EU Anti-Poverty Strategy – civil society perspectives

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In May 2026 the European Commission launched a social package, including the EU’s first ever Anti-Poverty Strategy. This resource serves as a hub of reactions, opinions and analysis from Social Platform’s network, on what this social package means for social policy going forward. 

Navigating this information hub

As Social Platform, we have long campaigned for policy measures that can meaningfully tackle the systemic root causes of poverty and protect those in vulnerable situations. 

Our members represent and support those most at risk of poverty and social exclusion, and collectively we have extensive collective expertise on the measures needed to eradicate poverty in Europe. 

As well as Social Platform’s overarching analysis, this hub has gathered the diverse perspectives of our network to offer targeted and unique perspectives on the May 2026 social package. 

Below you can find: 

  • Social Platform analysis
  • Perspectives from our network by policy area
  • Our collective calls and recommendations

Social Platform's analysis

The new Anti-Poverty Strategy is a significant opportunity to make a real and lasting difference to the lives of millions of people across Europe.  Poverty and social exclusion in the EU remains at an alarming level (above 20% of the total EU population). While there has been a slight decrease in the number of people at risk in the EU since 2024, stronger measures are undoubtedly needed to speed up progress and ensure the EU meets its goal of eradicating poverty by 2050. 

 Our network’s expertise on how to eradicate poverty was compiled in our position paper on the Anti-Poverty Strategy which put forward key recommendations and policy proposals. 

Many of our demands have been reflected in the final Strategy, but there are also areas where the proposed measures do not go far enough.

Read our full analysis of the strategy

Policy perspectives

What does our network of social rights organisations think about the Anti-Poverty Strategy and wider social package? Click on the policy areas below for more information: 

housing and homelessness (2)
Employment and Social Protection
housing and homelessness (4)
housing and homelessness (5)
housing and homelessness (6)
housing and homelessness (7)
housing and homelessness (8)
housing and homelessness (9)

Calls to Action – what next for tackling poverty?

The success of the proposal will depend on its uptake and implementation. The tools used to support its realisation are therefore key.

Significantly, all announced instruments are non-binding — Recommendations, Compendiums of good practices, and high-level exchanges- and almost all announced initiatives are concentrated in 2026-2027, with no clear roadmap or review mechanism bridging these early steps to the 2050 ambition.

Delivering on the Strategy will require:

Sustained public investment
  • The Strategy focuses mainly on mobilising private capital, however, safeguarding EU funding for social inclusion under the next EU financial framework is vital. At a time when negotiations on the next long-term EU budget are already raising concerns about the future of social spending, this omission risks weakening the Strategy’s delivery. 
Accountability and guidance
  • Social Platform has consistently advocated for national-level strategies that address national realities. Using the European Semester that allows for consistent country-specific recommendations, country analyses and additional scrutiny on social convergence, is one way the Strategy aims to encourage governments to invest more in social inclusion and poverty reduction – beyond the usual channels of social policy coordination.
Meaningful participation
  • Member States are encouraged to involve civil society organisations, social partners and people experiencing poverty early and throughout the policy cycle: from identifying challenges to designing, implementing and monitoring national strategies. This element of the strategy reflects the long-standing call from Social Platform that civil society organisations and not-for-profit social service providers should be treated as essential partners whose expertise, community reach and trusted relationships strengthen both policy design and delivery.

In short, the Strategy must be backed by political commitment, meaningful investment and genuine accountability. Otherwise, the ambition of eradicating poverty by 2050 risks remaining just that: an ambition.