Addressing social divergence in European societies: Improving Minimum

Income Support

4 April 2014

Input Fintan Farrell EAPN and EMIN

A Story that millions of European Citizens would want to hear

• Recent EAPN Work on Minimum Income

• EMIN Project: Objectives and First Outcomes

• EU Meetings of People Experiencing Poverty

Content of Input

• EAPN Irl led Social Standards Project (2007)

• Austrian led EU Project Standard Budgets (2009)

• EAPN Major Conference and Campaign on Adequate Minimum Income (2010)

• EAPN Election Campaign 2014 (See Blog electingchampionsin2014.net)

• Constant part of EAPN work on Europe 2020 and related activities

• EAPN work to build consensuses: EP - Figueiredo (2010) and PaP report, CoR report on PaP (2010), EESC Report Min Income (2013)

Recent EAPN Work on Minimum Income

EMIN NetworkAim of the European Minimum Income Network

•To raise awareness on 1) the commitments made by the Council and Commission on adequate Minimum Income Schemes, 2) the importance of adequate Minimum Income Schemes to keep people active in society 3) the Importance for all of the society of adequate Minimum Income Schemes as the base for a high level social Protection Systems

•To build consensus and advocate to take the necessary steps towards the progressive realisation of adequate and accessible minimum income schemes at 1) National and 2) EU levels

• A two year project (2013 – 2014) initiated by the European Parliament and administered by European Commission

Lead Partner: EAPN (European Anti-Poverty Network)

Key European level Partners• AGE Platform Europe• FEANTSA (European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless) • Belgian Public Administration, Public Planning Service Social Integration, Anti Poverty Policy and

Social Economy Social Integration• ANSA (Agence Nouvelle des Solidarités Actives)• ETUI (European Trade Union Institute)• OSE (Observatoire Social Européen)• SIRG (Social Inclusion Regional Group)

• Two advisory Groups – Civil Society and European Parliament

National Minimum Income Networks (building engagement of stakeholders)• Belgium by Belgian Anti Poverty Network • Italy, CILAP/EAPN Italy • Ireland, EAPN Ireland • Denmark ,EAPN Denmark• Hungary by EAPN Hungary

Year 2: Work in a further 25 Countries (25 National Reports and National Conferences)

Partners in the Project – Building stakeholder engagement

• Minimum Income schemes: “income support schemes which provide a safety net for those who cannot work or access a decent job and are not eligible for social security payments or whose entitlements have expired”

• Adequate Minimum Income: income that is indispensable to live a life in dignity and to fully participate in society

Based on a Common Understanding

• Ensure that people who need to receive them can remain active in the society, help them reconnect to the world of work and allows them to live in dignity.

• Are good for the whole of the society as they are indispensable for more equal societies and more equal societies are better for everyone.

• As the base for high-level social protection systems they act as ‘economic stabilisers’, as was demonstrated with the countries with high-level social protection systems being best able to resist the negative impacts of the crisis.

• Are a very small percentage of the Government’s social spending and represent a huge return on the investment as the cost of non-investment has enormous immediate impacts for the individuals concerned and long term costs for the society.

• Must ensure a positive hierarchy with minimum wages and thus help to reverse the destructive trend of rising numbers of working poor in Europe.

What Adequate Minimum Income Schemes bring to society

• Awareness raining and public debate on 1) Adequate Minimum Income Schemes and 2) The Commitments made at EU level in relation to adequate Minimum Income

• Building towards an EU Directive on Adequate Minimum Income based on: common definitions, common methodologies for defining adequacy (60% at risk of poverty indicator, Reference Budgets), common information requirements, proactive granting of benefits, addressing the needs of particular groups, uprating mechanisms, monitoring and evaluation, independent assessment, integrated active inclusion approach and engagement of stakeholders

• Integrating follow up into Key EU processes: Research on the costs of not investing in adequate Minimum Income Schemes and in non take up. Follow up of the Active Inclusion and Child Poverty Recommendations. Integrated into the Europe 2020 Strategy (use of social scoreboard and CSR), Use of 20% ESF Funding. Reported and followed up under National Social Reports, OMC (peer Reviews) and reports of European Social Policy Network

An emerging EU Road Map for the progressive realisation of adequate minimum income schmes.

•General Report Key messages, Main Inputs

•Background papers Reference Budget, Impact of crisis, Practice examples

•Slogans from the 2013 Meeting.

Reports of the 2013 PeP Meeting now availablewww.eapn.eu

Key Message from the 2013 PeP Meeting

Message: There is a harmonization of the costs of a decent life in the different European countries but still huge differences between wage levels and social welfare schemes and no real effort to ensure common efforts to reach high level social standards across Europe. This is creating a totally unbalanced Europe.

•Reference Budgets developed with agreed common principles and methodology could make a big contribution to see more clearly the realities in the different countries.•People experiencing Poverty and their organisations should be involved in agreeing the principles and methodology to be used for Reference Budgets.•We must be clear about the objective of the cooperation at EU level. It should have the clear ambition to contribute to ensuring common high level social standards across Europe.

Key Message from the 2013 PeP Meeting

Message: The response to the crisis is developing behaviour that undermines respect for human rights, such as: labour exploitation, xenophobia and increased discrimination, more waste in our societies (empty houses while having increased homelessness), growing distrust in our politicians and political institutions, criminalisation and negative stereo typing of ‘poor people’, while doing nothing to tackle the increasing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few.

We need to defend a society and a politics based on values and respect for Human Rights. We just want a normal society where everybody has access a decent life.

Minimum Income Schemes should have the ambition to be at a level that’s needed for a life in Dignity and not just what is good enough for the poor

Slogan from the Czech Republic Delegation: We just want a normal life

For more information contact

Fintan Farrell, Project Manager

fintan.farrell@eapn.eu

Anne Van Lancker, Project Policy Coordinator

vanlanckeranne@gmail.com

To follow the project emin-eu.netTwitter #eminetwork

EMIN Contacts