European Anti-Poverty Network’s 2018 annual conference “Social Protection for All! How can the Social Pillar and SDGs build stronger welfare states?” – 5 July

EAPN will be holding its annual conference on 5 July from 9:00 – 13:00, at the Crowne Plaza, rue Gineste 3, 1210 Brussels

Access to Social Protection and social inclusion is the third chapter of the European Pillar of Social Rights, with social protection specifically quoted in principle 12: “regardless of the type and duration of their employment relationship, workers, and under comparable conditions, the self-employed, have the right to social protection”. It is now a key element of the Commission’s new Social Fairness Package, with a proposal for a Council Recommendation to improve access to social protection, which will attempt to ensure that all ‘workers’ get access to ‘social protection’, including those currently categorized as ‘self-employed’. Principle 14 on ‘Minimum Income’, aims to provide a basic social assistance safety net for those who fall outside the ‘social protection’ net and is currently a key focus on EAPN’s work coordinating the EMIN project and bus awareness raising journey.

However, the ‘definition’ of social protection, currently at EU level, is limited to only those who are in employment, and ‘pay’ for coverage through work-based contributions. Those who fall outside receive only basic income support safety nets (minimum income). Such an approach fails to ensure equal rights to social protection, at all ages and to all groups, regardless of their employment status, risking increasing poverty and inequality, and undermining a more inclusive and sustainable development model.

The SDGs and in particular the ILO’s Social Protection Floor takes a broader definition on social protection as “basic social security guarantees which secure protection aimed at preventing or alleviating poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion’” aiming to cover all groups for income security and access to public health and other services, through the life cycle.

In the context of the future of work carrying major threats of unemployment and/or increasingly precarious work, an employment contributions model will increasingly leave more people behind and widen the inequality gap.

A new concept of the welfare state and financing is needed and this is what we will explore in our interactive conference, which will:

• Present why social protection for all is key, including input from people experiencing poverty;
• Discuss the challenges and promising practices from the national level;
• Get feedback & debate on access to social protection and guaranteed minimum income with the European Commission, European Parliament, Council & Civil Society partners;
• Give special attention to the financing and concept of Welfare states with input from the ILO and other Civil Society Organisations.

Key speakers invited:

• Cidália Tomé Barriga, Activist with direct experience of poverty/EAPN PT
• Maria Jeliazkova, EAPN BG
• Joost Korte, Director General DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
• A representative of the Social Platform and Eurochild
• A representative of the EMIN project (European Minimum Income Network)
• MEP Maria João Rodrigues, Vice-President of the S&D Group and President of FEPS
• Jan Farzan, German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
• Audrey Le Guével, Acting Director ILO Brussels
• Francine Mestrum, Founder of Global Social Justice
• Conny Reuter, Solidar General Secretary

For further information on content, contact Sian Jones (Policy Coordinator) sian.jones@eapn.eu, or on registrations Rebecca Lee (Information & Events Officer), rebecca.lee@eapn.eu

See more information on the conference on the EAPN website : https://www.eapn.eu/20132-2/