Poverty: Commission adopts Polish programme to use €473 million from Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived - Hoofdinhoud
European Commission - Press release
Poverty: Commission adopts Polish programme to use €473 million from Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived
Brussels, 03 December 2014
The European Commission has today approved the Polish Operational Programme to use the new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), one of the biggest in Europe in terms of financial allocation. Poland will receive €473.36 million (in current prices) in the period 2014-2020 to support the provision of food assistance to people at risk of poverty and social exclusion, according to the National Strategy for Combatting Poverty and Social Exclusion 2020 - New dimension of active integration. This sum will be complemented by €83.5 million from national resources.
Marianne Thyssen i, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, commented: " I welcome the adoption of this operational programme for Poland, which will help the country to tackle its high rate of severe material deprivation. I also highly value the particular attention paid to large families and homeless people suffering the greatest difficulties. I believe that the FEAD will play a key role to help Europe's most vulnerable citizens get a foothold in society and make a significant contribution to our fight against poverty".
In Poland, the FEAD will be used similarly to the previous Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived People, which has provided food packages to more than 2.5 million people every year since 2006. Food distribution will be delivered by more than 1200 partner organisations such as NGOs, social services organisations and food banks across the country. It will be done in full cooperation with local public social assistance institutions which will implement the integration and activation measures supported by the European Social Fund and will promote it to the ultimate recipients of FEAD assistance.
The new design of existing food supplying chains should allow reaching homeless people and those in the most deprived situation in geographically distant areas thanks to transport flexible arrangements. Funding is planned also to support accompanying measures to strengthen self-reliance and competences in running a household, through in particular economic education workshops and educational programmes promoting the principles of healthy nutrition and counteracting wasting food.
Background
Launched in January 2014, the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) is a potent symbol of European solidarity. Its main aim is to break the vicious circle of poverty and deprivation, by providing non-financial assistance to some of the EU’s most vulnerable citizens. The FEAD is worth €3.8 billion in real terms in the 2014 to 2020 period.
The Fund will help to strengthen social cohesion by alleviating the worst forms of poverty. It will also contribute to meeting the EUROPE 2020 target of reducing the number of people in or at risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million by 2020.
The FEAD will support all 28 Member States' actions to provide a broad range of non-financial assistance to most deprived people - be they individuals, families, households or groups of such persons. This assistance can include food, clothing and other essential goods for personal use such as shoes, soap and shampoo. It can also be used for actions that encourage social integration.
Each Member State will define the target group of ‘most deprived persons’ in its national operational programme. Member States can then choose which type of assistance they wish to provide (food or basic goods or a combination of both), and their preferred model for procuring and distributing the food and goods, according to their own situation and preferences
The EU's Food Distribution programme for the Most Deprived People (MDP) was from 1987 an important source of provisions for organisations working in direct contact with the least fortunate people providing them with food. It was created to make good use of the then agricultural surpluses. With the expected depletion of intervention stocks and their high unpredictability over the period 2011-2020, as a consequence of successive reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy, the MDP was discontinued at the end of 2013, being since then replaced by the FEAD.
For more information
Frequently asked questions on FEAD: MEMO/14/170
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