BRUSSELS, June 23 (Reuters Life!) - Nearly half the population of Romania is struggling to cover basic living costs, according to figures released by the European Commission that show a deep east-west wealth divide in the European Union.
Despite the union of 27 countries being one of the wealthiest regions in the world, there are vast income and poverty disparities within the bloc, with many former Soviet satellite states in the east lagging behind the west.
According to the Commission’s poverty barometer, 43 percent of Romania’s 21 million people struggled to cover basic costs at least once this year, versus 17 percent of all EU citizens.
At the top of the survey, only 7 percent of Luxembourgers, Danes and Austrians found themselves in that position.
The wealth disparities have long been entrenched — with Luxembourg at the top of the tree with nominal per capita income of $100,000 and Romania near the bottom on around $8,000 — but the economic crisis has worsened the situation.
"More and more Europeans are finding it difficult to make ends meet," said Laszlo Andor, the European commissioner in charge of employment, as he unveiled the figures this week.
Asked if austerity measures being taken by EU member states to tackle a debt crisis were exacerbating poverty, Andor replied: "Unfortunately, austerity in certain periods, in some countries, is part of the financial and economic crisis."
The Commission survey, conducted in mid-May and involving 25,600 citizens in all EU member states, is one of a series conducted to measure the impact of the financial crisis.
Romania and Bulgaria, two of the poorest EU member states, joined the EU in 2007 when it expanded to 27 countries.
On June 17, EU leaders set a goal to lift 20 million Europeans out of poverty within the next decade — a target which amounts to under 5 percent of the EU’s 500 million people.
The aim is for member states to develop programmes to increase employment and reduce poverty in their countries, Andor said, with the European Commission offering guidance.
"The survey … emphasizes the need to step up efforts to create policies for job growth and poverty reduction," he said.
The poverty divide between east and west EU member states extends to a gap in purchasing power, which takes account of the different cost of living in certain countries. Citizens of Ireland, the country with the second highest purchasing power in the EU, are able to buy nearly 75 percent more with their incomes than Bulgarians.
Luxembourgers have the highest purchasing power, at 268 percent of the EU average.
The EU’s efforts to reduce poverty could face a further challenge if the union continues to expand. EU hopefuls Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey had the lowest purchasing power measured in the study. In Albania’s case, it was just 27 percent of the EU average.
