The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) calls for a binding EU Framework Directive on Minimum Income. While the Network earlier welcomed the EU Council Recommendation on Adequate Minimum Income, which was adopted on 30 January 2023 it is worried that the application of this recommendation remains entirely voluntary by Member States.
While currently all EU Member States have minimum income schemes in place, they vary significantly across countries in terms of adequacy and accessibility, to the point that no European minimum income scheme matches the actual needs of beneficiaries according to the EAPN. “They fail to lift millions of people above the poverty line and leave the individuals concerned stigmatised, isolated and trapped in a cycle of poverty and social exclusion”. A Framework Directive on Minimum Income with a common set of minimum requirements and provisions could ensure more harmonisation and better access to minimum income.
The EAPN highlights several gaps related with the current situation, including the lack of an explicit universal rights-based approach to adequate minimum income, which overcomes discrimination and unequal access and leaves no one behind. Currently access to minimum income is based on proportionate length of legal residence, thereby potentially excluding individuals with temporary residence, refugees and undocumented migrants. EAPN also raises concern that there is little mention of the need for coordination and integration of minimum income support and social services provision.
See the full position paper by EAPN