A European Strategy to End Poverty: European Parliament and Council Adopt and Discuss their Positions

A European Strategy to End Poverty: European Parliament and Council Adopt and Discuss their Positions

As explained in previous news articles (here), the 2026 European Commission Work Programme announced the publication of an EU Anti-Poverty Strategy by Q2 of 2026. 

Ahead of the publication of the Anti-Poverty Strategy, the European Parliament adopted on 12 February 2026 its position on the topic. Key points include the following:

• The European Parliament underlines the importance of access to quality early childhood education and ensuring equal educational opport unities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, such as children with disabilities and specific educational needs to break the cycle of poverty. It notes how segregation in access to mainstream education for children with disabilities results in social exclusion, and calls for the Anti-Poverty strategy to ensure accessibility of education for children with disabilities.
• The fact that poverty is a cause and consequence of intersectional discrimination, disproportionately affecting individuals and communities, including persons with disabilities.
• It noted the higher risk of poverty of persons with disabilities than for persons without disabilities, being 61% higher for persons with disabilities in 2024, as well as the 2024 disability employment gap* being 24 percentage points. Therefore, the European Parliament calls for the Anti-Poverty Strategy to create or strengthen specific instruments aimed to combat unemployment or underemployment, providing personalised support and increasing employability of people furthest from the labor market, particularly those from disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities. It also calls for the adoption of measures and policies implementing the principle of “equal pay for equal work”, combatting discrimination in the workplace, particularly based on disability.
• Digital exclusion persists in the EU, exacerbating the exclusion for those experiencing poverty, and is pronounced among vulnerable groups, such as persons with disabilities.
• The European Parliament calls for measures aimed to address and prevent homelessness, including actions to improve the accessibility of housing for persons with disabilities.

In parallel, on 13 February,  EU Employment and Social Affairs ministers discussed the EU Anti-poverty Strategy in an informal meeting hosted under the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU, emphasising that tackling poverty requires strengthening social protection policies and enhancing cooperation among member states toward a stronger, more resilient, and more social Europe that leaves no one behind. They also highlighted the importance of access to decent work, green and digital transitions, long-term care, and active ageing.

* The disability employment gap is the difference of the employment rates between persons without disabilities and persons with disabilities. More information available here.

European Parliament position on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy available here.

More information about the outcome of the informal EU Employment and Social Affairs ministers available here.