The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, published by the European Commission on 6 May 2026, acknowledges that discrimination and stigma place specific groups at a structural disadvantage, with Roma, people born outside the EU and LGBTIQ+ persons among those most affected. The Strategy commits to working within the Union of Equality framework to develop targeted anti-poverty measures, and announces a comparative legal analysis by the Fundamental Rights Agency on socio-economic discrimination as a ground of exclusion.
Social Platform calls for the Strategy to take a genuinely intersectional approach, addressing how overlapping forms of discrimination compound socio-economic disadvantage for Roma, migrants, LGBTQI+ people and other marginalised groups.
While the Strategy’s recognition of discrimination as a structural driver of poverty is welcome, it is important that the Anti-Poverty Strategy works in coherence with the EU’s equality strategies to ensure that the most marginalised groups are not left behind.
Find out more about this issue and the expertise of our network below:
Response by ATD Fourth World to the European Commission’s global strategy to combat poverty.
Caritas Europa warmly welcomes the first ever EU anti-poverty strategy presented by the European Commission, marking an important step in placing the fight against poverty higher on the EU’s political agenda.
EAPN welcomes the European Commission’s commitment to eradicating poverty through the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy.
The Strategy’s recognition of discrimination and stigma as barriers to employment, education, housing, and services is significant and long overdue, and mentions LGBTI people as a vulnerable group.
For ERGO Network, ending Roma poverty in Europe is a key overarching objective and ERGO Network warmly welcomes that the Roma are explicitly mentioned in the Strategy.
The EU’s first Anti-Poverty Strategy is a step forward – but not if migrants are left behind.
While SOLIDAR welcomes the strategy and its overall approach to poverty, it remains negatively surprised by the evident gap between the ambitions of the EPSR Action Plan target and the objective to eradicate poverty by 2050.
EU anti-poverty strategy analysis
Explore Social Platform’s analysis and reaction to the anti-poverty strategy as a whole on our main overview page.
