On 6 May 2026, the European Commission published the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, as part of a broader Social Package that also includes a proposal for a Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion, a communication on strengthening the European Child Guarantee, and another on the rights of persons with disabilities. We will be analysing all these other documents in due course.
For ERGO Network, ending Roma poverty in Europe is a key overarching objective. Over recent months, we have closely engaged with the development of the Strategy through our position paper Ending Roma poverty in Europe, as well as through dedicated advocacy activities with Roma experiencing poverty, direct exchanges with European Commission representatives, and contributions to wider civil society advocacy efforts. We have responded to the European Commission proposal in light of these inputs.
=> Read ERGO Network’s full response to the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy here!
We warmly welcome that the Roma are explicitly mentioned in the Strategy, including the recognition that 70% of Roma are at risk of poverty. The Strategy also explicitly refers to the Roma poverty reduction target contained in the EU Roma Strategic Framework, something we had long advocated for. Equally importantly, discrimination and stigma are acknowledged as key horizontal factors aggravating poverty. We are delighted with this recognition, as antigypsyism remains the core structural driver of Roma poverty and exclusion across Europe.
Less encouragingly, there are no dedicated follow-up measures specifically addressing Roma poverty, nor any obligation for Member States to integrate Roma poverty reduction into their national anti-poverty strategies. Similarly, the Strategy does not include any concrete proposals to combat discrimination, relying largely on existing Union of Equality initiatives. While references to discrimination are present throughout the text, antigypsyism itself is unfortunately not mentioned by name.
More broadly, ERGO Network considers the Anti-Poverty Strategy a positive and long-awaited initiative. We appreciate the strong rights-based framing and anchoring in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the recognition that poverty must be tackled throughout the life cycle, the emphasis on integrated active inclusion approaches combining income support, access to services, and inclusive labour markets, the reaffirmation of the European Pillar of Social Rights poverty reduction target for 2030, and the commitment to eradicate poverty in the European Union by 2050.
However, the Strategy does not introduce any new poverty-reduction targets beyond those already existing under the Social Pillar Action Plan, and there is also no clear roadmap for how the EU intends to achieve the 2050 poverty eradication objective. There are no dedicated additional funding streams for anti-poverty actions, at the time where the EU budget seems to be taking a sharp turn away from social priorities. The document also leaves the role of the European Semester largely unchanged, despite the need for stronger poverty-proofing and social inclusion mechanisms within EU economic governance.
While there is a commitment to better and more meaningful involvement of people experiencing poverty themselves, which we wholeheartedly salute, there are no concrete safeguards to ensure diversity of this group, including Roma communities. New indicators to measure poverty are discussed, but there are also no commitments to disaggregated data collection by criteria that would include ethnic background. Finally, the role of civil dialogue is unclear, despite several mentions throughout the text, there is no concrete structure or mechanism to associate civil society organisations to the implementation and monitoring of the initiatives.
The Strategy also announces several future initiatives, including a recommendation on improving child benefits, a Council Recommendation on easier and integrated access to services, an Education Package, a European Care Deal, and updated frameworks on social services quality and climate resilience. All these could be very positive, if they adequately include Roma concerns and the fight against antigypsyism and broader intersectional discrimination.
ERGO Network will continue to advocate for a stronger focus on Roma rights and inclusion in the implementation of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, and stands ready to engage constructively in ensuring that EU and national poverty-reduction initiatives deliver real improvements for Roma across Europe.
For more information on ERGO Network’s work on ending Roma poverty and social exclusion, please contact Senior Policy Adviser Amana Ferro – a.ferro@ergonetwork.org.
