RESEAU EUROPEEN DES ASSOCIATIONS DE LUTTE CONTRE LA PAUVRETE ET L'EXCLUSION SOCIALE AISBL

Their core work

EAPN (European Anti-Poverty Network) is Europe's largest civil society network dedicated to fighting poverty and social exclusion, bringing together national anti-poverty organizations across 35+ European countries. Unlike research institutions, they contribute policy advocacy experience, direct access to communities living in poverty, and the ability to translate research findings into civil society and policy impact. In H2020 projects they function as a bridge between scientific consortia and the lived reality of vulnerable populations — ensuring research questions stay grounded and results reach the people and institutions that can act on them. Their value in any consortium is access, legitimacy, and reach within European civil society and social policy circles.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

EAPN's H2020 entry point was energy poverty: their first project, ASSIST, focused on household energy saving support networks, where knowledge of vulnerable populations' barriers to efficiency adoption was the core contribution. Their second engagement pivoted sharply toward labor market exclusion — in-work poverty, living wages, and the European Pillar of Social Rights — signalling a deliberate broadening from one dimension of poverty (energy access) to the structural conditions that keep working people poor. The trajectory is consistent with EAPN's broader policy agenda: from sector-specific social vulnerability toward comprehensive social rights frameworks at EU level.

EAPN is moving from single-issue social vulnerability (energy access) toward positioning itself as a systemic voice on EU social rights, labor market fairness, and European Pillar implementation — making them a relevant partner for any future project touching social cohesion, decent work, or minimum income standards.

How they like to work

EAPN has participated in all 2 H2020 projects as a partner, never as coordinator — which is typical for a civil society network whose value lies in reach and legitimacy rather than technical project management. Across those two projects they engaged 27 unique partners, suggesting exposure to diverse consortium types rather than a fixed circle of repeat collaborators. Working with EAPN means gaining a well-connected civil society voice, but the project's technical lead should expect to drive the research agenda while EAPN handles stakeholder engagement and policy translation.

EAPN has worked with 27 unique partners across 10 countries in just 2 projects — a high partner-to-project ratio that reflects their identity as a pan-European membership network accustomed to broad coalition work. No single country dominates, consistent with their mandate to represent anti-poverty organisations across the EU and beyond.

What sets them apart

EAPN is not a research producer — they are the institutional voice of Europe's anti-poverty movement, with member organisations in 35+ countries who have frontline contact with people in poverty every day. No other single organisation can simultaneously offer access to that lived-experience knowledge base, credibility with EU social policy institutions, and a ready dissemination channel into national civil society networks. For any project that needs to demonstrate social impact or engage communities affected by poverty, EAPN's participation is a qualitative signal that the research is grounded in real conditions.

Highlights from their portfolio

• WorkYP
  The larger of EAPN's two funded projects (€160,800), directly addressing in-work poverty and living wage policy — the topic closest to EAPN's core advocacy mandate and the richest in policy-relevant keywords.
• ASSIST
  EAPN's entry into H2020, bridging social exclusion expertise with the energy sector by focusing on how vulnerable households can be supported in reducing energy consumption.