The European Commission has proposed to set up a European Aid Fund to help the Most Deprived Persons in the EU. A successor to the Food Aid to the Most Deprived, this new Fund would support Member State schemes not only by providing food aid to the most deprived people, but also clothing and other essential goods to homeless people and materially-deprived children. The proposal is yet to be approved by the European Parliament and the European Union’s Council of Ministers.
The Commission forecast a budget of €2.5 billion for the Fund during the period 2014-2020 as part of its June 2011 proposal for a Multiannual Financial Framework. Member States would be responsible for paying 15% of the costs of their national programmes, with the remaining 85% coming from the EU Fund.
Under the proposed Fund, Member States would apply for funding to support operational programmes covering the period 2014-2020 for schemes providing, through partner organisations, food to the most deprived persons and clothing and other essential goods (such as shoes, soap and shampoo) to the homeless and to materially-deprived children. The proposal would give flexibility to national authorities to plan and deliver the assistance in line with their national schemes. Detailed criteria to allocate assistance would be the responsibility of Member States, or even partner organisations, as they are best placed to target assistance to local needs.
In addition, to meet the Fund’s social cohesion objectives, partner organisations would not only have to provide material assistance to the most deprived people but also undertake basic activities aimed at their social integration. The Fund would also be able to support such accompanying measures.
The proposal also foresees the possibility to use food stored in intervention stocks, if there are any.
– More information available here.
Several Social NGOs have already expressed their support for this proposal, such as FEANTSA, Eurodiaconia, Red Cross, Caritas Europa, FEBA and EAPN issued a press statement.
– The EC proposal for a Regulation on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
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EPHA related articles
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