Targets set for the reduction of poverty in the EU by 2020 will not be met and by that date it will not be possible to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty by 20 million as had been planned, former Prime Minister Alfred Sant said.

Speaking in Qawra, Dr Sant said that more attention needs to be given in the run up to the EP elections to the social situation in Europe. For many decades, Europe and the EU had been motors of economic growth and the generation of well being.

However, more recently, stagnation and then recession have become the order of the day in most European countries. This has led to a deterioration of living standards and of social protection while unemployment has risen.

Dr Sant, will will contest the EP election in May, said the Labour government is doing well to give priority to tackle the number of people at risk of poverty which has been growing in Malta too. In Europe, our voice should therefore stand out in favour of measures that  give priority to the social challenges that Europe is facing, in order to create new jobs and curtail the risk of poverty for millions of people. If such challenges are being met at European level, this would also help us in our efforts in Malta to address them at national level.