Discussing strategies for social Europe: The potential role of EU law in contributing to the Union’s policy objective of fighting poverty and social exclusion
| Author | Ane Aranguiz,Herwig Verschueren |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262720973218 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Published date | 01 December 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
EJSS
Editorial
European Journal of Social Security
2020, Vol. 22(4) 367–375
Discussing strategies for social
ª The Author(s) 2020
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Europe: The potential role
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DOI: 10.1177/1388262720973218
of EU law in contributing to
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the Union’s policy objective
of fighting poverty and social
exclusion
Ane Aranguiz
University of Antwerp, Venusstraat, Antwerp, Belgium
Herwig Verschueren
University of Antwerp, Venusstraat, Antwerp, Belgium
Abstract
Anti-poverty strategies have been on the EU agenda for decades. In 2010, perhaps most saliently,
Member States pledged to lift 20 million people out of poverty as part of the ten-year Europe 2020
Strategy. By the end of 2019, it became clear that this headline target was nowhere close to being
achieved. In view of the disappointing results of previous EU strategies in combating poverty, a
seminar was held on 5 December 2019 at the University of Antwerp to discuss future strategies
for social Europe and the role of EU law in contributing to the policy objective of fighting poverty
and social exclusion. This Special Issue is the result of that expert seminar. Sections 1 and 2 of this
editorial place this Special Issue in context by explaining what led us to discuss the need for a more
involved EU in matters of poverty and social exclusion and what has changed since then. Overall,
we argue that the underwhelming results of previous EU anti-poverty strategies might point
towards the need to do more, also by means of EU law. This need for further action has become as
imminent as ever in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Section 3 presents an outline of the Special
Issue and explains how the different contributions relate to each other.
Keywords
Social Europe, EU law, poverty, social exclusion, Europe 2020 Strategy
Corresponding author:
Ane Aranguiz, Postdoctoral Researcher of the Faculty of Law and the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University
of Antwerp, Venusstraat 23, Belgium.
E-mail: ane.fernandezdearanguiz@uantwerpen.be
368
European Journal of Social Security 22(4)
1. Introduction
Over a decade ago, with the adoption of the Europe 2020 Strategy, Member States pledged to lift
20 million people out of poverty over the course of the next ten years. In spite of this commitment,
the latest data from 2019 showed that over 113 million people were still living at risk of poverty
and social exclusion, meaning that the headline target did not even live up to a quarter of its
expectations. Even though this reduction still represents a considerable drop from its peak in 2012,
when 123 million people were at risk of poverty and social exclusion, the underwhelming results of
the Europe 2020 Strategy in terms of poverty reduction expose very clearly the inability of current
social protection structures to absorb the social impact of an economic crisis as well as the poor
management of the 2007 recession in terms of social costs.
Against this backdrop, in December 2019 we held an expert seminar where a series of questions
surrounding the policy objective of combatting poverty and social exclusion at the EU level were
posed. At this event, we specifically addressed the incongruence between a quite developed EU
policy strategy and a well-embedded legal objective on the one hand, and the lack of direct legal
action, on the other. As such, our main goal lay in discussing the potential role of EU law in
contributing to the policy objective of combatting poverty and social exclusion and accordingly,
pointing to a number of relevant areas that should or could be included in a future strategy. This
Special Issue was conceived as a way of disseminating the outcomes of that expert seminar and,
thus, producing a collection of a number of pertinent questions that should be considered in future
EU strategies. In spite of the alarmingly high proportion of people living at risk of poverty and the
disappointing results of the Europe 2020 Strategy in addressing this issue, the general tone of the
conversation felt quite optimistic. This was probably because, at the time, many of us were starting
to embrace the wind of change that accompanies a certain degree of economic recovery as the
effects of the crisis started to fade and the institutions displayed signs of proactivity in respect of
delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR).
Little did we know at the time that the tables would turn so swiftly, and that within a few months
every shred of optimism would be put into question. In the face of what is quickly unfolding as the
next great economic crisis, the discouraging results of what a decade ago was considered a major
breakthrough for social Europe demonstrate the enormous challenge that effectively tackling
poverty and social exclusion represents for a post-COVID-19 pandemic society. As a result, the
questions that we posed a few months ago with the idea of discussing relevant challenges regarding
the future role of EU law in the alleviation of poverty have promptly become more pertinent than
ever. 2020 marks not only an opportunity to embark upon a new ten-year-strategy but, perhaps
more importantly, it represents a second chance for Europe to learn from past mistakes and manage
this current crisis with not only economic interest at heart, but also faithful to its commitment to
become a ‘social market economy’, with the well-being of society as a leading priority. Accord-
ingly, in the following Editorial we discuss the current role of EU law and whether more, and if so,
what, can be done to improve the living standards of the EU population at a time of economic
distress.
2. Poverty and social exclusion in a nutshell
Whether at risk of relative poverty, severely materially deprived, or living in a household with very
low work intensity, almost one in four people in the EU are still at risk of poverty and social
exclusion. This amounts to 113 million people. In particular, data show that 16.9% of the
Aranguiz and Verschueren
369
population, which totals over 85 million in the EU, were at risk of income poverty in 2017,
meaning that their disposable income was below their national at-risk-of-poverty threshold.1 The
amount of people living at risk of poverty is, moreover, underpinned by growing inequalities both
within and between Member States and, as such, poverty...
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