EU Adopts First Anti-Poverty Strategy, Targets 93 Million At-Risk Europeans by 2050

The European Commission formally adopted the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy on 6 May 2026, alongside a Communication strengthening the European Child Guarantee and a proposal for a Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion. Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu, in charge of People, Skills and Preparedness, presented the package as a generational commitment to “eradicate poverty in the EU in 25 years” — by 2050.

The numbers: 93 million Europeans, one in four children

The Commission’s own figures, drawn from Eurostat, frame the scale of the challenge. In 2024, 93.3 million people in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion — approximately one in five Europeans (21% of the population). Among them: 20 million children, or one in four. Around 1 million people are estimated to be homeless across the bloc. Mînzatu told reporters at the Berlaymont that “the question is not whether we can afford to act, but whether we can afford not to act.” The Strategy identifies ‘living in dignity’ as a fundamental right under Article 1 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and calls for a “collective effort” involving all levels of governance, social partners, civil society, the private sector and people experiencing poverty themselves.

The package’s four pillars

• The first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy — a non-legislative roadmap setting the 2050 eradication target and a comprehensive prevention-and-protection approach.
• A Council Recommendation on fighting housing exclusion, urging member states to deploy early warning systems and debt counselling to prevent eviction, and to make long-term rentals more attractive than short-term ones for landlords.
• A Communication on breaking the cycle of child poverty, including a planned pilot of a “child guarantee card” — a digital tool allowing governments to track children in need and offer free services such as medical and dental care.
• A Communication reinforcing the strategy on the rights of persons with disabilities up to 2030, including the full digitalisation of the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card so that 90 million Europeans with disabilities enjoy the same rights across all 27 member states.

The money: €100 billion earmarked, €50.2 billion already in flight

Behind the rhetoric, the financing structure is built on existing EU instruments rather than new funds. The Commission says €50.2 billion from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is already allocated for social inclusion and combating material deprivation. Following the mid-term review of Cohesion Policy, resources for fighting child poverty increased by 5.4% and funding for material deprivation by 3.5%. Looking ahead, the Commission has proposed at least €100 billion for social policies including the fight against poverty in the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework — that is approximately 14% of the €865 billion earmarked for the new national and regional partnership plans. The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to finance €22 billion in social infrastructure over 2026-2027, with the Council of Europe Development Bank also continuing to support investment in human capital.

The criticism: ambition without binding tools

NGO reaction was mixed. Caritas Europa welcomed the package but warned that the “absence of concrete legislative proposals risks leaving the strategy’s most ambitious goals without the necessary tools to achieve them.” The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) criticised the absence of binding measures to protect “mobile” EU citizens excluded from social protection both in their country of origin and country of residence. Conservative critics — including the European Conservative magazine — questioned whether the Eurostat “at risk of poverty” definition (60% of national median equivalised disposable income after social transfers) actually measures poverty rather than relative low income, and whether the 2050 horizon is anything more than a rhetorical commitment.

The political context

The Strategy lands at a politically charged moment. Eurozone inflation jumped to 3.0% in April 2026 on the Iran-war energy passthrough, services PMI collapsed to 47.6 with consumer confidence at multi-year lows, and the EU’s response to the Trump administration’s transatlantic recalibration is consuming Commission bandwidth. The European Parliament adopted a January 2026 resolution (rapporteur João Oliveira, The Left, Portugal) calling for stronger EU coordination on anti-poverty action, by 385 votes in favour, 141 against and 53 abstentions. Mînzatu — a Romanian centre-left figure who has emerged as one of the most visible Vice-Presidents in the second von der Leyen Commission — has staked considerable political capital on the file.

What happens next

The Council Recommendation on housing exclusion will now move to the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) for negotiation. Member states will be expected to incorporate Strategy targets into their next National Reform Programmes under the European Semester, with first reporting expected in 2027. The Commission has committed to consult social partners on a “legislative initiative to support the activation of people excluded from the labour market”, which could be the next concrete legislative step in the file. Whether the 2050 horizon survives the political cycle — three more EU elections lie between now and then — is, for many in Brussels, the open question.