SJ\_Draft1\_220914 SJ\_Draft1\_220914

- poverty target should be set as a %figure, even within the aggregate of the 3 indicators (at risk of poverty, severe material deprivation and low work intensity).
- • social targets should be disaggregated according to gender/age/group break down • social targets should be disaggregated according to gender/age/group break down and next step would be sub-targets for key groups - eg children, youth, older people, but also women, homeless, ethnic minorities like Roma, people with disabilities, to name just a few.
- • employment target only captures whether people have worked for 1 hour in the • employment target only captures whether people have worked for 1 hour in the week of reference and does not account for the quality or sustainability of the employment. Consideration should be given to complementing the numerical employment targets with binding criteria on quality.
- • refinements could also be considered. The education target is currently only • refinements could also be considered. The education target is currently only focused on formal education. The EU should commit to an adult literacy target.
- • strong argument can also be made for an additional target on reducing inequality, • strong argument can also be made for an additional target on reducing inequality, but this should not replace the poverty target. The growth of inequality in income and wealth is widely acknowledged as one of the major challenges facing the EU (OECD, IMF, World Economic Forum 2013 and 2014), as well as by the Commission in its yearly review (Employment and Social Development Outlook 2014), both in terms of increasing the widening gap between rich and poor, undermining social cohesion and well-functioning and performing societies, but also as a major barrier to sustainable growth (IMF 2014).
- • targets can be useful, but alone are not enough. They must be backed by • targets can be useful, but alone are not enough. They must be backed by effective integrated strategies and adequate funding, ensuring delivery involving the grass-root NGOsorganisations and providors, otherwise they encourage MStoengage in numbers games, which have little impact on the policy objectives.
- • current targets, do you consider that some are more important than others? • current targets, do you consider that some are more important than others? Please explain .

Weconsider all the targets to be important, andunderline the need for them to be treated equally. As we have highlighted above, the poverty target is treated differently, by the avoidance of a % figure. It also gets less priority in key monitoring documents, eg the Annual Growth Survey, underlining the lack of a consistent approach to monitoring the progress and developments for each target in the Semester process.

For EAPN, we have particular concern for the 3 Social Targets, particularly the poverty target, but also employment and education, to guarantee that any growth policy ensures more equal distribution of the benefits of growth that can result in social progress - less poverty, more and better employment, services and social protextion, and inclusive education. However, we would underline the need for a coherent approach across the targets, rather than considering them separately and in a disconnected way.

For example, there are clear synergies between the employment and poverty target. Employment needs to contribute to the delivery of the poverty target and visa versa. The

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