The European Union has set a goal of eradicating poverty by 2050. Is that realistic?
Léa Marchal
Production: By Europod, in co-production with Sphera Network.
EUobserver is proud to have an editorial partnership with Europod to co-publish the podcast series “Briefed” hosted by Léa Marchal. The podcast is available on all major platforms.
Find the full transcript below:
Poverty rates are struggling to decline in the EU, even as action plans and strategies continue to multiply.
The European Union has set a goal of eradicating poverty by 2050.
Is that realistic?
In the EU, one in five people is considered to be living in poverty. The number of homeless people alone—around 1 million—has doubled in recent years, according to NGOs.
This is a crisis that the European Commission, together with Member States, aims to eradicate by 2050.
By 2030 — just four years from now — the EU already aims to reduce the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million.
So, on Wednesday, the European Commission presented a new strategy to fight poverty.
What does it involve?
First and foremost, it consists of recommendations addressed to the 27 EU Member States. It is then up to them whether or not to implement them.
So what exactly is the Commission proposing?
It outlines a wide range of actions, often in fairly broad terms.
It starts with housing — and therefore homelessness.
As commissioner for social affairs Roxana Mînzatu put it, anyone without a roof over their head lacks the foundation on which to build a future.
As a result, all EU countries should adopt a strategy on access to housing and tackling homelessness. That’s the first recommendation.
The Commission then lists a number of measures aimed at supporting people at risk of exclusion.
For example:
setting up early warning systems to identify households at risk creating emergency mechanisms to help pay rent
On the prevention side, Member States are encouraged to regularly assess the adequacy of social benefits in light of the cost of living.
Beyond housing, the Commission also places strong emphasis on employment.
It argues that bringing people back into the labour market is a key factor in lifting them out of poverty.
So it presents dozens of measures like these, which do seem relevant and potentially effective in tackling poverty.
But should we expect real results?
Are Europeans truly in a position to meet the targets set?
Well, the Commission believes that, even if we are still far from reaching them, setting targets is better than nothing. It provides direction.
NGO Caritas, which works to combat poverty and social exclusion, even argues that these targets should have been more ambitious.
Then there’s the nature of the proposal itself — it is not binding.
Ultimately, the Commission can put forward many good ideas, but social policy remains the responsibility of member states.
And we’ve seen it with similar initiatives: recommendations do not always translate into action.
Take the example of minimum income.
In 2023, the EU adopted recommendations on this issue, rather than a binding directive.
According to Caritas, while the content of the text was highly relevant, it has not been effectively implemented across the 27 member states.
This is also what a study by the European Anti-Poverty Network found: most minimum income schemes in the EU are still below the poverty threshold.
More broadly, we are even seeing a decline in social benefits across the continent.
And there’s an important piece of context here: many EU countries are currently under pressure to reduce public spending due to EU fiscal rules.
This is leading to reforms often compared to austerity measures, which further weaken already vulnerable populations.
