Even though all EU countries now have elements of state minimum income protection, these are often insufficient to prevent poverty. Therefore, the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) demands that the EU Member States be legally obliged by an EU regulation to design basic social protection systems in such a way that they guarantee a decent life for all citizens. An opinion commissioned by the DGB shows that such a regulation could already be introduced at EU level. It depends only on political will.

For more information, see: https://www.dgb.de/-/CnZ

The Synthesis Report of the Peer Review on “Minimum Income Benefits – securing a life in dignity, enabling access to services and integration into the labour market”, that took place in Berlin (Germany) on 15-16 November 2018, is now available.

You can read the Synthesis Report Synthesis Report – Peer Review on _Minimum Income Schemes_Berlin_Nov2019  Other papers produced as part of this Peer Review can be seen on the European Commission website:

https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1024&newsId=9229&furtherNews=yes&preview=cHJldkVtcGxQb3J0YWwhMjAxMjAyMTVwcmV2aWV3

Last week the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a very powerful report (rapporteur, Georges Dassis) on the right to a decent minimum income.

Despite economic recovery and decreasing unemployment, poverty still is unacceptably high, says the report. That demonstrates that ‘soft law’ such as the open method of coordination and the European Semester need to be accompanied by more binding legal tools. The EESC urges for the adoption of an EU framework directive taking into account the standard of living in countries, based on a common EU methodology of reference budgets. The report states that nobody should hide behind the subsidiarity principle any more, but that the existing legal bases should be used to realize people’s human rights. This could make action to reinforce the minimum income principle a key priority for implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The report refers to the work of EMIN and EAPN and to the research of the Antwerp University, our partners in EMIN, working on reference budgets”.

For more information see https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/our-work/opinions-information-reports/opinions/european-framework-directive-minimum-income-own-initiative-opinion

This Caritas Europa newsletter focuses on the need for an adequate minimum income as an essential element in a strategy to eradicate poverty and promote social justice. It includes an article from Anne Van Lancker, EMIN policy coordinator. 

It marks 20 February UN World Day of Social Justice, which recognises the need to eradicate poverty and to promote access to social well-being and justice for all. It is essential for people with insufficient financial means and for the society they live in, that they can access adequate Minimum Income to enable them to escape poverty and to live in dignity. The newsletter argues this case.

Access the newsletter here

The experiment was begun on 1 January 2017 and ended on 31 December 2018. In the experiment, 2000 randomly selected unemployed persons were paid a monthly tax-exempt basic income of 560 euros regardless of any other income they may have had or whether they were actively looking for work. The recipients of a basic income were selected through random sampling among those who in November 2016 received an unemployment benefit from Kela (an independent social security institution). The control group consisted of those who in November 2016 received an unemployment benefit from Kela but were not selected for the experiment.

The evaluation of the experiment studies the effects of the basic income on the employment status and income and wellbeing of the participants. The provisional findings, found that the basic income experiment did not increase the employment level of the participants in the first year of the experiment. The employment register data is available with a one year delay, which means that the results for the second year of the experiment will be published in the first months of 2020. However, at the end of the experiment the recipients of a basic income perceived their wellbeing as being better than did those in the control group. ‘The recipients of a basic income had less stress symptoms as well as less difficulties to concentrate and less health problems than the control group. They were also more confident in their future and in their ability to influence societal issues’, according to Minna Ylikännö, Lead Researcher at Kela.

For more information see https://www.kela.fi/web/en/news-archive/-/asset_publisher/lN08GY2nIrZo/content/preliminary-results-of-the-basic-income-experiment-self-perceived-wellbeing-improved-during-the-first-year-no-effects-on-employment

Experts argue that European Monetary Union (EMU) has to be completed by ‘automatic fiscal stabilisers’. Welfare states have built-in stabilisers which cushion economic shocks—unemployment benefits, for instance, support the purchasing power of people who lose their jobs and so sustain effective demand. The argument about EMU is that a monetary union needs mechanisms to buttress or complement the automatic stabilisers of its member states. One option would be reinsurance of national unemployment-benefit schemes at the eurozone level.

A survey across European Countries found surprising levels of support for such an initiative. Read more https://www.socialeurope.eu/unemployment-reinsurance

See the latest Newsletter from the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/2019/01/gcspf-newsletter-19-january-2019/ This edition outlines policy consideration that the GCSPF believe that the IMF should take account of when preparing its new institutional view on how to address social protection in its work with member countries.  The GCSPF also critiques the World bank consistent view that Social Protection is for the ‘poor’ arguing instead in favour of truly universal social protection systems.

This edition also highlights the European Parliament’s Intergroup on Fighting against Poverty and EAPN’s event in the European Parliament, exchanging on the European Anti-Poverty Network’s 2018 Poverty Watch Reports.

Ahead of the next European elections, the Sustainable Equality Report championed by the S&D Group through its Progressive Society initiative makes more than 100 concrete policy proposals aimed to re-empower people, to re-shape capitalism, to re-build social justice, to ensure real social-ecological progress and to radically change the way European economic, social and environmental policies are framed.

Anne Van Lancker, policy coordinator for EMIN, was invited to take part in the development of the report. A decent income guarantee for those whether in or out of work and who have insufficient means of financial support through a European framework directive on adequate minimum income is one of the recommendations in the report

You can access the report here: S&D_ProgressiveSociety-SustainableEquality

An Executive Summary of the publication in five different languages is also available here: https://www.progressivesociety.eu/publication/report-independent-commission-sustainable-equality-2019-2024

The Bus journey “Everyone on the Bus: Nobody deserves less, everybody benefits” was one of the activities held within the framework of ENIM2. The activity’s aim was to raise awareness and understanding of the importance of European Minimum Income Schemes. For two months two buses travelled through 32 European countries. Actions sought to mobilise the general society and public entities to reflect and discuss the importance of ensuring adequate minimum income schemes. The bus was in Porto between 5 and 7 of May and in Lisbon between 8 and 10 of May 2018.

This report gives an account of the activities carried out under this initiative, including free visits to the bus, a seminar on minimum income schemes, four workshops with RSI beneficiaries and two workshops with social works who deal with RSI processes and beneficiaries. .

Read the report and see images here Portugal Report Everyone on the Bus_english version

At the eve of a planned reform of the Austrian system of minimum income, the conference highlighted different perspectives on needs-based minimum income support. The key note speaker analysed the plans. “The cutbacks of minimum income support are mainly for Austrians and also for those who have jobs from which they cannot live,” says Walter Pfeil, Professor of Social Law at the University of Salzburg, in his presentation at the Poverty Conference. “Many proposals for the new regulation of the minimum income protection are probably unconstitutional and contrary to EU law.”, says Pfeil. What he really worried about as a law professor is that here “constitutional principles are trampled on”. The law professor refers to the principle of objectivity and cites the Constitutional Court, which argues with the “securing of a decent life”.

“Social protection is a prerequisite for social investment,” explains Karin Heitzmann, professor at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Livelihood security is a precondition. “When social protection is cut, the economic returns on social investment are also reduced,” says Heitzmann. There are negative consequences for health, educational opportunities of the children, housing situation or inclusion. “These are also costs,” says the economist. Continue reading →