for justice. the french president is slammed for failing to secure a vaccine from france which is now destined for the u.k. as paris struggles to obtain surprised any jobs it is a shame for us we have missed a good chance in france it was within days of the words is given to the united kingdom england is better managed because it has been liberated from the european union will the government and europe are failing at everything. the murder of an italian town violence locals from getting sick in an effort to draw attention to the lack of doctors. out of the now i did it as a provocation my ruling can hardly be enforced i mean that getting sick or not it is not down to one's wish an individual can certainly take steps to avoid falling ill and while the country struggles to get their hands on limited vaccine supplies

for their populations we look at how some wealthy individuals are jumping the queue . special operator on policy and human rights. is the guest on going on the ground next. and i was time to get you up to speed on the morning headlines on myself another good bye. i'm actually retired senior watching going underground on what would have been the 110th birthday of ronald reagan and now 40 years on from his spearheading the neoliberal economics that rule our daily lives a new report from the united nations special report or an extreme poverty and human rights suggests that neo liberalism may not be fit for purpose when it comes to tackling poverty that alone recovering. from the devastation of the coronavirus at

least when it comes to the european union special reportorially being a shooter now joins me from brussels levey thanks so much for coming on i mean the you is in the news for nearly destroying the good friday agreement for a vaccination war your report suggesting that well what's called the often the greatest capitalist project in history is not fit for purpose how did you arrive at that conclusion. but essentially my report tries to show that the e.u. is not willing critz to combat poverty because it has organized competition between the member states in taxation matters in the area of wages and and social contributions by huge lawyers we refer to this as fiscal dumping and social then b. and also because it imposes on member states very tight macroeconomy stripping jackets in order to avoid macroeconomy imbalances across the e.u.

this makes it very difficult for states to spend money on social investment at the risk of increasing their of it until today is a unique opportunity to really rethink these issues and haps eventually create the e.u. to to initiate more it's cheap within its borders again to the macroeconomic pressures by virtue of the euro arguably in a 2nd but do you think there is recognition of what you just said in that as you say in the report there is no target anymore for poverty reduction in the 2020 poverty target of 20000000 was missed by 8700000 men women and children in the. indeed so in 2010 your 2020 strategy had been announced and the objective was to reduce poverty by 20000000 people by 2020 this time it was entirely missed and i think it has been traumatizing europe in this issue makers who do not want to commit to a new targets which they feel it may be difficult to reach setting targets mean

excepting accountability for results and this is something which is difficult to obtain i believe we can do better i believe that you should set targets to guide to member states but especially to better support member states in initiating this targets and that means fighting the current unhealthy competition between states who because they want to be competitive into it are not making the fight against poverty a priority in their domestic policies. you know the you always defend itself as being a whole regardless of the criticism but i mean one might ask you after reading this report isn't the point of neoliberalism meritocracy that some states have more poor people and others have richer people isn't that competition baked in to the whole european union project well there is

a very strong tendency since at least 30 years to basically blame poverty young on the people who are the victims of poverty by emphasizing that they should seek to be better qualified that they should be more active in the search for employment and they made the wrong choices in life and should play them blame themselves for their condition but that is simply not realistic we've actually seen many people who cannot find work despite their efforts because of the difficulties of reconciling family with with with work life because of their health problems because they do not have access to proper order to. issues and let us not forget that a large number of people with young children children crew have committed no crime but who are inflicted this lifelong sentence of having to bear with the consequences of it to you which as we know should be a handicap to them for their adult lives and that is simply unacceptable almost one

quarter of children in the e.u. are born in a family that is at risk of poverty and that really is is extremely problematic for their future because of the stress speech are in because of the difficulty state they will have in elite or lives to be productive adults and of course now their schools are closed because of coronavirus what do you think as special will be the generational damage of as you put it 19400000 children living in poverty be i mean when it just me mental degradation of those children or will they give rise to anger. well one impact of the crisis and the closure of many schools across the e.u. is that children from depended on school meals programs in order to have at least one adequate meal but they do not have access to this anymore and it is knots

phenomenon limited to developing countries the dependence of children on school it actually is benefiting many children across europe in the u.k. and in the $27.00 countries and it is indeed going to have a severe impact moreover many households are not connected to the internet and therefore the shifting of courses online will increase the gap between the children whose parents can afford good access to internet and the others who do not have such access and and will basically increase the rates of dot out from schools like an extremely worried about the consequences of the current situation well much over the you know but a so-called mainstream media in britain characterize jeremy coleman the former labor leaders plans for broadband to be broadband communism the greater availability of government funded or banned internet you think it is crucial for

