A budget to reduce poverty
As an Emmaus group or national organisation, you can join forces with Emmaus Europe to call for a European budget that supports the employment of vulnerable people, help for employment access organisations, and proper provision for migrants.
It is vital that the situation in your country is highlighted in order to achieve this aim. We are inviting you to contact your ministers and national MEPs between now and next summer to call for a budget that protects your work and the people that you support. We have drafted two email templates to help you. You are welcome to adjust them to your issues and your group’s circumstances in order to give the message a greater impact.
The Emmaus Europe Chair has already raised the awareness of the budget’s rapporteur, a Romanian MEP from the EPP group. So, it’s over to you now!
EMAIL TEMPLATE FOR THE NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
The European budget at a glance
The 2021-2027 EU budget is coming to an end.
The European Commission published a proposed budget for the next seven years in July 2025. As part of this process, over the next few months the Member States (via their ministers) and the MEPs will have to take a decision on the main proposed policy areas.
The EU has multi-year budgets. These budgets cover five to seven years. The budget provides funding for projects to combat poverty, migrant inclusion, and increased border surveillance. It is a crucial advocacy issue for Emmaus Europe.
The next step is for the European Parliament and the European Council (comprising ministers from the Member States) to take a decision on this proposal. Therefore, we will be contacting them with our assertions.
Our focus area
The European Commission has suggested combining most of the programmes and bringing them together in a “mega-fund” for each Member State – the National-Regional Partnership Plan (NRPP). Each Member State would have to prepare and submit to the Commission a breakdown of how the funds would be allocated.
Unlike the EU’s previous budget, the Member States will have much more room for manoeuvre in how they allocate European funding. The NRPP is supposed to cover social, economic and territorial cohesion, security, prosperity, fisheries and agriculture. It covers a vast array of public policies, enabling the States to easily fund the frantic race to boost defence capability to the detriment of social inclusion policies.
What are the issues at stake for Emmaus Europe and its member groups?
The Emmaus Europe member groups are directly affected by the 2028-2034 budget. This budget sets out the EU’s priorities for the coming years. If the adopted budget does not clearly earmark funding for social inclusion, anti-poverty and migrant provision policies, the effects will be very stark at the country level. All the more so given that the current balance of European political power gives greater prominence to border control than to policies to help the most vulnerable people.
However, the European Commission recently pledged to eradicate poverty by 2050 in its Anti-Poverty Strategy published in May. However, the funding needed to achieve this goal is yet to be released. The Commission is openly laying this responsibility at the Member States’ door, as they have to put in place national anti-poverty strategies.
Please let Emmaus Europe know if you use the suggested email templates. Please contact Lily Manrique to find out who should be the recipient of your email.
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