CSB Working Paper, 2019, 3: Europe as agent that fills the gaps? The case of FEAD

Given the inadequacy of minimum incomes and growing poverty in most European welfare states, this paper originates from the overarching questions whether and how the EU could counter these trends. The ‘Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived’ (FEAD), launched in 2014, appears to be a concrete case of a united anti-poverty programme with redistributive mechanisms. The fund aims to help people take their first steps out of poverty. It supports local programmes and initiatives providing nonfinan…

Given the inadequacy of minimum incomes and growing poverty in most European welfare states, this paper originates from the overarching questions whether and how the EU could counter these trends. The ‘Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived’ (FEAD), launched in 2014, appears to be a concrete case of a united anti-poverty programme with redistributive mechanisms. The fund aims to help people take their first steps out of poverty. It supports local programmes and initiatives providing nonfinancial assistance and social reintegration measures. According to the European Commission FEAD functions as an effective instrument to reduce poverty in Europe and, furthermore, to contribute to the implementation of the ‘European Pillar of Social Rights’. This paper seeks to study the operation and impact of the fund in the light of these large-scale objectives. Our findings suggest a relatively high impact of FEAD in poorer countries and an at least noteworthy impact in some wealthier countries.