As part of the Europe 2020 Strategy EU institutions and Member States pledged to lift 20 million people out of poverty. By 2020, the Strategy has not achieved, or even significantly advanced towards, this initial target, although there was a significant reduction after the economic crisis-geared peak in 2012. The idea of taking sturdier steps towards poverty reduction in the EU has often been shut down based on the argument that the EU lacks competences to act further in this field. 

In this podcast we talk to Ane Aranguiz  researcher at the University of Antwerp about the legal framework of the EU and whether stronger (binding) steps to lift people out of poverty can be taken. Additionally we discuss whether it is the EU or the Member States who should be primary responsible for poverty reduction.