Social exclusion: Community action programme 2001-2005 to encourage cooperation between Member States

PURPOSE : proposal for a decision on Community action programme which enables the Union and the Member States to enhance the effectivenesss of policies to combat social exclusion. CONTENT : The Lisbon European Council of March 2000 incorporated the promotion of social inclusion as intrinsic to the Union's overall strategy to become the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. It agreed that policies for combating social exclusion should be based on an open method of coordination combining national action plans and a Commission initiative for cooperation. This programme will run from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2005. The financial reference amount is EUR 70 million. Its objectives are: -improving the understanding of social exclusion; -organising policy cooperation and mutual learning in the context of the national action plan -developing the capacity of actors to address social exclusion effectively, in particular through networking at EU level. The following actions will be implemented within a transnational frameork: -analysis of characteristics, causes, processes and trends in social exclusion, including the collection of comparable statistics, the development of common methodologies and thematic studies; -policy cooperaion and exchange of information and best practices on the basis of the development of quantitiative nad qualitative indicators and benchmarks and through periodic monitoring, evaluation and peer review; -promotion of dialogue involving the various stakeolders and support to networking at European levl between NGO's active in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. An annual Round table conference on Social Exclusion organised in collaboration with the EU Presidency will be held.