the european union. it is increasingly crucial to ensure access to 2 treats in it for households many social benefits are now essentially accessible only by filling in forms online and for families who either have no internet access or are not trained to to fill in these forms it can be problematic we have many examples of social benefits never being claimed by people because of their digital illiteracy because they do not know how to fill in these forms and i think it's a very serious problem we should of course digitalize further improve access to internet which we should also be think the idea that digitalization of social social services will actually benefit everyone many people because they are you know older persons or because they are not used to using the computer and may not be able to actually access social services by those means well you measure mental

health you didn't say whether they're going to rise up in all european capitals when they reach their teens but what about health indicators that you expect stunted growth and those kind of indicators given what you just said about who take . it is too early to say what the long term health consequences will be but it's clear in the. years during which. i grew up and and become a doctor since i've absolutely vital for the training of the mind and for the ability to better socialize so i fear that we're producing a generation of. undefeated individuals if you wish who who will be much less actually is it social contacts and interactions and it's fine if they have family support but if they're lived by themselves and if their family has new

strong social networks and family networks to to to fall back on it maybe should be problematic now i know there was a war the e.u. is involved in yugoslavia in the ninety's millions killed injured in displacement in the e.u. might reply to your report by saying ok many of the things about the extreme poverty may be correct but that's the price we have to pay for peace in your since world war 2. look what is really disturbing to me is that we look at the figures of social investment over the past 1015 years investment in education in childhood supports and and other such investments in people and those investments have been declining systematically since 2009 despite there being overall economic progress that apparently has not been a concern for e.u.

governments and so i really question the proteins they set for themselves i am concerned that the spending on those investments i mentioned in person to just the g.d.p. have been declining over the years and the reason for this is economy the stereotype this is now of the don't see that we should repeat don't bend rethink significantly and we should now invest in people after all of investing in health care education only childhood is the best investment one can make and i really don't understand the protease as they have been said for the past few years was you know the governments of europe say what is important has been bailing out bankers the financial ization of economies and also the fact is that there are pouring money into social services albeit outsourced privatized ones in and you must be aware as well and i'm sure you are aware a special report that many will say how do you arrive at these figures and relative

poverty even mean anything you'll note that the right wing press often says we should just retreat to absolute poverty rather than relative poverty these people are not really poor. well what is true is that it's the 21 percent of the european population that is at risk of poverty and or social exclusion including people who are relatively poor because they make less than 60 percent of the of the average income of just just to make just one year of that one in far more than one in 5 your people in the european union you're saying yes 21 percent more than one in 5 europeans are at risk of poverty now this includes the measure of monetary policy which is indeed relative poverty it's below 60 percent of the median income but that matters to people if you ask people about how they experience poverty it was speaking about how they are unable to to live decent lives in which they can

compare themselves with you know the average person around them and if they cannot afford decent housing decent education if they must are working in more than one job in order to make a decent standard of living this is just unacceptable not only do we have one european out of 5 that's at risk of poverty but you also have. 90 percent of the working population and he's poor and the phenomenon of working poor has grown across all the e.u. because we try to create jobs the poor quality jobs under bade 0 hour jobs many jobs as they're called in germany and that is in treme a troubling development yeah i want to explore the coal face of work in a 2nd but do you have believe that this background has contributed to your. being the worst continent in the world to respond to her own of our. well i wouldn't say

it's been the worst continent into were we have countries such as the us brazil or others whose performance is this move really this is true that he has its services across europe have been tragic by 10 years of austerity measures imposed upon them and we had until recently the recommendations addressed to the e.u. member states to reduce the costs of health care and that has been tragic the the social security systems and health care systems and we now discover that social resilience was neglected over the years in the name of cost effectiveness and that is partly the result of this is macroeconomic constraints that states have been imposed. as i say e.u. governments the european central bank they will say they needed to bail out banks as a priority and now there will be saying to you there's

