FEANTSA took note of the launch of the Anti-Poverty Package by the European Commission on 6 May.
FEANTSA welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to launch a major new strategy on poverty, particularly in light of the limited progress towards achieving the EU’s poverty reduction targets. We appreciate the Commission’s use of its right of initiative to help advance this important agenda. At the same time, we recognise that poverty falls within an area of shared competence between the EU and its Member States. The EU’s added value lies primarily in coordinating, guiding, and supporting national efforts.
In this context, while it may be unrealistic to expect the Commission to deliver a fully comprehensive plan to prevent and address poverty across Europe, it is entirely appropriate for it to develop a roadmap and propose EU-level actions to steer and reinforce Member States’ responses.
Our initial assessment of the Anti-Poverty Strategy identifies several positive and useful elements, particularly with regard to measures addressing homelessness. However, we also note that certain opportunities have been missed, and some proposed actions appear to offer limited added value at the European level. This assessment is explained below, where we present comments on the overall package, followed by detailed comments on the Communication.