It is estimated that 1 in 5 people in the EU are living at risk of poverty or social exclusion.
In order to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030 (one of three EU-level social targets) decision makers must show more ambition.
Exploring the paths for ensuring sound minimum standards of protection against poverty and social exclusion across all ages represents a significant step towards a comprehensive and integrated vision of social protection pension policy typical of trade unions’ demands as per the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The ETUC has steadily lobbied the European institutions to an effective EU anti-poverty action
- Aimed at fully granting the implementation of principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights and fulfilling the objectives of the 2030 Agenda
- Based on:
- a European framework directive setting binding common principles and minimum standards for minimum income schemes that are highly inclusive, adequate, accessible and enabling
- monitoring and benchmarking frameworks, built on an in-depth assessment of the implementation of such a directive in all MS
- Implemented in a highly participative manner through social dialogue and include a monitoring mechanism
- Combined with solid, inclusive, accessible and well-designed welfare systems, which are able to provide adequate and effective protection to all citizens and residents across all ages
- Sustained by adequate financial resources provided by EU funds and also specifically tailored recovery instruments that invest in quality job creation and active inclusion measures
- Implemented via the European Semester coherently with societal needs
- Underpinned by fair wages, collective bargaining and decent minimum wages, fair working and employment conditions, high job quality and security
The EU shows limited and unstable progress in the fight against poverty and social exclusion and the pandemic unveiled the urgency to work for minimum dignifying floors and aligning the EPSR and the SDGs approaches in addressing such issues. After slight improvements before the Covid-19 crisis, both severe material deprivation and the risk of poverty and social exclusion have increased in 2020. In-work poverty rates have worsened during the pandemic. The majority of minimum income schemes across the EU are far from providing adequate protection and sufficient coverage, duration and accessibility of benefits. This is resulting in growing social divisions and labour market and economic disruptions.
In the current post-pandemic and conflict juncture, trade unions across the EU urge for addressing specific issues such as energy prices, the importance to raise wages, and thus to differentiate how to tackle in-work-poverty (ALMP, collective bargaining and unemployment regulation) and non-in-work-poverty (social benefits, and minimum income programs). Job creation and efficient employment services are also crucial to address poverty and increase the tax-based capacity to sustain adequate and highly inclusive MIS.
ETUC believes that European citizens and residents across all ages should have the right to adequate and effective minimum income; schemes must provide support both in cash and kind, to meet their essential needs and those of their dependents and ensure them a life in dignity and full inclusion into the society. MIS shall be accessible to all people in need, irrespective of their age, nationality and capacity to work. This can be achieved through a combination of social protection tools and public investments.
The ETUC demands that economic policies must be consistent with such social goals: MS must be pushed to increase budget allocations, also taking advantages from the resources made available thanks to the EU financial interventions on other headings. In order to guarantee adequate minimum income across all ages intergenerational solidarity will be key and more progressive taxation is needed to finance more accessible MIS. A deeper understanding is needed of the root causes of social exclusion and income inequality, of the weaknesses of our redistribution systems, of the effects of our production structures in this sense, of the sub-targets to address. The review of the MI benchmarking framework by the Social Protection Committee is needed and should consider these aspects among others. Such enhanced understanding of the reality must tie consequent economic and social policies to the achievement of social goals.
Therefore, also reporting, poor so far, must lead to less descriptive and more substantial assessment, especially on adequacy of MI schemes. Stricter and more frequent monitoring must give concreteness to policy measures, structural changes and their impact. In particular, when assessing the adequacy of MIS accessibility and affordability of services must be considered, besides money transfers. Also, in order to reduce the non-take-up rate, access to MIS shall be simplified with automatic systems.
The key role of trade unions and social partners in the design, implementation and impact monitoring of policies must be enhanced and guaranteed by more effective involvement procedures and adoption of joint tools for social inclusion and protection of vulnerable categories.
The demands of the ETUC are based on the EU acquis, with minimum income is referred to as:
- A fundamental right, as set out in Principle 14 of the EPSR on Minimum Income (MI)
- Schemes for income support, based on a combination of cash benefits, enabling good and services, and incentives to reintegrate into the labour market (for those who can work), whose eligibility is subject to conditionalities including means-testing, which have to be adequate, accessible and enabling (MIS);
- An integral part of comprehensive, rights-based, and universal social protection schemes;
- A tool against poverty and social exclusion, tool to be enacted across the EU through setting binding European minimum standards for income support;
- A pivotal feature for upward social convergence around which to build a multidimensional anti-poverty strategy, aimed at ensuring the right to adequate resources to live in dignity at all stages of life for all.
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