In the European Union, one of the richest economic blocs the world has ever seen, 68 million people living in poverty should be the biggest political scandal in public debate, writes Robin Hanan
Five years ago, at the Lisbon summit, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his colleagues, the prime ministers of the EU member states, agreed that "the level of poverty in the EU is unacceptably high" and resolved to "make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty" in the EU by 2010.
This pledge was part of the "Lisbon Strategy", the 10-year "strategic plan" designed to make the EU "the most competitive, knowledge-based economy in the world, with more and better jobs and social cohesion".
It led to agreement six months later on a Social Inclusion Strategy, with detailed and ambitious objectives for eradicating poverty, a series of two-yearly action plans and reporting and learning mechanisms.
This improved planning, co-ordination and monitoring of anti-poverty strategies, has not yet changed much in the actual lives of people struggling against poverty. In fact, for many groups, including lone parents, Travellers, Roma, refugees and early school-leavers, to name just a few, some policies have actually made life worse.
The Social Inclusion Strategy gives the EU and its member states the means to eradicate poverty in a planned and strategic way. It is not, however, a substitute for political will to tackle the hard decisions on tax, welfare and services which are needed to achieve this.
Clearly, there is a need for serious political energy behind the fight against poverty. This may be one of the side-effects, ironically, of the debate stirred up by proposals from the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, which would effectively sideline it.
His "communication", which the 25 prime ministers will consider at a summit tomorrow, would refocus the Lisbon Strategy on a narrow view of "competitiveness" which seems to be inspired mainly by the US New Right.
There is no mention of the other aims of Lisbon, except as a byproduct of economic growth.
As well as being a slap in the face for people struggling against poverty in their lives, this is also self-defeating. How can we grow a knowledge-based economy if a quarter of children live in poverty?
The EU has always been proud of the "European Social Model", basing its competitiveness on relative social cohesion, social rights and welfare supports. This is what is now under question.
This might be seen as an outbreak of honesty, but it is a dangerous one. Most European governments act as if they believe that economic growth will, in itself, end poverty.
We know from our experience that this will not happen. Growth and jobs are important, but study after study has shown that they are not enough. It is policies on tax, welfare and services, as well as well-tailored employment supports and social rights, which make the difference.
We should be particularly aware of this in Ireland. Our dramatic economic growth has cut overall unemployment and made us the second-richest state in the EU, after Luxembourg. We still, however, have the worst rates of "relative" poverty, even in the enlarged Union of 25 countries, reflecting political decisions and priorities over decades.
Moreover, as the US has shown, the wrong policies to promote "competitiveness" can actually make life worse, through low job security and conditions, poorer services and greater isolation of the poor and socially excluded.
The Barroso paper has stirred up a strong reaction from social and environmental NGOs and trade unions across the EU, and has also seen a rapid political response.
The governments of France, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Hungary and Austria have come out publicly in favour of reintegrating social cohesion into the Lisbon Strategy, as have the European Parliament and Ireland's own Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs.
During our presidency of the EU, Bertie Ahern argued for the importance of balancing social cohesion and economic growth in the Lisbon Strategy.
The Government also successfully pushed for changes to the draft EU Constitution to ensure that the fight against social exclusion would be taken into account in all policies. However, since the latest controversy blew up over the Lisbon Strategy, he has been surprisingly silent.
With a momentous decision looming and with another European Treaty referendum coming up, we need to know where our Government and Taoiseach stand.
Robin Hanan works for the European Anti Poverty Network (EAPN) Ireland