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2010: the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion

László Andor, EU Commissioner responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

1/ The Europe 2020 Strategy is one of the most important priorities of your mandate. Do you think that the EU will reach the strategy’s objectives?

Yes, we will! The Europe 2020 Strategy is a long-term response to the economic crisis. We will work hard with Member States to meet our objectives. Combating growing and long-term unemployment is the most pressing challenge: Joblessness is set to hit double-digits in 2010, bringing employment to 2008 levels. We can not tolerate excessive unemployment. We will also focus our efforts on helping the condition of young people. We need to set ambitious employment rate targets and ensure that they cover women and older workers. Setting poverty reduction targets for children and the elderly would send a strong signal about the EU\'s commitment to achieving results. This is particularly important as 2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion.

2/ With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights is now part of the EU Treaties and legally binding. How are European citizens affected by this change?


The Charter represents the most modern set of fundamental rights in the world. It entrenches all the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. It also enshrines economic and social rights from the common constitutional traditions of the EU Member States, the case law of the European Court of Justice and other international instruments. For example, so-called \"third generation\" fundamental rights, such as data protection, guarantees on bioethics and on good and transparent administration, are included in the Charter.


The Charter represents a major political commitment for fundamental rights. The new European Commission and particularly my colleague Vice-President Viviane Reding, who is responsible for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, is determined to apply a “Zero Tolerance” policy on any violations of the Charter.


We can be proud of our common accomplishments in protecting human rights over the last six decades. We should build on these achievements to meet future challenges.


3/ 2010 is the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. How will this event help engage more commitment from the different Member states against poverty?


As we deal with the social and employment effects of the economic crisis, the European Year will focus attention on fighting poverty and help change perceptions. Poverty affects one in six Europeans and 8% of working people are still struggling to make ends meet. By putting this issue high on the political agenda, we hope that EU leaders will make a political commitment to fight poverty at their summit in December 2010.


4/ Progress have been made over the last decades in achieving the equality between men and women. The employment rate of women has increased, but it is still lower than men. How can the European Union tackle these issues?


Even with advanced legislation to promote gender equality, stereotypes are persistent and women tend to earn less than men throughout their lives. Men and women have the same opportunity to study. However, research proves that once women have entered the labour market, it is more difficult for them to advance in their careers and reach higher positions. The unequal sharing of care responsibilities leads many women to work part-time and interrupt their careers. The gender pay gap (18% in Europe) is the consequence of all these factors and inequalities in the labour market. The effect of the gender pay gap on lifetime earnings also means that women will have lower pensions. As a result, women are more affected than men by persistent and extreme poverty: 22% of women aged 65 and over are at risk of poverty compared to 17% of men.

Closing the gender pay gap would benefit the economy as a whole. The under-utilisation of women’s skills is a lost resource for the economy and for society at large. Moreover, closing the gender pay gap contributes to women\'s financial and economic independence and to the creation of a more equal society. We can\'t afford to waste women\'s talents or to regress in terms of gender equality.

The European Commission is working with the Member States, the European Parliament and the European social partners to tackle the gender pay gap. President Barroso and Vice-President Reding showed their commitment to this issue in March when they presented the Women\'s Charter, which aims to include a gender perspective into all policies for the next five years.