a 750000000000 euro euro recovery fund to help achieve. 50 percent poverty reduction. well. that's an important initiative but each are not be focused on the reduction of public key at all in fact the e.u. has deployed a series of instruments under the next generation e.u. under the framework if you wish and box to the investments will be for the greening of the economy about 37 percent of the becoming president facility should take it to that and 20 percent should go to digitalize ation of the economy but there's no time good sense for investment in in social cohesion and therefore we must hope that the member states will make this a priority in the national plans they submit to receive funding from the e.u. but there's no real way to measure the impact on policy on the reduction of

inequalities no plan for social cohesion i don't know what. progressive government then latin america or africa or southeast asia would say about that eliminate a shootout stop you there more from the un special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights to this breaking. news that the volatility is near the city really can surely. take his case with but. that would that a supposed on notice that's there something that. you know none of us dip in

a bowl episodes didn't go to see just you cure the disease i think it's near during your posts where you could be in a must understand if not thoughts about spirit i put it was emotional 6. women tend in no. state gear clearly. shows to stress a squishy woman's failure to post their top of ice so to move willow's russell vulnerable current actual story. about what is. welcome back i'm still here with the un special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights in the v.a. the shooter why do you say in your report you were impressed with the dedication of all those you met. as regards these issues when there's not even

a plan about social cohesion i presume that before cope and let alone what happens now i know i didn't get many people in the european is to shoes would like. to be better equipped to face the emergency we have facing today and to respond better but they don't have the means to do so and project this is because of the inability for the e.u. to harmonize taxation across the e.u. it requires unanimity in it and some small states benefit from the current condition between states they have to compete since either its you legislate on on wages and as a result we see these working poor grew as a proportion of the working population but actually they do they do legislate on wages they legislate arguably for low wages isn't about the whole point i mean why

am i asking about why you were impressed by these e.u. figures is what is the role of techno crossly. within europe on exchange poverty i mean if you look at these people like god the european central bank was well known for having been suspected of fraud that she denies you correct use of the money laundering with isn't it obvious that you have these people of the top of the european who don't really care about your remit you know i think the reality is that the report is about the conditions under which the institutions work and i'm not of course passing any judgement on particular individuals but what is clear is that the e.u. has been. basically organizing itself to stimulate growth by trying to increase competition and competitiveness across the economy without much regard frankly for the story that's and we know as much concern for those who may be left out from general economic progress and draws has been pursued

i would say at all expense by trade liberalization by deregulation of labor markets by organizing fiscal and social competition between the member states and polity has been basically neglected you see the british people arguably could see a way out of the situation because they weren't members of the yoro all the things you just mentioned there the euro is arguably the key focus of the european union and keeping that stability of the currency so all these regional variations how possibly can you envisage a reduction in poverty using macro economics when the euro must be kept stable and therefore him stable for investors which require. well demand true economy policy conversions constraints of course relate primarily to the $99.00 member states who are parts of the single currency the euro but not only then and moreover

some states such as. well gary and we're many of which have very low wages allowing their economies to be attractive to some investors in the labor intensive segments of the production chains they fear that if they raise the wages of workers they will be less competitive so and you know they're much wealthier countries wages are difficult to raise because the employers threaten to be organizing in in countries where the wages are lower and it is unfortunately making it very difficult for unions to bargain in a strong body position with employers in order to ensure that wages increase with productivity gains and i'm very concerned that at the rate of unionization are going down that the bargaining power of unions is weak sure because of this threats

of employers to to outsource production and that's this is inherent in the construct of the e.u. which is organizing this competition between understates hasn't been attempts right from the beginning of the european union project to limit the power of trade unions and work in solidarity in favor of technocrats in brussels avallone the so-called 0 hours contract commonly run by as about international often based in the silicon valley right at the beginning you'll know from the founders of the european union limitations the deliberate limiting of union power as part of the project well against the project was that the economy would be under the supervision of the the e use compazine as you call it the european commission in particular and that the social dimension should be left to the member states who should be free to develop social policies the problem is you cannot meet that distinction it is not

a watertight distinction you can trace and of course that is. conny choice is done and you can let her affect your mistakes to conduct social policies at domestic level in particular because to finance or protection schemes you need to have progressive taxation we should you not afford to have if you're competing across the e.u. with other member states so we have to rethink the construct and that is why in my report i call for rethinking those choices now as a crisis has shown the fragility of the european integration process we've built i'm sure you've met a few of the lobbyists of the national in brussels as regards salary increases what do you think they would think of your report on extreme poverty the many actors who fear of change because they benefit from the current system and obviously the corporations that are best you quit to organize production across different

