16. Long term unemployment share tors are needed to properly assess the multidimen- tance, in EAPN’s view, of impact assessment not 17. Very long term unemployment rate sional nature of social exclusion. It went on to pri- only of specific anti-exclusion policies, but also of 18. Persons with low educational attainment oritise these by placing them in three levels: social, employment, economic and monetary poli- The exact definitions of these 18 indicators are Primary indicators (common) would consist of a cies. That is the principle of mainstreaming action given in the Annexe to the Social Protection restricted number of lead indicators which cover on poverty and exclusion across all policy spheres. Committee’s report: http://europa.eu.int/comm/ the broad fields that have been considered the employment_social/soc-prot/ most important elements in leading to social V.F. soc-incl/indicator_en.htm exclusion. Two “Statistics in Focus” (8/2003 and 9/2003) Secondary indicators (common) would support (*) “Report on indicators in the field of poverty and social exclusion”, October recently published by Eurostat, the EU’s statistical these lead indicators and describe other dimen- 2001: http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/soc-incl/ office, give an overview of the most recent avail- sions of the problem. indicator_en.htm able data for the 15 Member States: Tertiary indicators (national) that Member States http://europa.eu.int/comm/eurostat/ (section Themes/Population and social would include in their National Action Plans to conditions/Statistics in Focus) highlight specificities in particular areas, and to

EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 22 Laura Bardone, European Commission: “We have to give the full picture on social exclusion”

Laura Bardone is secretary of the Social Protection group) don’t give a sufficiently clear picture of the health-related aspects of social exclusion and pover- Committee’s Indicators Subgroup, and works in the Social ty. The latter indicator, especially, creates statistical problems because self-perceived health, for exam- Protection and Inclusion Policies Unit of the European ple, is heavily age-dependent. Bear in mind also that age, employment and health influence one Commission’s Employment and Social Affairs DG. another. The ideal health indicator would be indi- vidual health and access to care by social status EAPN: How far have we come on since the common group (occupation, educational level, income). indicators were adopted? Laura Bardone How have the Member States used the Laeken indi- Laura Bardone: The subgroup has been looking at cators in their second round of Plans? consolidation of the Laeken indicators. For example, EU-SILC TO LAUNCH IN 2004 we’re now recommending an age rather than just Most have done really good analyses based on the It is not enough to have accurate indicators; gender breakdown for most indicators. Also, we’ve indicators, but tucked them away in annexes with data must be available! For some years now, added an indicator for the “working poor”. There no direct link to the proposed measures and strate- European poverty and exclusion data have have been discussions on adding others on depri- gies. Others skate around them. Denmark, for been extracted from the annual European vation or illiteracy, for example, but no decision has example, focuses on the most marginalized groups, Community Household Panel (ECHP), the first been taken yet. The aim for illiteracy would be to that are not covered by the Laeken indicators. The of which was done on some 60 000 house- come up with an indicator to link the profile of par- Netherlands uses policy rather than performance holds in Europe in 1994. ents with the child’s basic literacy level to provide fun- indicators - so not the Laeken indicators. It sets the damentals for analysing the influence of family histo- relative poverty line by reference to the minimum But the most recent ECHP data now date from ry on the inter-generational transmission of poverty. income, not the median income as the European 1999, and those on income from 1998! Union suggests. Also, genuinely comparable data are still fair- What about indicators on housing? ly thin on the ground. To improve data collec- Why the lack of hard targets? tion, the European Union has decided to The Social Protection Committee asked the launch “EU-SILC” (Community statistics on Member States to produce tertiary indicators (see The Member States tell us that it is hard to set hard income and living conditions). This new tool previous page). Obviously, the aim is to come up goals because the outputs depend as much on a will provide annual data from 2004, although with non-monetary common indicators in this wide range of policies as on the economic and one group of countries (Austria, , sphere, but we are faced with national not to say social context. They also say that decentralization Denmark, Greece, Ireland and Luxembourg) local norms and practices, and statistical limitations, of policy-making makes it hard to frame national has already launched an exploratory survey in this area. Heating deprivation means different objectives. These arguments hold water up to a this year, while another group (Germany, the things in Sweden and Italy! There is less space and point. The employment strategy includes hard tar- Netherlands and the United Kingdom) will not more pollution in towns than in the countryside, but gets. But it is true that the theoretical and empirical start until 2005. So the first data on incomes, better access to services. This benefit is not some- basis is more developed for employment than poverty, social exclusion, employment and liv- thing you find in the available common surveys. poverty and social exclusion. The new EU-SILC sur- ing conditions (access to housing, health, “Homelessness” is not included as an indicator vey (see opposite) should help fine-tune the Laeken education, etc.) will be for 2005... at the because of a lack of information, but also because indicators, so that they reflect the realities of social soonest. of the different definitions that can attach to it. exclusion. Statistics-keeping is deficient and NGOs ought to be involved in compiling them. Interview: V.F.

