Speech by President Séamus Boland, EESC plenary debate with Roxana Mînzatu, European Commission Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness

EESC plenary debate on the new action plan for the European Pillar of Social Rights

Dear Executive Vice-President, Federal Minister and Deputy Minister,

Thank you all for taking the time to be with us today, it is much appreciated;

It is a particular pleasure to see you Ms Mînzatu, after our meeting in March;

And of course, we will have the pleasure of welcoming you to our Group meeting in September.

At last month's plenary, I gave quite an impassioned speech, on how I am proud to be European;

My colleagues will remember that we were discussing the geo-political challenges facing the EU;

Today my discourse will be different;

In discussing 'poverty alleviation', which falls within the remit of the Pillar, I have to admit that I am not proud of being European;

I am not proud, because 94 million people are daily at risk of poverty or social exclusion within the EU;

I am not proud, because more than one quarter of children living in the Union, face poverty or social exclusion;

And I am not proud, it will have taken us nearly 80 years to finally launch an EU anti-poverty strategy;

I hope that this strategy, to be adopted early next year, will see a swifter implementation!

Although today's debate focusses on the European Pillar of Social Rights, I am taking this opportunity to go a step further and to comment on the forthcoming EU anti-poverty strategy that you Ms Mînzatu, will oversee;

The first point that I would like to make, is that this new strategy should be bold enough to approach and to define poverty through the lens of fundamental human rights;

Put simply, avoiding poverty should be a right, not a question of charity;

We have already seen moves towards rights-based approaches on several policy areas – for example, in relation to the right to food, health, energy and housing;

Now is time for the EU to push for a mental paradigm shift in our societies and to move towards the right to a life without poverty;

We are already behind – as early as 1998, the UN set up the post of 'Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights', so we are acting a mere 30 years later!

The reality is, that being poor involves much more than material deprivation;

It affects one's dignity, opportunities and social integration;

There is even a little known-term – 'Aporophobia'- which describes the aversion, fear, systemic discrimination and stigma by society against poor people;

Ladies and gentlemen, the upcoming EU Anti-Poverty Strategy is a crucial opportunity to be seized, to change our attitude to and management of poverty within our societies.

The second point that I would like to make is that poverty is not irreversible;

Without doubt, poverty is a trap, that often starts at an early age and continues from one generation to the next;

And I would like to quote Ms Mînzatu, who in her confirmation hearing and written response to the European Parliament, stated that "The starting point (of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy) must be the root causes of poverty";

I fully agree and with that objective in mind, I will briefly enumerate a number of proposals that I believe the forthcoming strategy should include;

For example, integrating binding targets for poverty reduction, with local, national and European action plans working hand in hand;

Introducing poverty checks into all EU policies;

Improving poverty measurement methodologies, to also include what have been referred to as the 'missing poor' – for example, homeless people, Roma, undocumented migrants etc;

Focussing on data collection on intersectional poverty;

And last, but certainly not least: directly involving and supporting relevant civil society organisations, in particular representatives of people who are themselves experiencing poverty.   

I will bring my comments to a close by acknowledging that discussing poverty eradication alongside European security, defence and competitiveness is not an easy task;

But it is wise approach, because poverty leads to both apathy and to dangerous political extremism;

We already have enough of both of those in today's world;

My plea to you today is that the defence of democracy, rights and poverty eradication must be pursued together, as one singular objective!

Thank you for your attention.