An increasing number of debates on poverty and social exclusion have taken place around Europe and yielded to a set of political incentives, possibly addressing this social burden. In fact, reducing poverty has become one of the main targets of the new Europe 2020 Strategy

It has also led the EU to dedicate 2010 as the European Year against Poverty and Social Exclusion. Notwithstanding these initiatives and awareness within the EU structures, this issue is at the forefront of the European agenda. The EU intends to ditch poverty and social exclusion. But how has this effort filtered through the European citizens in the EU member states so far?

Statistics published in 2008 show that nearly 80 million Europeans, or approximately 16% of the total European population, are at the risk of poverty. Although the situation varies from one EU member state to another, this figure is relatively high. Countries which perform well in this regard have their poverty rates between 9% and 12%, namely the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Denmark and Sweden.

On the other hand, one finds that 20% or more of Lithuanians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians and Latvians are at risk. One notes that, the larger the share of the population affected by poverty, the more severe it is. Given these circumstances, European policy-makers have committed themselves to set key objectives to fulfil the social and territorial cohesion in the Union. These objectives aim to deliver real added-value, stimulating growth and creating jobs in Europe’s regions to reduce the existing disparities between them.

A Eurobarometer survey on the EU’s social climate, carried out last June and published this month by the European Commission, points out that EU citizens remain pessimistic when evaluating the general situation of their country. But despite this, they also seem to feel that the economy is recovering and are largely satisfied and positive regarding their personal situation. Nevertheless, the survey results highlighted the growing gap between countries compared to 2010, with the situation in wealthier countries improving and the countries at the bottom of the scale worsening.

The social climate survey covers a number of aspects, including economic and employment situations, the cost of living and the affordability of energy and housing, the way public administration is run, and asks respondents to assess, for each of these aspects, the current situation, how the situation has evolved over the past five years and how they expect it to change over the coming year.

The results show that Europeans were mostly dissatisfied with the way inequalities and poverty are dealt with in their country and only respondents in Luxembourg were positive, while respondents in Latvia, Romania, Greece and Lithuania were again, the most strongly dissatisfied. As determined by the survey, the Maltese participants seem to be more satisfied with life compared to a year ago, even though they are worried about the economy, the cost of living and affordability of energy.

The survey reveals the perception of the interviewees regarding social protection and inclusion, with contrasting results emerging when compared to the previous survey conducted in 2010. As for the indices covering the current situation and the five-year comparison, they have decreased. Respondents are more optimistic when asked whether the situation will improve in the next 12 months.

However, Europeans’ expectations for the near future are improving. The Maltese respondents were the only ones not to follow the trend of the Mediterranean EU countries, when questioned about the way inequalities and poverty are addressed. The nine EU member states at the bottom of the scoreboard are all from the south or the east of the EU.

The EU member states have been pursuing a number of targets in order to achieve the EU headline targets of Europe 2020. The strategy also underlines the need to share the benefits of growth, which implies narrowing inequalities. On 16 November, Meusac will be organising its fifth seminar related to the Europe 2020 Strategy – the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion. A number of workshops will be addressing various issues, including how to overcome discrimination, the challenge of an ageing society, social innovation for supporting vulnerable groups, promoting shared responsibility in combating poverty and social exclusion.

These five seminars are being held on a six-month phase, as part of a project financed by the European Commission (DG Comm.). Interested participants are requested to register for this seminar by sending an email to [email protected] or by phone on 2200-3300. Seminars will be held in Maltese.

Brenda Azzopardi is Executive

(EU Policy and Legislation), Meusac