jurisdictions and just to have address issues compete with one another. on the simple precautions for best at avoiding taxes limiting their tax liability by declaring profits indigenous issues that have the lowest corporate income tax rates and unfortunately the big players have a major influence in setting the the political agenda and in through in seeing pretty good decision making so boss of the response to the crisis is true and be aware of these these veto points that these powerful actors control and to overcome them or circumvent it i think is really important that you have them and they haven't they have been overcome and the report talks about generational as we talk about generational poverty we're talking about more than one in 5 now at risk what is the limiting factor here obviously there was a limiting factor here in britain when the british people have had enough of the lack of democracy the lack of openness as far as bricks and tears and those who

voted record fell what is a limiting factor. we have other countries i know countries in the euro a previously tried to effect change and to no avail but do you believe this will lead to other countries seeking to leave just just because of social instability and civil disobedience no i don't think so and in fact we do not see in other countries. the parties that are that have proposed to leave that you gaining any. any voices as a result of the current crisis when there is is that we thinking of how the e.u. is developing but i mean what what evidence do you have that there are voices within the european union over the anger merkel now leaving and even more neo liberal voices arguably in berlin may emerge what what evidence have you got that people are taking on board your suggestions and your. issues in your report

seriously at all well there is a rethinking on grain and votes which is called the european semester process which is basically a process by which the budgets of the member states are being screened by your commission and member states are given recommendations as to how to improve macroeconomic policy conversions that'll be thought the stability and growth pact that is this economy street jacket it pulls on states in order to ensure that the euro the currency share is protected is also be rethought so there is now a unique opportunity to rethink choices meet back in the 1980s in 1900 that have true to fragile i social protection systems across the e.u. well we'll be monitoring this rethinking as you as you call it on this show i mean like we were covering the g.l.a. john protests with the thousands injured in you know a rich country like france i'm just going to finally end on the existential threat

to the planet i mean anyone reading this report how on earth given the level of. well when you describe in the e.u. cope with the migration crisis that will result from climate catastrophe in the us than a decade ago and something done any studies that show that in fact migration is an opportunity that we can seize provided we provide those arriving in europe with proper training access to services by which they can learn the language and be and be trained for for jobs for which we need. to hire people they can be a benefit to the european economy and for demographic reasons and for the sustainability of our pension schemes we need this younger generation of migrants to be bonds of the economy and it's much more fruitful to have then arrived and be well integrated by providing the services they need to the access to education and

jobs do you think that you think you might be you know you might be sorry to interrupt you think it might be possible and i should say the pension schemes are often invested in the fossil fuel companies that are credited with cutting change well what i was referring to is the fact that we are an aging population in europe and that the arrival of younger migrants who for the most part to will join the active population it can be beneficial to in the short term certainly to the european economy and we should welcome this isn't unity we should see this as not only an ethical duty to welcome those of freeing of persecution or of conflicts in in other countries but be sure to see that if they're well integrated age and even beneficial to european economy and i really don't think it's a threat through you've been i didn't see york or that said it's it's a wave of migrants we cannot cope with and we are welcome here much fewer my

friends than countries such as lebanon for example or tricks yeah of course i believe the culture or the one of. just finally one quick one universal basic income you think any chance there's any chance of that being installed by a new liberal european union when it comes to extreme poverty where the crisis has led if your country's to improve their minimum income schemes and a country such as spain for example has for the 1st time i don't do it such a unify this scheme across the country so there is a debate going on i believe it's particularly going to be a priority for those 8 between $18.20 tragedies old crew need to be supportive as they seek to study as they search for their 1st. professional opportunities we need to support them to make sure that their choices are not constrained by being in immaterial in the in this regard i i regret for example that in france we have a. seat at g.

which is a minimum income scheme that does not benefit the young generation between 18 and 25 years of age that is exactly the opposite of what we should do we should support particularly that group of the procreation and i believe a universal income scheme for that group at least would be highly beneficial. thank you that's it for the show we'll be back on monday and the other side after our interview with iconic palestinian leader khaled mashal way and a look at profitable movies of potential climate catastrophe after the 1st couple of weeks of the biden ministration with levi sanders son of 2020 democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders until then join me on the relative facebook instagram telegram and sound cloud and don't forget the drive the channel and you tube and click the bell icon to turn of occasions on thing you know investment.