EAPN: Fighting for a Social Europe Free of Poverty Director / Bureau Report Leo Williams Director March 2018 EUROPEAN ANTI-POVERTY NETWORK

General Issues Members Emmaus – decision to join. Slovenia – ready to join. PeP NC meeting Themes - Institutional participation, education, health. PeP at EC prep meetings on the topic, 11 April. EO delegation. Interpretation request.

Staff issues Risks – burnout, workload, stress. 1.5% update Burnout Sian a couple of years ago, 1 colleague last year, 1 on verge recently and 1 going off on medical leave shortly. This is an important issue, we have to take this seriously. Legal responsibility, financial impact. Belgian legislation on burn out. Support Team – would like 1 Ex Co member (non-Bureau) to work with me on this. 1.5% Peter / Jasmina to feedback on this.

Members and Staff – 10 mins Q&A – 10 mins Members and Staff – 10 mins Who will be part of this support team?

Policy Conference 5-7 July, Bxl 27-29 September, Austria 2018 Calendar Policy Conference 5-7 July, Bxl 27-29 September, Austria 7-8 November, Bxl Policy Conference / Ex Co / EUISG – tough to have such a conference looking at social protection, the EPSR, with EMIN bus trip and Bulgarian Presidency event on Pillar (27 June). Hence later date. 27-29 September Austria (Vienna / Salzburg TBC) Ex Co, EUISG, Capacity Building, Strategic Congress. Details being worked out with EAPN Austria. 7-8 Nov, PeP

Fundraising and Financial Diversification Team Members 2018 EC Fundraising and Financial Diversification Team Members Budget vs expenditure EC – FPA confirmed, expect to hear 4 2018 any day. FFDT – 1st online funding campaign (250), 2nd will link with EMIN2 online petition. Members contributions – thanks to all who pledged, and even bigger thanks to those who paid. 16K pledged from NN, 13K paid. 2K from EOs B vs E – Philippe, quick overview please.

Calendar and cash – 10 mins Q&A Calendar and cash – 10 mins

Political issues Dombrovskis, Latvian, EC Vice-President for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.of the European Commission. Highest level meeting I have had since joining EAPN. Participation. Pushed for enhanced CSO participation in Semester processes, at level of Social Partners. Critical of national level CSOs, uncoordinated. Interested in having easier ways to engage, seemed open to clear guidance to ESOs (as was Head of Thyssen’s cabinet…) Pillar / Future Strategies. March 2019 Leaders Summit in Romania will be a defining moment for this. Expects that SDGs and Pillar will be a strong part of the strategy. SDG paper in August will feed into the debate, led by Timmermans office. MFF. Shared key points from our paper. Suggest EC wants to go further than MS, with more than a 1% increase. 1.01X, not sure what X is. Some MS insist on no budget increase. New sources – plastic tax, trading emissions, FTT – I questions whether the EC will actually go this far, but worth a big push here. Clear suggestion that ESF+ will support the SDGs and the Pillar. Suggests ESF+ will remain at the current levels, if not increase.

Projects Projects EMIN2 ESF Energy Poverty FEAD Digital Inclusion Scaling citizens initiatives EEA EMIN2 Bus trip is approaching fast. Volunteers – see the volunteer application form, encourage you to find volunteers. Deadline end March. Need to firm up the stops - deadline for confirming stops, can you support your Coordinator to do this? Comms tools being developed – hope you can use!. ESF Joint meeting esf project and emin peer review on active inclusion in Madrid 20-21 Sept. Project is contributing to a proposal for a more distinct social inclusion programme as part of the future esf plus. If successful, this will mean a programme (and funding line) supporting social inclusion that is not tied to employment. Once the draft proposals are out we will need some lobbying actions Energy Poverty Creation of National Vulnerable Consumers Steering Committees in the 6 countries participating in the project BE, FI, IT, PL, ES, UK – EAPN members involved. Check that they are all involved, esp Poland and Finland European Vulnerable Consumers Steering Committee – 1st meeting should be in the second half of April. Political level (EC, EP, EESC), social actors, industry reps) FEAD 24th – 25th April in Copenhagen and Malmo: FEAD’s contribution to the delivery of the European Pillar of Social Rights’ principles. Digital Inclusion Fresno, a call for proposal of the EC DG CONNECT on setting up a platform to share best practices for integrating vulnerable groups into the digital society (disabilities, elderly, marginalized children & youths, unemployed, migrants) and establishing gaps and make them available to public, private and civil society actors. Funds for staff and members, 2 year project. Still waiting for answer. Scaling Citizens Initiatives This citizens-based project piloted by University of technology of Compiègne (France) and LABGOV (Italy) aims to enhance citizen-driven innovation in urban contexts and help empowering communities in local governance of public environments. On advisory board, small resources, but potential grants of up to 40K. (Rome (Italy), Lille (France), La Coruna (Spain), Sofia (Bulgaria), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Zagreb (Crotia)) EEA 9 EAPN NNs exploring possibility of applying for funding under the EEA grants of Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein

Politics and projects – 10 mins Q&A Politics and projects – 10 mins

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