EUROPE IS LOSING THE BATTLE AGAINST POVERTY AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION, WARNS MEP

10.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 9th Oct 2007

European countries must do much more to prioritise the fight against poverty and social exclusion and share best practice more effectively if a social Europe is to become a reality and deliver tangible benefits for all. That is one of the findings of a key European Parliament report on the EU's social situation adopted today by the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee.

Liz Lynne MEP, rapporteur for the report and Vice President of the Committee commented today:

"It is simply unacceptable that as we celebrate 50 years of the Treaty of Rome and the Year of Equal Opportunities for all, over 72 million European citizens continue to live in poverty.

"Despite increasing prosperity, the gap between the rich and poor in many Member States is increasing - this raises tough questions about the kind of Europe that we want to live in and the commitment of Member States and the European Institutions to fight inequality."

"Many of the causes of social exclusion are common to all Member States and some countries are leading the way in tackling these, so surely we ought to be learning from each other. There needs to be more exchange of best practice between European partners and this is not something that should be left to NGOs.

"This report calls on Member States to set a minimum wage at a decent level; 5 EU Member States have no minimum wage at all and in others it is so low that 8% of all EU citizens now suffer from in - work poverty, which is scandalous.

"It is also important that a strong safety net be provided in all Member States to ensure that all citizens are entitled to decent minimum income should they need it.

"I welcome the good work that is being done and I am pleased the Portuguese presidency has made the social agenda a priority, but inequality, poverty and social exclusion continues to haunt millions of EU citizens, placing a responsibility on all of us to do more. A failure to act will mean the continuing exclusion and alienation of millions of people."

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Liz Lynne MEP (ALDE,UK) is author of the 2007 joint report for the European Parliament on Social Protection, Social Inclusion and Social Reality Stocktaking. The report is the European Parliaments response to the adoption by the European Council in Spring and the European Commission of reports on social reality stocktaking.

The Parliament's report comes ahead of the revision of the Lisbon Agenda and the mid term review of social policy.

The report also emphasises:

· Employment as a key safeguard against poverty and stresses the role of education and training in achieving it.

· The need for equal access to goods and services for all, as well as the importance of high quality health and social services, affordable childcare and affordable housing in avoiding child poverty and social exclusion.

· The need to tackle inequalities in health and access to healthcare suffered in many ethnic minority communities.

· The need to provide better advice and treatment to those suffering from drug and alcohol abuse, noting that these can lead to crime, unemployment and social exclusion.

· The need for all Member States to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while providing sufficient community support in the light of the general de-institutionalisation of disabled people. Also to address the problems faced by carers, e.g. exclusion from the labour market.

· The need for a human rights-based asylum policy and to consider more legal immigration routes; legislation to prevent exploitation of vulnerable workers; and to enforce anti-trafficking and anti-discrimination legislation.

Please find the full report here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2004_2009/documents/pr/665/665910/665910en.pdf