About the Baby and the Bathwater: Assessing the European Platform Against Poverty

Abstract

This Working Paper provides a qualitative assessment of one of Europe 2020's flagship initiatives: the 'European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion' (EPAP).

The paper argues that a transformed EPAP has the potential to provide strong added value for the EU's toolbox in the fight against poverty. Rather than throwing out the baby with the bathwater, the mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy should be used as a window of opportunity to revamp this tool by addressing its weaknesses. The authors propose three complementary scenarios for boosting, step by step, the effectiveness of the Platform.

Keywords: social policy; Europe 2020; EU policy; poverty; social exclusion; EU countries