ECE and MAPP workshop at the European Parliament: “Europe Needs Us – Ending Poverty Beyond EU Borders”

MAPP (EAPN) and ECE Brussels holding a thematic workshop in the European Parliament in Brussels

On 5 November 2025, at the European Parliament, the Macedonian Anti-Poverty Platform (MAPP) and the European Centre of Excellence (ECE Brussels) co-led a thematic workshop focused on the inclusion of EU candidate countries in the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy (APS). The discussion underlined that while the APS is not legally binding for non-EU states, it represents a crucial roadmap for aligning national reforms with EU social standards and for advancing poverty eradication within the EU accession process.

Biljana Dukovska, President of MAPP, opened the session by stressing the importance of empowering people experiencing poverty to actively shape public policies and by calling for stronger national frameworks aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights. She emphasised that social rights and poverty reduction must become integral components of the enlargement process, ensuring that candidate countries are not left outside the EU’s social agenda.

Bojan Kordalov, Director for Policy and Communication at ECE Brussels, highlighted the importance of building bridges between EU institutions and candidate countries to ensure that social policies and enlargement priorities go hand in hand. He underlined that the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy can serve as a guiding framework for reform, while initiatives like IPA III and the Reform and Growth Facility can support their implementation.

During the workshop, participants examined how the EU candidate countries can integrate EU-inspired measures such as minimum income schemes, child poverty reduction and energy poverty mitigation into their national strategies, and proposed concrete recommendations for both EU and national policymakers. The session concluded with three key messages: that poverty eradication must remain at the heart of EU enlargement; that civil society participation and data-driven policymaking are vital for credible reforms; and that Europe’s fight against poverty is incomplete without the active inclusion of candidate countries.

This workshop was held as part of Anti-Poverty Day 2025 at the European Parliament, organised by the European Anti-Poverty Network in cooperation with Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Fighting Poverty. Agenda of the EVENT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the organisers and participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission.