Especially during this European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, we urge European leaders to work for a society where social justice and the fight against poverty are key objectives for all political action. Together with an economic and political integration process, an equally important social integration process is needed. 

With this in mind we ask Member States to put into action this strategy by aiming at strong and binding targets at national level. We recommend especially to: 

• Reduce by 30% the number of people living below the national poverty lines, lifting over 25 million people out of poverty. An adequate basic income must be guaranteed as a right for people who do not have sufficient resources for dignified living conditions.
  
  
• Eradicate child poverty in Europe and stop the intergenerational transmission of poverty. By 2020, the number of children living in families below the poverty line must be reduced by 70% compared to the 2010 level. One measure of ultimate importance for us is to guarantee child allowances to every child, regardless of the status of their parents.
  
  
• Decisively improve education and training. Member States must guarantee an education system offering every child the same chances to achieve a professional or secondary school degree, as well as alternative educational pathways for different situations.  
  
  
• Mainstream in all relevant policy areas the full participation of specific groups at risk of exclusion such as migrants, ethnic minorities, people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS and disabled persons.
  
  
• Ensure Policy Coherence for Development so that the Europe 2020 strategy is also a strategy for promoting the sustainable development of developing countries. This would notably enable to fulfil by 2015 commitments towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and go far beyond them by 2020. 
  
  
• Achieve a substantial impact on climate change. The development of industrialised nations has been the main cause of climate change, and yet it is the world’s poorest communities who will most suffer its effects. By 2020, we strongly recommend going far beyond the "30/20/20" climate/energy targets.
  
  
• Strongly improve the governance aspect of Europe 2020 by a true participation of all stakeholders, social partners and the whole civil society in implementing, monitoring and evaluating this strategy.