EU Actions Against Social Exclusion

Measures to Combat Exclusion in the EU

According to EUROSTAT, 15% of the population lives in relative poverty, measured by average national income. National poverty rates, ranging between 9% and 21%, have remained largely unchanged in recent decades. People suffering hardship in such situations have difficulty participating fully in society. Unemployment, poverty, and exclusion are closely linked. Approximately 70% of the disposable income of the European population comes from work. Single-parent families, many people living alone, and unemployed groups are more likely to have a low income. Social protection mechanisms, programs to combat poverty, and minimum income schemes have reduced the percentage of people in poverty. Had social transfers, including pensions, not been included, 26% of the population would suffer relative poverty. Between 1980 and 1995, overall income inequality increased in most of the EU. Income inequalities are related to the risk of exclusion and worse social and living conditions.

EU Anti-Poverty Programs (1975-1994)

Recognizing the need for social cohesion and requiring measures to address the situation, European institutions between 1975 and 1994 developed three programs to combat poverty:

• 1975-1980: First Program to Fight Poverty. This program consisted of studies and pilot projects aimed at the creation of methods to help the poor.
• 1985-1989: Second Program to Combat Poverty. This program had two main lines of action: action research, and dissemination and animation. Sixteen projects were conducted in Spain.
• 1989-1994: Third Program (PLCLP). This was a more comprehensive version than the others. It proposed a range of measures for the economic and social integration of economically and socially disadvantaged groups. It aimed to ensure the overall coherence of all EU measures that could improve the status and quality of life of the economically and socially disadvantaged, strengthen preventive measures against risk, and produce innovative intervention models involving economic and social actors.

A new perspective emerged on the problem of poverty, replacing the term with 'exclusion'. Actions from this time onwards were framed against exclusion in various texts and included human resource training and job creation as priorities.

This shift from 'poverty' to a broader vision of 'exclusion' includes social disadvantage. This approach is enshrined in Articles 136 and 137 of the Treaty of Amsterdam, and the need for action to eradicate poverty before 2010 supported this primary objective in the EU.

At the Lisbon Council, it was decided to establish a coordination method based on the inclusion of national action plans with shared objectives, through the implementation of a community program to combat social exclusion.