The European Commission pronounced 2010 as a year of fight against poverty and social discrimination. This initiative was presented in Madrid jointly with the Spanish government. This initiative will be conducted with the slogan “Let’s stop the poverty today.” “Very often in the period of economic crises the most vulnerable groups suffer,” stated the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barossa. He also added that the initiative should benefit from the opportunities existing today in order to build a more equal and integrated society. This is considered one of the main components of the EU development program 2020. Poverty still continues to be considered a serious issue even for the wealthiest European societies. Approximately 80 million Europeans (17% of the population of the EU) live in conditions lower the poverty line and the level of lifestyles continues to worry the EU residents. According to the polls of the Euro Barometer center 73% of the EU citizens considers poverty a wide-spread issue in the country and 89% asks their own government to fight against that more decisively.
