1 Seminar on urban-rural linkages fostering social cohesion in Europe Brussels, 2 July 2009 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Antonia CARPARELLI Head of Unit - Social inclusion and social aspects of migration

2 Outline Fighting poverty and social exclusion: the case for an integrated approach between territorial and social policies. The European Strategy for Social Inclusion: how it works, what has achieved and why it is relevant in the context of urban-rural linkages. The value added of the Open Method of Coordination in the area of Social Inclusion: the example of the Budapest conference on rural poverty.

3 Defining and measuring poverty Poverty definition agreed at European level Persons, families and groups of persons whose resources (material, cultural, social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member State in which they live. Headline indicator: people at-risk-of-poverty Percentage of people whose income is below 60% of the median income of the population of the Member State in which they live. This is the reference indicator to assess national antipoverty policies.

4 At-risk-of poverty rate in the EU (%), total, children and elderly, 2007

5 Material deprivation and at-risk-of-poverty rate (% of the total population) with relative poverty threshold (in -PPS per year for a family of one person)

6 The Social OMC The Social OMC: how does it work? Member States agree on common objectives for the European Union Common indicators are defined and developed with a view to measure progress towards the objectives The EU objectives are translated into national/regional policies (National Reports on Strategies for Social Protection and Social Inclusion) Commission and Member States (working together in the Social Protection Committee) conduct a common analysis and assessment of the National Reports: Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion The OMC promotes policy cooperation, mutual learning and exchange of good practices, good governance and stakeholders involvement, with the support of the Community Programme PROGRESS

7 The Social Inclusion Objectives access for all to the resources, rights and services needed for participation in society, addressing exclusion, and fighting all forms of discrimination the active social inclusion of all, both by promoting participation in the labour market and by fighting poverty and exclusion that social inclusion policies are well coordinated and involve all levels of government and relevant actors, including people experiencing poverty, that they are efficient and effective and mainstreamed into all relevant public policies Making a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty and social exclusion by ensuring:

8 The EU Social Inclusion Strategy: recent policy developments and key challenges Main policy developments in the last OMC cycle ( ) Report on Child poverty (Joint Report 2007) Active Inclusion of people furthest from the labor market (Commission Recommendation October 2008) Ongoing work in the current OMC cycle ( ) Interaction between growth and job agenda and the social objectives Monitoring the social impact of the crisis Homelessness and housing deprivation Social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities Other issues emerged within the Social OMC Financial exclusion Social impact of emigration Rural poverty …..

9 Budapest conference on rural poverty: some conclusions Social inclusion and anti-discrimination policies need to become more central in the implementation of cohesion and territorial programmes, particularly in rural areas. This is in fact essential to address the conditions of marginalised groups, such as Roma. Policy coordination at national level and at European level (regional policies, rural development policies and social policies) is essential to effectively address rural poverty. The scope and design of funding instruments in different policy areas (regional funds, European Social Fund and Rural Development) should be reconsidered, as there is evidence of inefficiencies and loopholes. Policies addressing rural-urban linkages have a strong potential for social innovation. This is very well illustrated by various experiences of social farming, capturing and addressing social problems typical of "urban-areas", such as drug addiction, mental health social inclusion of ex offenders There is consistent evidence that a rural-urban gap still exists and that the issue of poverty in rural areas suffers from a lack of visibility both in national and EU policies.

10 Source: Zsuzsa Ferge, Social policies can make a difference: European urban-rural disparities in child poverty, Presentation to the Budapest Conference on Rural Poverty based on EU-SILC data Is there still an urban-rural gap?

11 The urban-rural gap: a very diverse Europe… Source: Zsuzsa Ferge, Social policies can make a difference: European urban-rural disparities in child poverty, Presentation to the Budapest Conference on Rural Poverty based on EU-SILC data

12 Conclusions Urban-rural linkages in Europe: a multiple, non linear, emerging complexity (M. Shucksmith) Understanding this diversity matters because it can provide the basis for improving the quality of public policies, at local and at European level. Dealing with diversity: the open method of coordination as a driver for change and innovation. The compelling need for an integrated approach: the social dimension has a crucial importance for territorial development and the local dimension is key for social inclusion policies.

13 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Further Information DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Social Inclusion website spsi/poverty_social_exclusion_en.htm