Transcript Housing - The European Anti

EAPN General Assembly
10-13 June 2009, Vienna, Austria
Workshop 1: Social Progress in time of crisis
EAPN Input on the impact of the crisis
Ludo Horemans,President of EAPN
Outline
Introduction/Presenting EAPN
Impact of the crisis on social
protection/social rights?
Some proposals
Why NGO’s are part of the solution!
Who is EAPN?
 Independent EU Network of NGOs committed
to fight against poverty and social exclusion
 Started in 1990 – key actor in poverty
programmes and development of social OMC.
 Receives financial support from the European
Commission (PROGRESS)
 25 National Networks and 22 European
NGOs as members. (1,500+ organisations)
Key Objectives
1. To put the fight against poverty and social
2.
3.
exclusion on the EU political agenda
To promote and enhance the effectiveness
of actions against poverty and social
exclusion
To lobby for and with people and groups
facing poverty and social exclusion
The Crisis and EU Response
 EU economy slides, falling demand, EU lose 3.5 million jobs in 2009
(10% by 2010) - impact on poverty?
 EU launches Economic Recovery Plan (Oct and Nov 08)
 March 4th 2009 - New Commission Communication: Driving
European Recovery (March 4th) – includes:
a) Financial - a supervisory framework for financial regulation
(new package at end of May 2009)
b) Economic recovery plan (1.5% of GDP + spending on social
protection = 3.3% GDP(400 billion EU).
 More growth and jobs not social: May Jobs Summit and June 3
Employment Communication.
EU Economic Recovery Packages –
Main Focus
Main focus:
- Keep people in employment (flexible work/short-term)
- Reinforcing Activation and providing adequate income
- Investing in re-training and skills upgrading
- Ensuring free movement of workers.
- Lower non-wage costs/support youth
unemployment/education and training/Flexicurity.
-Some recognition of social protection as an « automatic
stabiliser »
EAPN Member’s feedback:
Are the poor paying for the crisis?
 Too early to say? - difficulties of timely social impact data - but
trends only too clear from grass roots - Social Protection Ctee
review but not listened to..
 Uneven impact – UK, IE, BE, ES first, but now new member
states, particularly Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary)
 Most obvious impact – loss of job’s – most precarious hit first
eg Spain (temporary workers)
 Growth in indebtedness/difficulties in paying bills – but no
integrated support (FI, SK,)
 Repossession (home owners) (UK, IE, ES,) and some rising
rents but also some fall – no increase in affordable housing.
SPC Assessment of social impact
Jobs: unemployment rising from 6.8% to
7.6% in Jan, expected to reach 10% in
2010 – Spain (14.4%), Ireland, Estonia,
Lithuania and Latvia worst hit.
Worst hit: young,(17%), low skilled,
temporary workers, migrants, elderly.
Benefit take up: Increase in recipients as
people lose Unemployment entitlement
Housing and Indebtedness
Housing: prices of fallen in Ireland(-3%), DK, UK,
but rents increasing in CZ, FR, FI and LT –
heating increasing by 32%.
Repossessions increase – DK (100%), Estonia,
Greece, UK.
Requests and waiting time for social housing
has increased in IE, LT, UK
Indebtedness – applications for loans/failure to
pay deterioration in Greece, HU,LT, LI, PT. Debts
linked to heating bills ( LI/LT) and in ES/PT in
daily expenses.
Main policy measures
 Some integrated socio/economic plans –
employment/income/cushioning impact on individuals/
investing in economy.
 Labour mkt – keep jobs, support activation and reintegration
– but temporary
 Support to income – increasing mi and mw, extending
duration/tax rebates and one-off payments
 Protect mortgage holders/pension funds
 Investing in social, education and health services – to boost
construction and jobs eg Fr – emergency housing)
Long Term Impacts
Long term impacts on social security: most
MS say won’t reduce spending, some increases
but some cuts ( ie IE, HU, LT – ie no longer free
health care services)
On state pensions – depends on length of crisis,
most country PAYG. HU – will cut subsidies and
wages.
Funded pensions – fall in asset values, eg HU
private pension funds lost 15-20% of value, PL a
1/3.
EAPN Member feedback
 Threatened cuts/restricted eligibility in accessing benefits (SE, AU, LT, ES)
 IMF Bail outs to new member states requiring reductions in social protection
benefit/and wage levels (Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania.)
 Increasing demands on frontline NGO services, no extra resources (eg Food
Banks, eg on homeless services in Hungary for families who are not homeless.
 Direct reduction of health/social services/particularly NGO services (IE, ES,
UK) eg migrant/refugee services in London/63 cuts in education in IE)
 Increased Conditionality/ Activation strategies risk penalising unemployed with
cuts/restrictions in benefits when no jobs to go to.
 Strong risks to viability of financing of social protection systems - measures
to cut employers insurance contributions.(FI – reduction of 912 million EU/09)
 Economic Recovery calls for public investment on infrastructure and lowcarbon investment – not in social services and social protection. Some MS
investing in public infrastructure to boost construction jobs eg DE
Impact of recovery packages on social
protection and social rights..
 Important EU recognition of value of social protection as
automatic stabiliser
 Cash to the poor prevents hardship but also gets spent on
key goods and services, boosts consumer spending
 EU say MS maintaining/increasing Social Protection levels –
but what’s the reality?
 Insufficient recognition of contradictory pressures from
Stability Pact/Lisbon Strategy to reduce public deficits caused by
bank bail-outs.
 EAPN Members/Social NGOs – highlighting different reality but are not full partners to the debate (national or EU level)
NGO’s proposals – strengthen participative
democracy/social protection and social rights
 We need open stakeholder debate on social impact of the crisis
not just growth and jobs.
 Strengthen social protection and minimum income as a social right
and a platform for sustainable recovery
 Adapted Active Inclusion approach (access to adequate income,
affordable services and access to decent work) – commitment to
adequate income as a fundamental right.
 Rethink activation and flexicurity – reduce conditionality -emphasis
on personalized support/education and training/ increasing security.
 Social investment in new social services/green jobs.
 Post 2010 reflection on new economic model – social and sustainable.
 Embed participative democracy now! – NGO’s and people in
poverty are a vital part of the solution!