Health is another area where indicators are need- ed...

The two indicators we currently have (life expectan- cy and self-perceived health status by social status 3 EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 Indicators soon past their Controversial statistical data in Hungary “use-by date”? The list of common poverty and social exclu- sion indicators (the “Laeken indicators”) was drawn up by reference to the situation in the s a step towards joining the EU strategy The gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider current fifteen Member States. But on 1 May and open method of coordination in the next year, ten new countries will be joining A field of poverty and social exclusion, Different researches and surveys were conducted to the EU. Will these indicators still be a relevant Hungary has drafted its “Joint Inclusion estimate the proportion of people living in poverty gauge of progress towards tackling exclu- Memorandum” (JIM) (1). The main problem with this but the results are rather different. It is well-known that sion? Enlargement is bound to add to diversi- draft is that all conclusions and priorities are based the richest and the poorest groups are under-repre- ty within the European Union. The concept of on controversial data. This problem is admitted in the sented in the CSO. In contrast, data from TÁRKI ‘absolute poverty’ alongside that of ‘relative JIM, but this does not change the fact that Hungary (Social Research Centre) shows a 5.4 income quin- poverty’ will take on greater importance in an cannot produce both true facts and internationally tile ratio. enlarged Europe, given that the relative comparable data on poverty and social exclusion. Another problem is the selection of the equivalence poverty line in the accession countries is very The reasons are the following: according to data of scales: OECD2 (2) is used in the JIM although it is much lower than the EU-15 average (because the Central Statistical Office (CSO), the ratio of total admitted that non relevant statistics could result. of the much lower disposable incomes). In income received by the 20% of the population with Given the different national living standards and this context, a “relative poverty’ measure the highest income to that received by the 20% of consumption habits, the use of OECD2 “equivalised only will make it hard to frame relevant com- the population with the lowest income (lowest quin- income” is likely to lead to an underestimation of pro- parisons. tile) is of 3.3 (income quintile ratio). That means that portion of people experiencing poverty. The final dif- income inequality in Hungary is less than in several ficulty to be mentioned is connected to the so-called More qualitative indicators of non-monetary EU countries (e.g. EU average is of 4.6; it is lower “Roma issue”. A section of the JIM is devoted to the absolute poverty may well be more appropri- - 3.2 - in Sweden and Denmark only). After experi- Roma population. In the opinion of most experts, all ate, but are not in the current list of 18 indi- encing the existence of absolute poverty in the provisions and strategies aimed at fighting against cators. EAPN believes that this clearly decades of post-socialist regime, the phenomenon poverty are likely to affect the Roma people, while demands still more involvement by people of relative poverty and deprivation became widely “positive discrimination” and special “Roma strate- enduring poverty in defining indicators. recognised in the 90s. The gap between the rich gies” will not lead to a decrease of poverty among and the poor is getting wider and wider, so the topic them but will prejudice non-Roma people. Due to of the “new” impoverishment (since the transition) laws on data protection and human rights there is no and the division of society is coming into promi- official register of the Roma population. There are nence. therefore very different estimations of their number and of their living conditions. Poverty in acceding and candidate countries To conclude, the current and future Government and research institutes have Data below provide an overview of monetary poverty for acceding and candidate countries, not - as for the current Member States – on the the task of providing data and indicators basis of a common Household Panel but of national statistical sources. Furthermore, in spite of harmonisation efforts, these data cannot be which are appropriate and adequately considered to be fully comparable, in particular due to different income reference periods. These figures must therefore be seen as indicative. Proportion of the population who lived in households with an “equivalised disposable income” below 60% of the national median equivalised reflect the real national situation, so that income: they can be used for comparison at EU Year Before all Including Including all level. transfers pensions transfers Izabella Márton BULGARIA 1999 35% 17% 14% CYPRUS 1997 24% 18% 16% Alliance of Social Professionals, Hungary CZECH REP. 1996 35% 19% 8% ESTONIA 2000 42% 26% 18% (1) JIMs are reports highlighting trends and challenges on pover- LATVIA 1999 45% 22% 16% ty and social exclusion in the acceding and candidate countries to LITHUANIA 1999 38% 22% 17% the EU. This process prepares for full participation in the Social MALTA 2000 30% 21% 15% POLAND 1999 46% 28% 15% Inclusion Strategy and the drafting of NAPs Inclusion in 2004. ROMANIA 1999 39% 22% 16% (2) OECD2 is a set of main economic indicators proposed by the SLOVENIA 1999 37% 18% 11% Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, such as TURKEY 1994 31% 26% 23% GDP, hourly earnings, interest rates, unemployment rate. Source: Eurostat. No data available for Hungary and Slovakia

EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 24 Informing the figures by experience KEY INDICATORS OF SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Below is a selection of the indicators from the There is no better way of getting relevant indicators than deterioration in their economic situation, rights, European project described opposite. Further and/or relationships”. details can be found in the final report, soon by reality checking against the knowledge and experi- to be available on www.eapn.org While this lays no claim to be a “scientific” defini- ence of people experiencing poverty. tion, it did set a framework for the work. The par- INCOME ticipatory method - the emphasis on involving peo- Share of people living permanently below efining “poverty indicators through ple living in poverty - is what made it really opera- the poverty line crossing of knowledge from people liv- tional. Share of people exiting and returning to D ing in poverty” was the aim of a poverty over a specified period European project run by five national EAPN net- The method Share of people claiming minimum works (Germany, France, Italy, Portugal and the The partners’ first concern was to set up national income benefit over x years Netherlands). The project, completed at the end of groups of people living in poverty. Then, to get dia- Number of people moving off unemploy- August 2003, set out to bring the voices of people logue going with this group, they formed other ment benefit onto benefit living in poverty face to face with the knowledge of groups drawn from the scientific community, official- Share of households whose debts equal other players (scientific community, public services, dom, the social partners and community-based or exceed their income NGOs, etc.). organizations. Once this had been done, data were Disposable income after housing costs collected through individual and group interviews. Social protection: average number of The criteria So as not to simply overlay the sets of national steps needed to claim a benefit, benefit The project set out to analyse, results, the partners set up gen- reciprocity and disqualification rate clarify and supplement the 18 People living in uinely collaborative working to Laeken indicators using criteria poverty have come up with a list of relevant EMPLOYMENT to measure the impact of poli- indicators. An ongoing two-way Forced fixed-term contracts, temporary different priorities to cies, namely: flow took place between field agency staff and part-time contracts Do the policies give people the experts: they are work and consultation at Number of people denied access to living in poverty a choice? more deeply European level. employment by child care or mobility Do they take account of their affected by affronts problems capabilities and skills? to liberty and dignity The outcomes Unemployment rate among young people Do they give them better What clearly emerged was that of immigrant origin access to rights, goods and services? people living in poverty have different priorities to Rate of access to quality training Do they give more security to their lives by mak- the experts: they are more deeply affected by ing them less vulnerable and more able to plan affronts to liberty and dignity, being stripped of or HOUSING ahead against problems. regaining self-reliance, feelings of insecurity, etc. As Number of homeless a result, the indicators (see margins pages 5 and 6) Number of persons in other forms of tem- The definition were divided into three broad areas: income and porary accommodation The project partners set great store by starting off consumption, social rights (education, health, hous- People dissatisfied with their accommoda- from their own definition of what “poverty” means. ing and employment); citizenship and identity tion Poverty is a complex and multi-dimensional process (including culture). Average waiting time for proper access to that cannot be approached through monetary After many months working on this project quality housing; influence of poverty indicators alone and can be interpreted dif- (December 2001 - August 2003), the partners are national/ethnic origin on waiting time ferently in different countries. Hence the value of a in no doubt that people living in poverty are essen- Ratio of total available low-cost housing common definition, worded as follows: “Poverty tial to choosing the “right” indicators, because this units to number of people living on or consists in being unable to or precluded from meet- makes them more appropriate and sustainable. In below the poverty line ing one or more needs without outside help. These other words, the issue of “indicators” should not just Ratio of housing costs to household needs relate to aspects of life which enable self- be one for statisticians, but put at the centre of a income determination, i.e., assuming one’s responsibilities participatory political debate at all levels. and exercising one’s rights, or fundamental goods V.F. (income, education, housing, health, etc.). It is The project final report written by the European coordinator Gilles Hacourt, will inseparable from the individual’s perception of a shortly be available on the EAPN website. 