Strengthening minimum income protection in the EU

Abstract

"KEY FINDINGS: Principle 14 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) lays the foundation for the right to an adequate minimum income. The Commission's Action Plan on the implementation of the EPSR - presented on March 4, 2021 - proposes a Council Recommendation on minimum income to be adopted in 2022. In parallel, the Action Plan sets a new target of reducing the number of persons at-risk-of poverty and social exclusion by at least 15 million in 2030. The European Parliament, on the other hand, is calling for legally enforceable social rights and for specific social objectives to be reached by 2030. Regardless of whether a directive or just a recommendation on a minimum income instrument to alleviate poverty and social exclusion is agreed upon, there are several aspects to be considered. First, the role of minimum income schemes (MIS) in the wider social protection systems of Member States should be taken into account. Institutional differences in national social protection arrangements are important to understand the role and scope of MIS in the respective Member State. Comparing minimum benefit levels alone gives an incomplete picture of the support that is available in practice for low-income households. Second, the monitoring framework at EU level has to be improved. A more coherent implementation of targets at national level compared to what happened under the EUROPE-2020 strategy is needed. Comparing the effectiveness of Member States' minimum income systems in terms of adequacy, access to benefits and enabling services also requires the collection of national administrative data, e.g. on the kind and extent of social and employment support and research on its impact on overcoming poverty. To derive suggestions for sound anti-poverty policies and to foster upward convergence in the EU it is important to review performance indicators such as at risk of poverty (AROP) which measures income inequality rather than poverty. Existing indicators need to be extended to include further dimensions, i.e. how far are the poor from the poverty line and the capacity of minimum income schemes to reach those in need. Recent improvements in this respect should be developed further and consequently incorporated into the European Semester" (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Konle-Seidl, R. (2021): Strengthening minimum income protection in the EU. Brüssel, 11 p. DOI:10.2861/80638