European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion (2010)

PURPOSE: to designate 2010 as the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision No 1098/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

BACKGROUND: this Decision declares 2010 the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. It refers to the fact that significant parts of the EU population are still suffering from deprivation or limited and unequal access to services, or are excluded from society. The Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion 2008 highlights the fact that 78 million people in the EU live at risk of poverty, 19 million of whom are children. The gender gap is approximately 2%. The European Year may help to stimulate such multidimensional policies as well as the further development of relevant indicators It should boost active inclusion policies as a means of preventing poverty and social exclusion and should help to promote best practices in this field within the OMC. It should also continue the best practice derived from the previous years.

CONTENT: following the agreement reached at 1st reading with the European Parliament, the Council adopted unanimously this Decision declaring 2010 the European Year for Combating Poverty and social exclusion.

The objectives and guiding principles of the European Year are as follows:

• recognising the right of people in a situation of poverty and social exclusion to live in dignity and to play a full part in society. The European Year will also help to combat stereotypes and stigmatisation;
• increasing public ownership of social inclusion policies and actions, emphasising both collective and individual responsibility in the fight against poverty and social exclusion, as well as the importance of promoting voluntary activities;
• promoting a more cohesive society by raising public awareness of the benefits for all of a society where poverty is eradicated, fair distribution is enabled and no one is marginalised;
• reiterating the strong political commitment of the EU to the fight against poverty and social exclusion and promoting this commitment and actions at all levels of governance.

The actions designed to meet these objectives include meetings and events, information, promotional and educational campaigns and surveys and studies. The priorities for action are set out in the text.

The European Year will take account of the different risks and dimensions of poverty and social exclusion experienced by women and men. The Community and Member States must take account of gender mainstreaming in the implementation of the European Year.

Actions on a Community scale may be subsidised up to 80%, while actions at local, regional or national level may be co-financed from the general budget of the European Union up to a maximum of 50% of the total eligible costs.

The financial envelope for the implementation of the actions for the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010 shall be EUR 17 000 000, of which EUR 6 500 000 shall be for the period until 31 December 2009.

Participation in the European Year should be open to the Member States, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States that are parties to the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, in accordance with the provisions of that Agreement, to the candidate countries benefiting from a pre-accession strategy and countries from the Western Balkans, in line with  the conditions laid down in their respective agreements, and to the countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP).

By 31 December 2011, the Commission shall produce a report on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the actions and also provide information on how the gender dimension has been mainstreamed in the activities of the European Year and how the European Year has been of benefit to groups or individuals in vulnerable situations.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 27/11/2008.