Two years after the landmark Beyond Growth 2023 Conference, the European Parliament will once again host a high-level debate on the future of Europe’s socio-economic model. Hosted and organised by Bas Eickhout (MEP and Co-President of the Greens/EFA Group) and Marie Toussaint (MEP and Vice-President of the Greens/EFA Group), in collaboration with the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, this follow-up event will present and discuss the Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth, developed by the Special Rapporteur in close collaboration with UN agencies, EU institutions, Member States, civil society, trade unions, and leading academics.

In his landmark 2024 report Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth (A/HRC/56/61), the Special Rapporteur called for a decisive shift away from growth-dependent development strategies towards a human rights economy that puts the effective realisation of human rights, well-being and planetary boundaries at the centre of economic transformation. While that report set out the “why” and the “what” of such a shift, the Roadmap for Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth now provides the “how”: a comprehensive toolbox of policy measures across five pillars—universal social protection and essential services, labour and the care economy, economic systems transformation, climate and resources, and trade, finance and global solidarity—together with a transversal focus on governance and participatory democracy.

As the UN debates the next generation of global development goals, and at a time when the European Commission is preparing both its first EU Anti-Poverty Strategy and an Intergenerational Fairness Strategy, the Roadmap offers timely and concrete answers to how to eradicate poverty while staying within planetary boundaries. It shows how governments, EU institutions and international organisations can prioritise human rights, equity, care, and sustainability while moving decisively beyond the false inevitabilities of “growthism”.

Bringing together a wide range of voices from the European Parliament, high-level EU policymakers, trade unions, civil society leaders, academic experts and activist voices, the event will carry forward the debates initiated at the Beyond Growth 2023 Conference and provide a platform to debate how the Roadmap’s proposals can inform the EU’s policy agenda to advance poverty eradication while ensuring both ecological sustainability and social justice, and position the EU as a leader in shaping post-2030 poverty eradication strategies that move beyond growth dependence.

 

Programme

Tuesday 9 December, 19:00-21:00 CET
Room SPINELLI 1G3, European Parliament, Brussels

Opening remarks: MEP Bas Eickhout and MEP Marie Toussaint

Keynote: Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Speech ‘Ways and means to help eradicate poverty’: Mario Nava, Director-General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion

Panel debate:

Milena Büchs, Professor of sustainable welfare, University of Leeds
Isabelle Schönmann, Deputy General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
Marianna Leite, Director of Programs, Center for Economic and Social Rights
Chloé Mikolajczak, Environmental and social justice activist
Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Audience Q&A

Closing remarks: MEP Bas Eickhout and MEP Marie Toussaint

 

The event will be held in English (with French interpretation) and will be livestreamed here (please register to follow online).

A reception will follow the event for in-person participants.