Adoption: 14/10/2025
An EU anti-poverty strategy
SEDEC-VIII/003
To contribute to the formulation of the upcoming (2026) EU anti-poverty strategy.
To identify good practices, in local and regional level, that have brought tangible results against poverty and assess whether they can be upscaled.
To clarify the EU and Member States competences and propose ways to maximise the effect of EU support in anti-poverty policies.
To identify good practices, in local and regional level, that have brought tangible results against poverty and assess whether they can be upscaled.
To clarify the EU and Member States competences and propose ways to maximise the effect of EU support in anti-poverty policies.
Many points from the opinion were taken up in the European Parlament's report on on developing a new EU anti-poverty strategy; firstly there is the acknowledgement of taking into account the opinion of the CoR; furthermore, the EP report focuses on topics that appear in the CoR opinion, such as: targeted interventions for outermost regions (point AF); lack of services (pont AG and point 46); digital exclusion (points 40 and 41); coordination with LRAs and respecting the subsidiarity principle (points 6, 60, 61, 64); essential services (points 18, 19, 21, 28, 46); imprtance of cohesion and funding through ESF and ERDF through a simplified procedure (points 67,68, 70); energy poverty (point 69); involvement of civil society organisations (points 6, 15, 57, 59); need to tackle intergenerational reproduction of poverty (points 21, 47); minimum income (point 16).
In the document "European Commission position on points of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) opinion considered as essential", the European Commission "takes note of the Committee’s recommendations for the Strategy and recognises that poverty is multidimensional". It also shares the opinion's suggestions on children (points 34, 100, 101), active inclusion (points 42, 43, 54, 84), role of LRAs (points 23, 57, 62, 65, 70), disadvantaged regions (points 61, 121), implementation and monitoring (points 27, 48, 49, 50, 53), Involving people experiencing poverty (paragraph 36), Equal treatment Directive and Pay Transparency Directive (points 45, 94), Minimum income (points 79, 80), Minimum wages (point 89), Access to social protection (point 95), European Job Guarantee (point 88), Youth (points 91, 93), Homelessness (points 103, 106, 108), Energy poverty (points 41, 111, 112), Transport poverty (points 19, 59, 63, 113).
In the document "European Commission position on points of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) opinion considered as essential", the European Commission "takes note of the Committee’s recommendations for the Strategy and recognises that poverty is multidimensional". It also shares the opinion's suggestions on children (points 34, 100, 101), active inclusion (points 42, 43, 54, 84), role of LRAs (points 23, 57, 62, 65, 70), disadvantaged regions (points 61, 121), implementation and monitoring (points 27, 48, 49, 50, 53), Involving people experiencing poverty (paragraph 36), Equal treatment Directive and Pay Transparency Directive (points 45, 94), Minimum income (points 79, 80), Minimum wages (point 89), Access to social protection (point 95), European Job Guarantee (point 88), Youth (points 91, 93), Homelessness (points 103, 106, 108), Energy poverty (points 41, 111, 112), Transport poverty (points 19, 59, 63, 113).
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS (CoR)
- recalls that poverty is a violation of human rights;
- recalls that, in 2024, no less than 93.3 million people (21% of the EU population) were at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU;
- recalls that poverty is a combination of individual, social and structural factors;
- calls on the European Commission to apply a local dimension to poverty indicators at NUTS 3 level to accurately identify areas with intensive rates of poverty;
- recommends ensuring the implementation and monitoring of the EU Anti-Poverty strategy using the Child Guarantee methodology and by appointing an EU Anti-Poverty coordinator within the European Commission;
- recalls that local and regional authorities are at the forefront of fighting poverty;
- calls on the European Commission to prepare a directive on adequate minimum income;
- calls on the Commission’s EU Affordable Housing Plan to address homelessness, including rehousing and prevention, and a focus on social housing;
- suggest a ‘poverty check’ be done as part of the impact assessment of any EU policy with criteria aligned with the EPSR;
- calls on the European Commission to include an in-work poverty reduction sub-target as part of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan;
- calls for ensuring adequate funding of social protection systems and a social investment approach that enables Member States to exclude this funding, as well as investment in public and social housing, from the excessive deficit procedure of the Stability and Growth Pact;
- calls for a greater proportion of EU -funds to be allocated to social investment and cohesion policies that support the most marginalised and vulnerable in the EU;
- calls on the Commission to increase the earmarking for severe material deprivation and accompanying measures in the European Social Fund+ from 3 to 10%.
- recalls that poverty is a violation of human rights;
- recalls that, in 2024, no less than 93.3 million people (21% of the EU population) were at risk of poverty and social exclusion in the EU;
- recalls that poverty is a combination of individual, social and structural factors;
- calls on the European Commission to apply a local dimension to poverty indicators at NUTS 3 level to accurately identify areas with intensive rates of poverty;
- recommends ensuring the implementation and monitoring of the EU Anti-Poverty strategy using the Child Guarantee methodology and by appointing an EU Anti-Poverty coordinator within the European Commission;
- recalls that local and regional authorities are at the forefront of fighting poverty;
- calls on the European Commission to prepare a directive on adequate minimum income;
- calls on the Commission’s EU Affordable Housing Plan to address homelessness, including rehousing and prevention, and a focus on social housing;
- suggest a ‘poverty check’ be done as part of the impact assessment of any EU policy with criteria aligned with the EPSR;
- calls on the European Commission to include an in-work poverty reduction sub-target as part of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan;
- calls for ensuring adequate funding of social protection systems and a social investment approach that enables Member States to exclude this funding, as well as investment in public and social housing, from the excessive deficit procedure of the Stability and Growth Pact;
- calls for a greater proportion of EU -funds to be allocated to social investment and cohesion policies that support the most marginalised and vulnerable in the EU;
- calls on the Commission to increase the earmarking for severe material deprivation and accompanying measures in the European Social Fund+ from 3 to 10%.