Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, May 11, 2002
18 Percent of EU Population Living in Precarious Conditions
Eighteen percent of the people in the European Union (EU) live in hardships, Miguel Molto, director of the Spanish representation to the European Commission, said here on Friday.
Eighteen percent of the people in the European Union (EU) live in hardships, Miguel Molto, director of the Spanish representation to the European Commission, said here on Friday.
Molto made the remarks at a forum "The Poorest in the Construction of Europe."
The forum was organized by the Fourth World Movement with support of the European Commission and Parliament, and attended byabout 70 representatives from people suffering from severe poverty.
The income of 60 million people, who live in precarious conditions in the EU, is 60 percent below the average, he said.
Should social assistance be removed, not including pensions, the number of people in extreme poverty would grow to 26 percent, he added.
Representatives from the poor sectors in Britain, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Spain discussed with Euro-parliamentarians and politicians who would present their problems and proposals against poverty at the forum.
The forum, which opened on Friday, would come to a close on Sunday.