8th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty

The 8th European Meeting of People Experiencing Poverty took place on 15 and 16 May in Brussels. The Czech Presidency, after an agreement with the partners, entitled this event – WHERE WE LIVE – WHAT WE NEED, with the aim of drawing attention to the importance of the place where we live and the accessibility of services that contribute to and maintain the quality of our lives.

This regular event organised by the country presiding over the EU in first six months of every year is an occasion for joint meetings of people experiencing poverty and social exclusion with experts, decision-makers and employees of national or European institutions engaged in reducing poverty. The meeting creates a unique platform for discussion for all participants. The aim of the meeting is to encourage participants to take action in order to help disadvantaged people to seek solutions to improve their lives. The national delegations of almost all EU Member States have had a possibility to exchange their experiences and point out possible answers to problems affecting people experiencing poverty and social exclusion.

The main themes of this year’s event, chosen by the Presidency, are housing, financial inclusion and over-indebtedness, as well as access to basic services. “The topic of financial inclusion and the issue of indebtedness were suggested by the Czech Presidency because over the last decades, the risk of over-indebtedness has been constantly increasing. The importance of this problem in times of economic crisis grows. According to the available data, approximately every seventh household has problems with their loan payments. Furthermore the over-indebtedness of families with low income increases too,” stated the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, Marián Hošek. Inability to pay back loans often causes serious forms of poverty.

The European Meeting was organised by the Czech Presidency in cooperation with the European Antipoverty Network (EAPN), the European Commission and Belgium. The venue for this meeting, the Egmont Palace, was made available by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.