Alarming poverty statistics
The EP’s plenary session in October saw the MEPs debate, amongst others, the results of the European Year of Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion and the possibility of creating databases about racial and ethnical origins in the EU.
Here follows the remarks of DAHR’s MEP Csaba Sógor:
„Madam President,
The UN declared October 17th the World Day of Poverty in 1992. The same organization committed itself to reduce by half the number of people living in poverty in fifteen years. We are now at the two third of that period and, based on the analysis of the situation, we are forced to admit that the poverty statistics are alarming; we fall short of the indicators. Still, the need and expectation are high: 73% of the EU population consider the spread of poverty as the main problem, 89% of the citizens require immediate action and 74% expect the EU to play an important role in the eradication of poverty. In contrast, 6 million EU citizens lost their jobs in the last two years, and child poverty is ever growing.
We recognize employment as the most effective means of combating poverty, but Jean Monet’s social Europe model has been overshadowed by economic interests.
Economic growth aims at providing the well-being of the citizens, but it is worthless without effective social measures and the drastic reduction of the current poverty level. Social policy is the duty and responsibility of the member states, but I think that we need to find common answers to the most urgent issues through the greater use of the open method of coordination and the exchange of best practices.”
„Mr. President,
European and international law clearly prohibits ethnical discrimination, yet the suspicion often arises, that member states implicitly discriminate against the minorities living on their territory. I do not want to talk about the implicit discrimination; rather I would call the attention of my colleagues to an existing law that explicitly disadvantages a national minority. Although the new Slovakian government has modified the State Language Law in a good way, but it still contains the possibility of financial punishment on form of fines fines; therefore it is perfectly capable of intimidating and keeping in uncertainty non-Slovak citizens. I would like to ask the European Parliament and the European Commission to examine and condemn all acts of ethnical or racial discrimination in the EU.”
„Madam President,
The UN declared October 17th the World Day of Poverty in 1992. The same organization committed itself to reduce by half the number of people living in poverty in fifteen years. We are now at the two third of that period and, based on the analysis of the situation, we are forced to admit that the poverty statistics are alarming; we fall short of the indicators. Still, the need and expectation are high: 73% of the EU population consider the spread of poverty as the main problem, 89% of the citizens require immediate action and 74% expect the EU to play an important role in the eradication of poverty. In contrast, 6 million EU citizens lost their jobs in the last two years, and child poverty is ever growing.
We recognize employment as the most effective means of combating poverty, but Jean Monet’s social Europe model has been overshadowed by economic interests.
Economic growth aims at providing the well-being of the citizens, but it is worthless without effective social measures and the drastic reduction of the current poverty level. Social policy is the duty and responsibility of the member states, but I think that we need to find common answers to the most urgent issues through the greater use of the open method of coordination and the exchange of best practices.”
„Mr. President,
European and international law clearly prohibits ethnical discrimination, yet the suspicion often arises, that member states implicitly discriminate against the minorities living on their territory. I do not want to talk about the implicit discrimination; rather I would call the attention of my colleagues to an existing law that explicitly disadvantages a national minority. Although the new Slovakian government has modified the State Language Law in a good way, but it still contains the possibility of financial punishment on form of fines fines; therefore it is perfectly capable of intimidating and keeping in uncertainty non-Slovak citizens. I would like to ask the European Parliament and the European Commission to examine and condemn all acts of ethnical or racial discrimination in the EU.”
