The European Commission's first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy commits to reducing and ultimately eradicating poverty by 2050, which is a strong signal that social inclusion remains at the heart of the European project. It also rightly highlights effective access to quality social services as one of its core priorities, alongside quality employment and adequate income support.
Yet the question is how these ambitions will be translated into reality.
As we highlighted in our position paper, poverty is rarely the result of a single issue. It is often the combined effect of unemployment, insecure housing, poor health, disability, low educational attainment, family breakdown or financial insecurity. Professionals working in social services know it too well; responding to these challenges requires coordinated, person-centred support. Yet in many cases these services are delivered through fragmented programmes located in separate organisations with different procedures, eligibility rules and objectives.
This is why the proposal to launch a future European Council Recommendation on integrated social services is so important. If the Anti-Poverty Strategy defines what Europe wants to achieve, integrated social services are one of the principal ways of delivering it.
However, a Recommendation alone will not be enough.
The European Union has adopted several social initiatives over recent years, including the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Child Guarantee, the European Care Strategy and the Recommendation on adequate minimum income. The challenge is not the absence of policy objectives; it is the implementation of those objectives at national, regional and local levels.
A Recommendation on integrated social services should therefore go beyond describing good practice. It should provide a practical framework and the right tools for implementation. This means supporting national governments to strengthen governance across sectors, improve coordination within social services and between social and employment, health and housing services, invest in workforce development, and establish common approaches to monitoring care in the community. Without such practical guidance, integrated social services risk remaining an aspiration rather than becoming standard practice.
Having the right implementation tools, like financing, is an equally important challenge.
Integrated services do not emerge simply because organisations are encouraged to work together. They require investment in staff, digital infrastructure, case management, training, prevention and the development of local partnerships. At the same time, discussions on the next Multiannual Financial Framework are taking place against growing demands for investment in defence, security and competitiveness. While these priorities are understandable, they inevitably increase pressure on the resources available for social investment.
This creates a fundamental contradiction. The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy raises expectations of more coordinated, accessible and preventive services, yet there is currently no dedicated implementation mechanism or funding framework capable of supporting these changes across Member States. The success of the Anti-Poverty Strategy will therefore depend less on the quality of its objectives than on whether Europe's future budget reflects those ambitions.
There is also a broader lesson. Integrated social services should not be viewed simply as a way of improving administrative coordination. They are a form of social investment. By intervening earlier, reducing duplication, improving access to support and helping people navigate complex systems, integrated social services can prevent problems from escalating into more costly crises for individuals and public authorities alike.
Europe does not need another declaration that integrated social services are desirable. It needs a credible roadmap that explains how they will be organised, supported and financed. A future Council Recommendation can make an important contribution, but only if it moves beyond principles and addresses implementation.
The Anti-Poverty Strategy has established an ambitious destination. The next step is ensuring that local social services have the governance, workforce and resources needed to get there. Otherwise, there is a real risk that one of the European Union's most important social initiatives will be remembered more for its aspirations than for its impact.
