Poverty reduction objectives for 2030

Question for written answer  E-001907/2021
to the Commission
Rule 138
Cindy Franssen (PPE)

Poverty remains a pressing issue. In 2019, approximately 91 million people in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The previous poverty reduction targets, namely cutting the number of people affected by poverty by 20 million by 2020, were not met and the COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate the problem in the short term. In its European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan[1], the Commission set itself the new target of lifting 15 million people out of poverty or social exclusion by 2030. I have a number of questions regarding this:

• 1.Why does the Commission think the EU failed to meet its target of reducing the number of people affected by poverty by 20 million by 2020?
• 2.Now that the United Kingdom has left, the EU population has fallen by 13% (according to Eurostat's 2019 figures[2]), meaning that fewer people are affected by poverty. However, this does not explain why the latest poverty reduction targets have been reduced by 25%. What other reasons does the Commission have for setting a less ambitious goal for 2030?

• [1] https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/economy-works-people/jobs-growth-and-investment/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-action-plan_en
• [2] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/9967985/3-10072019-BP-EN.pdf/e152399b-cb9e-4a42-a155-c5de6dfe25d1