Europe’s Anti-Poverty Strategy: From Targets to Results
Mario Nava, the European Commission’s Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, reviews progress on the measures discussed at the annual IEP Bocconi-EU Commission conference
Turning the EU’s Anti-Poverty Strategy Into Action
Mario Nava spoke at “Anti-Poverty Strategy: Policies for an Effective Implementation”, the conference organised by IEP Bocconi and the European Commission at Bocconi University in Milan on 9 October 2026.
The event brought together researchers, policymakers and civil society representatives to discuss affordable housing, access to quality jobs and policies to tackle poverty.
by Mario Nava
Between 2019 and 2025, the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion declined by 3.5 million. However, regrettably, child poverty has remained broadly stable.
These data, and the stories behind them, call for increased and sustained efforts to reach the EU poverty reduction target of reducing the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million by 2030.
In her latest State of the Union Adress, the Commission president has also recalled that today’s crisis are affecting many families notably through the rising cost of living. Yet, she also reminded us that a stronger Europe is emerging, that is also strong of its values.
Policies, European and national, make a big difference. In recent years, despite the crisis we have experienced, we have seen that resolute actions at both EU and national levels have strengthened our resilience.
This is also illustrated by simulations prepared for the Anti-poverty Strategy: reaching the employment targets, together with ensuring more adequate minimum wages and minimum incomes would allow a decline in poverty and social exclusion of around 18.5 million people.
On 6th May 2026, the European Commission presented an ambitious Anti-Poverty package aiming at helping to eradicate poverty across the EU. The package includes three major new initiatives:
The first-ever EU anti-poverty strategy, which is the Commission’s plan to help end poverty in the EU by 2050;
A proposal for a Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion;
The Communication on breaking the cycle of child poverty – strengthening the European Child Guarantee;
It was underpinned by extensive consultations and analysis and the valuable evidence and policy insights from last two years’ conferences jointly organised by the European Commission Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and IEP Bocconi also helped to inform various parts of the Anti-Poverty Package.
The first ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy: what you pointed to – what we delivered
Measures to tackle poverty in every age group
The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy provides a comprehensive framework to tackle poverty at each age. Each generation has specific needs and requires targeted actions to prevent and combat poverty.
The strengthened European Child Guarantee aims at improving comprehensive and long-term solutions, with a focus on access to services, parental employment, safety and sustainable investment.
Increased investments to tackle child poverty are urgently needed as child poverty has essentially been stagnating in the EU over the recent years. This is not only a moral and political requirement, but also an economic one: the OECD has, for instance, estimated that the cost of child disadvantage amounts to around 3% of GDP.
Having a quality job is the best way out of poverty for those who can work. The Anti-Poverty Strategy announced the launch of a first stage public consultation of social partners on the possible direction of EU action to support the activation of persons excluded from the labour market and equality between women and men with regard to labour market opportunities, which is ongoing. In 2027, the Commission will also present a Commission Recommendation providing evidence-based policy guidance to prevent and combat in-work poverty.
As the 2025 conference underscored, ensuring accessible and adequate minimum income is key.
The Strategy stresses that national estimates of non-take-up range broadly between 20% and 50%. This is a call for improvement. To support this, the Commission will prepare in 2027 a compendium of best practices to address non-take up at national level.
Measures to address horizontal challenges that aggravate poverty –such as access to affordable housing
One very concrete call from last year’s conference was to ensure a comprehensive approach towards fighting poverty. The Strategy announces measures to tackle horizontal challenges such as stigma, difficulties in accessing basic good such as food, energy and home, as well as quality services.
Many policy areas have a role to play in preventing and addressing poverty, not only social and employment ones but also education, transport, taxation and fiscal policies. The strategy underlines the importance of carrying out distributional impact assessments so that new reforms and investments are poverty proof.
And, of course, housing remains a burning issue for millions of Europeans. Today, at least over 1.4 million in the EU – are experiencing homelessness and housing exclusion, according to the latest available OECD data.
As part of the package, we have put forward a proposal for a Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion to support Member States in shifting from emergency responses to long-term, people-centred and housing led solutions, including addressing homelessness.
Strengthening governance and funding and improving monitoring to reduce and prevent poverty
Previous editions have also called for a social investment approach, promoting participatory governance and strengthening data and evaluation. These ideas found their way in the Strategy and will guide our work ahead.
Many of the most powerful instruments for fighting poverty and social exclusion are in the hands of national, regional, and local authorities. The Strategy invites the Member States to appoint national Anti-Poverty coordinators. Moreover, it is accompanied by principles for effective anti-poverty policies, a concrete tool to design and self-assess coherent anti-poverty frameworks.
The Strategy also puts forward tools to tap into the potential of private funding. In particular, we will launch a Coalition against poverty, bringing together businesses and philanthropic organisations. Furthermore, we will introduce the structured dialogue with persons with lived experience of poverty, bringing an invaluable contribution to the policy itself.
IEP Bocconi does not express opinions of its own. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the authors.
