Poverty: one of the main priorities of the European Union

'Any progress in thwarting the scourge of poverty is a success for our common values,' declared President Barroso in a video message broadcast during the conference 'Poverty, between reality and perceptions: the communication challenge'. This event was organised in Brussels to mark the launch of 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. Unable to attend in person due to meetings related to the preparation of the European Council, the President nevertheless wished to speak by this means in order to explain how strongly he felt about the issue. At present almost 80 million people in Europe are on the poverty line, including 19 million children.

You could also view President's (Barroso) video message by clicking at: 
http://c14005-o.l.core.cdn.streamfarm.net/video4/dgComm/barroso/66159W_2.mp4

If you are also interested in checking the results of the Eurobarometer survey on poverty and social exclusion visit:  http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/09/480&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr