(10 March 2014) – The European Commission welcomes today’s definitive adoption by the EU’s Council of Ministers of the Regulation on the new Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).
The Fund will give Member States valuable support in their efforts to help Europe’s most vulnerable people, who have been worst affected by the on-going economic and social crisis. In real terms, over €3.8 billion will be allocated to the Fund over the 2014-2020 period. Member States will be responsible for paying 15% of the costs of their national programmes, with the remaining 85% coming from the Fund.
The FEAD will support Member States’ actions to provide a broad range of non-financial material assistance including food, clothing and other essential goods for personal use such as shoes, soap and shampoo, to the most materially-deprived people.
The FEAD will also require that the distribution of material assistance is combined with social reintegration measures such as guidance and support to help the most deprived to get out of poverty. Member States may also choose to provide only non-material assistance aimed at furthering the social inclusion of the most deprived persons.
In 2012, close to 125 million people – almost a quarter of the population in the EU – were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Almost 50 million are suffering severe material deprivation.