Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty, including child poverty, in the EU

The Council held a policy debate in preparation for the Spring European Council on the issue of child poverty.

Recognising that 19 million children in the EU live at risk of poverty, the Council believes that equal opportunities for all must be ensured, and that an increase in efforts to improve the educational level of each child is required, in order to break the transmission of poverty and exclusion to the next generation. The Council notes that the best-performing Member States target the most disadvantaged children within a broader universal approach. Efforts to tackle poverty – of children and overall – will gain leverage from an evidence-based diagnosis of the main causes of poverty and exclusion in each Member State. In this context, national quantified objectives can be instrumental in making a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty. This can be further strengthened by regular monitoring of the impact and effectiveness of policies and, where needed, by a reinforcement of statistical capacity.

The Council believes that sustained efforts will be required in the Member States to improve this situation, during, and beyond, the next cycle of the Lisbon strategy.