Europe 2020 – In-work poverty. Challenges for workers’ organisations

With the Europe 2020 strategy, the EU wishes to become a “smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities should help the EU and the Member States deliver high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion. Concretely, the Union has set five ambitious objectives ‑ on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/energy ‑ to be reached by 2020. Each Member State will adopt its own national targets in each of these areas. Concrete actions at EU and national levels will underpin the strategy” (Europe 2020 ‑ Europe’s growth strategy ‑ European Commission). The Europe 2020 strategy and the question of how workers’ organisations can influence its implementation provide the key focus for the work programme 2010-2013 of the European Centre for Workers’ Questions (EZA) and the Research Institute for Work and Society (HIVA). The work programme for 2012 focuses on the fifth headline target of the Europe 2020 strategy: 20 million fewer people in the EU in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion. The focus of this research paper is on combating in-work poverty and on ways to reduce in-work poverty risks.status: publishe