41989X1031

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND OF THE MINISTERS FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL of 29 September 1989 on combating social exclusion (89/C 277/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE MINISTERS FOR SOCIAL AFFAIRS MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL, 1. RECALL the efforts already undertaken by the Community and the Member States to combat poverty and to promote the economic and social integration of economically and socially disadvantaged groups of people, demonstrated specifically in the adoption of the third programme to combat poverty.

EMPHASIZE that combating social exclusion may be regarded as an important part of the social dimension of the internal market;

2. NOTE that the process of social exclusion is spreading in a number of fields, resulting in many different types of situation affecting various individuals and groups of people in both rural and urban areas;

3. NOTE that the reasons for this process lie in structural changes in our societies and that, of these, difficulty of access to the labour market is a particularly decisive factor;

4. URGE the need for economic development policies to be accompanied by integration policies of a specific, systematic and coherent nature;

5. AFFIRM that the existence of a series of measures guaranteeing adequate aid and resources adapted to the situation of each individual is a fundamental factor in combating social exclusion;

6. EMPHASIZE that social exclusion is not simply a matter of inadequate resources, and that combating exclusion also involves access by individuals and families to decent living conditions by means of measures for social integration and integration into the labour market;

7. Accordingly REQUEST the Member States to implement or promote measures to enable everyone to have access to: - education, by acquiring proficiency in basic skills,

- training,

- employment,

- housing,

- community services,

- medical care;

8. POINT in this connection to the effectiveness of coordinated, coherent development policies based on active participation by local and national bodies and by the people involved;

9. UNDERTAKE to continue and, as necessary, to step up the efforts undertaken in common as well as those made by each Member State, and to pool their knowledge and assessments of the phenomena of exclusion;

10. Consequently CALL ON the Commission: - taking account of the studies which exist or are still in progress, to study, together with the Member States, the measures they are taking to combat social exclusion,

- to report on the measures taken by the Member States and by the Community in the spheres covered by this resolution within three years of its adoption.