Accession states ‘must avoid poverty trap’ – report

Date: 20/06/02

By David Cronin

EACH state applying for EU membership should be required to prove it has a 'decent safety net' to prevent people falling into abject poverty, says a new study.

The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) report argues that EU structural funds could contribute to the costs of social welfare.

It disputes the idea that these funds are too small to bankroll a system guaranteeing a basic income for people living in applicant states. 'The EU budget is small but transfers to the candidates for accession would still be substantial relative to their GDP [gross domestic product] and the welfare system in the East does not have to be as lavish as it is in the West.'

In the past, aid for poorer EU states such as Spain, Portugal and Greece has been concentrated on building their physical infrastructure, such as improving transport networks.

But the London-based think-tank calls for a proportion of structural funding to be targeted at building 'an appropriate level of social infrastructure' in the states due to join the Union in 2004.

The report also advocates the setting up of a 'pan-European social safety net', while acknowledging this notion is 'not even on the distant horizon of the European policy discussion'.

The authors believe the best way of achieving this is to 'have explicit minimal standards set at European level with individual EU members free to improve on them'.

Membership of the Union would be conditional on adhering to those standards, the CEPR suggests.

Report of a study by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

http://www.cepr.org http://www.cepr.org

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