Europe 2020: where are we now and what way forward?

This report focuses on the progress of the Europe 2020 Strategy in the areas of poverty and employment from the perspective of Caritas Europa and its member organisations.

The paper has been drafted based on the information provided by 27 member organisations as well as the network’s daily experience in working with the most excluded people in the EU. Furthermore, it presents other relevant sources that stress Caritas Europa’s arguments. The report also takes into account findings from previews years’ Caritas Europa Shadow Reports (2011, 2012 and 2013).

The report makes recommendations on the issues that should be specifically addressed in the AGS, CSRs and NRPs in order to increase the chances of achieving the Europe 2020 targets on poverty reduction and employment. Among them the key targets are: child and family poverty, tackling the consequences of the austerity measures’ impact on access to services and social protection, poverty among youth as well as in-work poverty. It also provides information on how specific EU initiatives, such as the Recommendation on Investing in Children, Roma Integration Strategies or the Youth Guarantee, are developing in practical terms in the different Member States, and how EU funds, notably the European Social Fund, are contributing to the entire process.

At a time close to the Europe 2020 Strategy’s milestone being reviewed, Caritas Europa highlights the lack of progress on the employment target and expresses its concern about the poverty target further distancing itself from its objective: since 2010, poverty and social exclusion have in fact grown all across Europe. Achieving the Europe 2020 social objectives will not be practicable unless substantial changes are undertaken as soon as possible. Furthermore, daily experience in the field and data provided by Caritas member organisations, demonstrate that sometimes official statistics neither reflect the deepening forms of poverty and social exclusion in the EU (particularly extreme forms of exclusion) nor the deterioration of the labour market situation and its dramatic consequences.

Caritas Europa observes with growing concern that the Europe 2020 Strategy does not appear to be a relevant driver for national policies and that, unfortunately, for many Member States it represents little more than just a paper exercise with very little relevance at national level. Furthermore, during recent years, austerity measures have been driving the core EU policies, and a severe deterioration of the labour market situation (e.g. unemployment, in-work poverty) has further fuelled poverty and social exclusion. The Europe 2020 targets related to the latter have had little relevancy in the European Semester Process and are not being translated into effective measures by Member States.