5 EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 HEALTH Saskia Richter, EAPN Germany: Ratio of number of good quality servic- es to size of catchment area “Choice is about being in charge of your life” Time required to access these services Non-take-up rate on financial grounds Saskia Richter was the coordinator of the “poverty indi- Ratio of frequency of medical consulta- tions by people living in poverty to aver- cators through crossing of knowledge from people living age number of medical consultations in poverty” project for the EAPN German Network. EDUCATION Number of unqualified 18 year-old EAPN: How did the German Network give input to school-leavers the project? Frequency of parent-teacher interviews Saskia Richter: The German Network set up a steer- Ratio of number of training courses for ing group of eight people from a range of back- unemployed people to the total number grounds (voluntary community, academia, politics, of unemployed jobless, low-income, homeless), which collated the Number of people on low incomes with existing poverty and exclusion indicators, especial- no computer skills, no driver’s licence, ly those used in the government report on poverty etc. compared to the average and wealth. That list was then discussed with peo- Saskia Richter Rate of persons with poor literacy and ple living in poverty, both individually and in small numeracy skills groups. The full range of issues was addressed. The is a concept much too far-removed from their daily Pre-school education provision outcomes of these discussions were then analysed realities. by the steering group, with support from scientific This exercise enabled us to fine-tune the Laeken indi- PARTICIPATION AND IDENTITY experts, in order to clarify the indicators. cators and put forward new ones, especially relat- Percentage of population below the ing to participation, housing and health. So, for poverty line who are members of (or Any problems with this participatory approach? example, I could pick out discrimination on the connected to) a sports club, cultural The people we met were keen to talk about politi- grounds of ethnic origin or fluency in the national group, trade union, network, consumer cal issues like those dealing with indicators. language; whether there is a supportive network of or service user group, community organ- Obviously, you need to set aside enough time for relations or not; access to transport and social serv- ization. interviews, and it is important to make it clear at the ices; the number of homeless or in poor housing, or Presence of neighbourhood social servic- outset that indicators will not change their life - in another sphere - debt problems and access to es (doctor, hospital, legal adviser, debt overnight, but that it is a long haul. Most wanted debt mediation services. In short, a list of more qual- mediator, etc.) face-to-face talks with politicians, because they itative indicators to be used at all levels. Domestic violence and its impact on wanted a direct say in policy-making! poverty and social exclusion What surprised me was the comparative ease with It all looks apt to have an effect on policy-making... which they switched from their own personal situa- Well, apart from aiming to influence the Laeken FEANTSA’s proposals tion to an analysis in terms of indicators, at least indicators, we also want to push the right buttons in The European Federation of National where they were practical and referable to their Germany. So we invited representatives of NGOs, Organisations Working with the Homeless own experience. If you want to hear what they the social partners, government departments and (FEANTSA) has produced a number of docu- have to say, there’s no point talking about statistical the European Commission to a conference that we ments that relate to the collection of infor- theory! called on 3 July. We’re hopeful that it will pay off, mation about homelessness and has created especially as Germany’s national action plan a working group to follow this issue: What kinds of indicators came out of these talks? focused on national indicators, partly because Background document on data collec- It is clear that people enduring poverty and social national data are more recent than those to come tion on homelessness (2003) exclusion want quality indicators to be developed, out of the European surveys... Recommendations for indicators on especially as regards policy measures. One of housing and homelessness (2002). these qualities is giving them the ability to choose, Interview: V.F. See: http://www.feantsa.org/keydocs/ to be in charge of their own lives. They also stress data_collection.htm and that these measures must produce tangible results. EAPN Germany’s report on the indicators (in German) is available from Saskia http://www.feantsa.org/research.htm So, access to care is vital to the homeless, because Richter, e-mail: [email protected], Fax. +49 711 2159 165 it really changes their life, whereas life expectancy

EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 26 Irish Presidency of the EU (1st semester of 2004) “Towards Greater Social Cohesion in an Enlarged Union”

By Mary Coughlan, TD Minister for Social and Family Affairs EAPN IRELAND’S PROFILE EAPN Ireland is a network of 150 local and reland’ s experiencing poverty and social exclusion are national non-governmental organisations wor- News from Ireland I Presidency of the included. I am, therefore, pleased that the Irish king against poverty and social exclusion in EU will oversee Presidency will host a third meeting in June 2004 of Ireland. It was set up in 1990 to empower the formal and historic accession of ten new mem- people experiencing poverty from EU countries - an members, and the anti-poverty sector generally, ber states. Their accession will have a profound annual initiative supported by the EU institutions. to understand and influence EU policy and its impact on the future shape of the European Union We are looking forward to working with the EU implementation in Ireland. and will present major challenges - and not least of Commission, Belgium, the European Anti Poverty EAPN Flash is adapted (with the addition of them will be the social challenges. I eagerly antici- Network and other interested organisations in national news a) for circulation to more than pate a packed and busy agenda during the preparing an effective meeting. The aim will be to 2,000 people; Network News is distributed to Presidency and will set out here some of the priori- develop further ways of promoting the participation more than 500 people; more than 2,000 copies ties we see in 2004. at all levels of people experiencing poverty and the EAPN Ireland Review are produced, as well as structural networks to facilitate this. A particular briefing papers on particular issues. In addition For our social policy during the Presidency we have objective will be to promote their involvement in the EAPN Ireland organises training sessions and adopted the working title of “Towards Greater development of the NAPs Inclusion. information activities around the country. social cohesion in an Enlarged Union”. Reflecting The main areas of work of EAPN Ireland match one of the strategic goals up The relative decline of our closely those of the European network: Social to 2010 adopted by the populations, our greying Inclusion, Employment, Structural Funds, Lisbon Council we intend to Europe and the expansion of Enlargement and the Future of Europe. A priori- provide renewed impetus to the EU will force the issue of ty this year has been the Convention on the the Lisbon Agenda. immigration to the fore in the Future of Europe, where we played an important coming years. role in bringing social policy issues to the natio- To achieve greater social nal debate. cohesion we must combat It is important to recognise that poverty and social exclusion. immigrants may face a high Based on the National risk of poverty and social Action plans for social inclu- exclusion and to take the nec- sion which have been sub- essary measures to counter mitted by EU Member States. this.

