17.5.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 139/59

—

reiterates the need for a European initiative for the most deprived people in the European Union in order to meet the objective set by the EU under the Europe 2020 Strategy of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 20 million by 2020;

—

recognizes the need for a change in the legal basis of the programme (Article 174 TFEU), but suggests that a dual basis be used from 2014, also making reference to Article 39 TFEU in order to maintain continuity and the link with the objectives of the common agricultural policy;

—

welcomes the Commission's intention of going beyond the basic objective of the current programme for the most deprived persons, believing that combining food aid for the most deprived with measures to alleviate child poverty and homelessness and with coordination with the ESF will provide an opportunity to carry out multifunctional activities and to simultaneously tackle the emergence of shortcomings in various basic needs;

—

welcomes the fact that the Commission proposal gives local and regional authorities the possibility to play an active role in distributing aid to those in need;

—

rejects the principle of voluntary Member State participation as this could deprive local and regional authorities of access to the fund without providing for any participatory, democratic consultation mechanism at national or European level or taking account of the challenges of combating poverty and exclusion at sub-national level;

—

believes that for regions affected by the economic crisis and cohesion regions the programme should be financed in full using EU funds, since this is justified as a sign of cohesion between European citizens, regions and peoples;

—

underlines that the proposed level of funding is too low, with the current level of appropriations being cut significantly (by 30 % under the Commission proposal and by as much as 40 % under the Council proposal), and calls at the very least for the current level of appropriations to be maintained.

Rapporteur

Ossi MARTIKAINEN (FI/ALDE), Chairman of Lapinlahti Municipal Council

Reference document

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived

COM(2012) 617 final/2

1.

reiterates the need for a European initiative for the most deprived people in the European Union in order to meet the objective set by the EU under the Europe 2020 Strategy of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 20 million by 2020. This objective is all the more pressing given that the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion rose by six million to 119.6 million between 2009 and 2011. This move away from the Europe 2020 Strategy objective makes it all the more difficult to understand the decision of the European Council of 7 and 8 February 2013 to propose a EUR 1 billion cut in the budget allocated to European aid to the most deprived;

2.

recognises the need for a change in the legal basis of the programme (Article 174 TFEU) but suggests that a dual basis be used from 2014, also making reference to Article 39 TFEU in order to maintain continuity and the link with the objectives of the common agricultural policy;

3.

stresses the importance of the subsidiarity principle in drawing up an effective strategy for aid to the most deprived;

4.

is critical of the Commission proposal's lack of consistency with the Europe 2020 Strategy, in that it makes no reference to the indicator of the number of people at risk of poverty, which is one of the three indicators used in the Europe 2020 Strategy to assess the European objective of social inclusion and reduction of poverty;

5.

regards as important and understandable that the Commission has 1) proposed a new legislative basis which avoids the conflict established by the European Court of Justice concerning the acquisition of food aid products on the market and 2) put forward a new programme with broader functions which creates a framework for the continuation of aid measures and at the same time makes the outcomes of these measures more effective and sustainable;

6.

believes that combining food aid for the most deprived with measures to alleviate child poverty and homelessness and with coordination with the ESF will provide an opportunity to carry out multifunctional activities and to simultaneously tackle the emergence of shortcomings in various basic needs;

7.

welcomes the Commission's intention of going beyond the basic objective of the current programme for the most deprived persons but fears that the longer list of aspects of poverty which the new fund is supposed to address will only dilute its final impact, particularly as the European Council's position means that resources are likely to be cut by almost 30 % (EUR 3.5 billion for the most deprived persons programme in 2007-2013 and EUR 2.5 billion for the new fund in 2014-2020);

8.

points out that in many cases the ESF's administrative procedures have proven to be cumbersome for stakeholders and, with respect to the new tool to meet the basic needs of the most deprived, urges that unnecessarily detailed regulation be avoided;

9.

believes that given the protracted nature of the economic crisis, the tool to assist the most deprived should not take resources from the ESF but rather would need its own longer-term funding through the allocation of the necessary appropriations from heading 2 of the multiannual financial framework;

10.

welcomes the fact that the Commission proposal gives local and regional authorities the possibility to play an active role in distributing aid to those in need and believes that this active role can reduce administrative burdens and procedures at national and EU level, because local and regional authorities use in their own activities well-developed procedures and auditing rules based on national and EU legislation;

11.

draws attention to the WHO's strategy entitled Health21 – Health for All in the 21st Century, which stresses the urgent need to reduce social and economic inequities in improving the health of the whole population. In parallel, the WHO calls for a series of measures particularly targeting those most in need, burdened by ill-health, addressing inadequate services for health and tackling health-related and social disadvantages (point II of the preamble to the WHO Declaration entitled Health21, adopted at the 51st World Health Assembly);

12.

notes that, although the food aid programme for the most deprived in its new form is combined with other social integration and solidarity tools, its background and previous activities as part of the CAP were fully justified since in essence the CAP seeks to ensure sufficient and affordable food for EU citizens (Article 39(1)(e)) and to guarantee security of supply (Article 39(1)(d));

13.

believes therefore that new programmes also should retain the possibility of being able to use any surplus agricultural products (intervention stocks). Use of these surpluses should not, however, be deducted from the fund's budget;

14.

believes it is important for the proposed legislation to give the Commission, national authorities and local and regional authorities a clear set of rules and the possibility to tackle any discernable shortcomings, because at issue here is a particularly sensitive area of activity from the point of view of public confidence and the EU's legitimacy. Different views exist on the necessity, functioning and outcomes of this area of activity in the various Member States and their regions;

15.

rejects the principle of voluntary Member State participation as this could deprive local and regional authorities of access to the fund without providing for any participatory, democratic consultation mechanism at national or European level or taking account of the challenges of combating poverty and exclusion at sub-national level;

16.

believes that for regions affected by the economic crisis and cohesion regions the programme should be financed in full using EU funds;

17.

calls on the institutions to consider that co-financing may lead to the tool not being introduced, even though the economic and social situation of many regions means that such a tool is necessary;

18.

urges the Commission, in line with its previous opinion, to continue to assess whether the appropriations allocated to this measure are sufficient and points out that it already thought the previous level of funding (EUR 500m per year) was inadequate; for various reasons this need has only kept on growing which means that the proposed level of funding is too low, with the current level of appropriations being cut significantly (by 30 % under the Commission proposal and by as much as 40 % under the Council proposal). The Committee calls at the very least for the current level of appropriations to be maintained;

19.

recognises that a sufficient, varied and healthy diet is a basic right affirmed in many international human rights agreements and declarations and that this right should be ensured for all EU citizens and residents at all levels;

20.

points out that poor nutrition among the most deprived stems from many different but also interrelated phenomena, such as:

21.

believes that in order to solve these wide-ranging and multi-faceted problems effective EU policies and funding are needed;

22.

believes that ensuring an adequate and varied diet for EU citizens must continue to be a key basic function of the CAP. The Committee calls for reform of the agricultural policy so that food pricing on the market is transparent and that primary agricultural production remains profitable in all EU regions;

23.

believes that although market trends, the development of yields in recent years and changes in patterns of consumption have reduced surplus agricultural products, these may continue to be accumulated in future too and using them as aid for deprived people would be important for the EU's legitimacy;

24.

stresses that point 12 above can be justified by the fact that right from the beginning the CAP has been one of the key areas of EU policy and will remain as such. Incorporating it into the legislative basis for the new tool (dual legislative basis) would ensure the long-term continuation of aid for the most deprived despite the fact that current challenges may impose a long-term burden on the funding of the EU's other policies, such as social cohesion;

25.

points out that the socio-economic situation of European regions also varies within the Member States and believes that the proposed programme is needed to complement those measures in the interests of European cohesion and solidarity which are carried out by each Member State and its local and regional authorities. In this sense, the proposed programme is based firmly on the EU's shared set of values and the fundamental idea of European integration;

26.

feels it is important for the various objectives to be combined within the framework of the new fund with a view to preventing the causes of poverty and exclusion, because homelessness, poor nutrition and social deprivation of families with children have an impact on each other. However, the Committee points out that the programmes which preceded the new tool focussed on nutrition, the lack of which has clearly become once again a genuine long-term problem in many regions. Consequently, the Committee calls on the Member States and regions to stress the importance of food aid in implementing the programmes and, on this basis, to help citizens also benefit from programmes and measures which alleviate homelessness and social exclusion;

27.

notes that points 16-18 above are based on the fact that: