The European Parliament has witnessed a serious setback in the fight against child poverty. During the vote on the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) post-2027, the EPP group and the far-right joined forces and succeeded in removing a demand for at least €20 billion for the Child Guarantee in the next budget year.
The ESF+ is a critical instrument to support employment, education and social inclusion in Europe. The Child Guarantee requires all member states to allocate an appropriate amount of ESF+ resources to tackle child poverty. Member states with a level of child poverty above the EU average must use at least 5% of their ESF+ resources to address this issue.
In previous negotiations, The Left, S&D, Greens/EFA and Renew managed to keep this essential funding in the text. However, in the plenary vote, the EPP has aligned itself with the far-right to suppress this commitment, putting at risk the support for millions of children in vulnerable situations. Currently, one in four children in Europe grows up at risk of poverty.
The Left group in the European Parliament denounces this direct attack on social rights which comes as the European Commission and conservative forces continue to roll back on previous commitments to social and climate action in favour of defence spending and rearmament. While the right-wing alliance is enthusiastic to spend €800bn on the arms industry, it is alarming how they cannot bring themselves to spend €20bn to support those most in need in Europe.
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