The second Joint Social Mary Coughlan Consequently, the Irish Commemoration of the UN International Day for the Inclusion Report will be Presidency will host a confer- Eradication of Poverty, Dublin, 17 October 2003 agreed between the Council ence which will focus on the of Ministers and the Commission and will be pre- role of social and economic policies in achieving EAPN Ireland receives funding from the Combat sented to the European Council at its Spring meet- social inclusion and will take the theme Poverty Agency through its National Anti-Poverty ing. We will support an important initiative to “Reconciling mobility and social inclusion”. Networks Programme and employs a staff of improve the effectiveness of social policy input to three. the Spring Council. This will include exploring the reality of mobility in EAPN Ireland is one of 26 members of the today’s enlarged EU, the type of risks to social Community Platform, which is made up of natio- A key feature of this social inclusion process at exclusion that immigrants moving within and from nal networks and organisations in the communi- national level, particularly in Ireland, is a wide and outside the EU encounter, and the need for inte- ty and voluntary sector which are engaged in ongoing consultation, with NGOs. grated approaches within government, between combating poverty and social exclusion and pro- moting equality and justice. Our desire now would be to widen that consulta- R. Hanan - B. Carty tion further to ensure that more people actually

7 EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 receiving and sending countries and with the And, finally, “Making Work Pay” - ensuring that NGOs that work with immigrants and emigrants. social protection and work are mutually supportive - has been selected as the main theme for discus- EAPN works for a A major priority will be to work for the adoption by sion at the Informal Council of Labour and Social society where the the Council and the European parliament of the pro- Policy Ministers in Galway, in January. effective exercise of posals to simplify the EU regulations protecting fundamental rights social security and health care rights for workers This is one of the policy areas identified as part of by all is a reality moving within the EU. the Lisbon Agenda for the modernisation of our social welfare systems. In March last the spring Our Presidency will also be marked by a focus on Council requested Member States “to undertake family issues, as 2004 is the tenth anniversary of substantial benefit reforms, and to introduce incen- the UN International Year of the Family. “Families, tives for entering the labour market“. The Informal Nr103 change and social policy in Europe” will be the title Council meeting will facilitate an initial political con- November-December 2003 of one of the first EU social policy conferences tak- sideration of these issues by both Employment and ing place after the formal accession of new mem- Social Affairs Ministers. published ber states in Dublin in May. Families as a focus of in English, French, social inclusion and social cohesion will be on the German, Spanish and Italian central themes addressed. Editor F. Farrell Sophisticated strategies… but little impact Responsible for publication V. Forest Ireland is one of the richest countries in Europe, but the formulation of this strategy in 1997 and its review in 2002. Rue du Congrès 37-41 (6th floor) low-tax regime contributes to one of the highest levels of However, there is frustration that the targets, and the B-1000 Brussels poverty-proofing mechanisms, seem to have little tel. 32 2 230 44 55 poverty and some of the poorest social and public servi- real impact on Government policies. This is also the fax 32 2 230 97 33 pattern in the two NAPs Inclusion. The impressive E-mail: [email protected] ces in the European Union. consultation process and a well-structured Plan have Internet: http://www.eapn.org not led to new resources to improve the lives of ecent years have seen a redistribution people living in poverty. Contributors of wealth and power towards the rich P. Brandellero R and away from the poor, despite impor- Finally, anti-poverty NGOs negotiated and C. Champeix tant achievements in social policy and economic endorsed two national partnership agreements, C. Nolmans growth and the reduction in unemployment. which provided resources for measures designed to C. Fonseca reduce poverty and inequality. Our equality legislation and anti-poverty strategies Bureau de dépôt are among the most sophisticated in the EU, with However, the latest agreement (2003) involved no 1600 Sint Pieters Leeuw 1 committed experts in key Ministries and Agencies, real negotiations on social issues and included no but they have little impact on mainstream new resources for anti-poverty measures. It was Government policies. rejected by the Community Platform, which brings together national anti-poverty networks. Ireland has had a National Anti Poverty Strategy (NAPS) since 1997. This includes a ‘global’ target R. Hanan - B. Carty to reduce poverty and a series of sectoral targets. Anti-Poverty NGOs were strongly involved in the

With the support of the European Commission Surf to us at WWW.eapn.org

EAPN I Nr103 I 2003 8