Thought for the day
“If a patient is a believer, terminal illness can be a stepping-stone for personal growth by following one’s beliefs. If one is a non-believer, then friends need to show a compassionate attitude as far as possible, and share one’s problems.”
(The Dalai Lama)
Socially Networked
Belgian Presidency of EU will be challenging on social agenda
The second half of 2010 will see Belgium take over the Presidency of the EU. What this will mean for Europe’s Social Agenda however remains unclear. It is very important that Belgium argues for social protection expenditure to be protected as so many austerity budgets have been introduced across the EU.
Belgium has traditionally been one of the EU's more vocal member states in highlighting social issues. However, Belgian politicians are currently in negotiations to form a new government which is likely to bring in tough austerity measures. Consequently, it may prove difficult for them to push an ambitious social package at EU level if they are acting in a different manner at home.
The EU has recently adopted its 'Europe 2020' strategy, which sets out the EU’s socio-economic pathway for the coming decade. While it contains, for the first time, a series of social commitments including a commitment to reduce poverty by 20 million people by 2020, there are doubts about how seriously the European Commission will treat these social targets.
The Belgian Presidency coincides with the second half of the 2010 European year on combating poverty and social exclusion, a fact that may prove significant in shaping a number of Belgian initiatives including:
- The push for a framework directive on minimum income,
- Conferences on the themes of homelessness and child poverty.
- Working out the details of how the 'Europe 2020' targets on poverty and social inclusion are to be implemented in practice. Under the terms of the final agreement on Europe 2020, EU countries have three options for measuring the percentage of their population living in poverty or social exclusion
Producing concrete and reliable figures and subsequent targets based on these figures is a major challenge for the Belgians over the rest of 2010.
