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With the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the European Union (EU) is involved in the field of last resort social protection, mainly by subsidising food aid. This working paper examines (a) to what extent FEAD funds are geared towards poor Member States with greater social needs, (b) how important food aid in general, and FEAD in particular, is to supplement insufficient minimum income protection for the poor, (c) to what extent food aid is embedded in and supported by (welfare) state institutions, (d) how important FEAD accompanying measures are to strengthen individual power resources. The paper builds on primary and secondary data and includes case study research covering eight European countries and four European cities. Our results show that FEAD organises an – albeit very limited – form of pan-European solidarity. Although FEAD budgets are very small, in some poorer countries they are not trivial compared to national unemployment and social exclusion spending. However, FEAD’s share in food aid packages is small. Moreover, compared to the efforts needed in order to lift minimum incomes to the EU-wide poverty threshold, the funds are relatively smaller in poor countries than in the richer ones. Our findings also suggest that on the one hand, FEAD could strengthen power resources of European citizens through its accompanying measures, but on the other hand, it seems to support the increasing penetration of food aid into welfare state institutions. Nonetheless, FEAD might be used as a stop-gap measure in a political strategy aimed at the implementation of the right to adequate minimum income protection.

Ublažavanje siromaštva u Republici Hrvatskoj kroz Fond europske pomoći za najpotrebitije (FEAD), istraženo je u ovom radu za financijsku perspektivu 2014.-2020. godinu. Pokazatelji ublažavanja siromaštva, prema službenim dostupnim podatcima, nisu dali jasnu sliku tko su primatelji, kakvu vrstu pomoći su primili i na kojem području, samo je zabilježen njihov ukupni broj. Na primjerima društava Crvenog križa, koja su bila uključena u provedbu više od polovice ugovorenih projekata, te analizom dinamike provedbe, utvrđeno je kako nije postignut kontinuitet pružanja pomoći, a niti regionalna zastupljenost svih područja. Upravljačko i provedbeno tijelo prepustili su izbor korisnika, primatelja pomoći, organizacijama koje provode projekte stoga pomoć nije bila dostupna svim skupinama u riziku od siromaštva, a niti ujednačenost onoga što je došlo do krajnjih korisnika. Volonterski doprinos u provedbi FEAD-a bio je vrlo značajan, posebice u sustavu društava Hrvatskog Crvenog križa, te je radom prikazana njihova vrijednost i izmjeren ekonomski doprinos, a što je potpuno marginalizirano u svim službenim dokumentima i izvješćima o FEAD-u u Hrvatskoj. Studijom slučaja na primjerima društava Crvenog križa radom je utvrđeno kako su društva postigla značajan napredak u jačanju svojih kapaciteta u provedbi projekata, a ponajprije u znatno većem obuhvatu korisnika kojima su kroz godine pomagali podjelom hrane, higijenskih potrepština, školske opreme i pribora i drugih vrsta pomoći. Društvima Crvenog križa u Hrvatskoj porastao je ugled i kod korisnika i kod donatora te su provođenjem FEAD projekata ojačali svoju humanitarnu misiju., Poverty alleviation in the Republic of Croatia through the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) was investigated in this paper for the financial perspective for years 2014-2020. The indicators of poverty alleviation, according to the official available data, did not give a clear picture of who the recipients were, what kind of aid they received and in which area, only their total number was recorded. Based on the examples of the Croatians Red Cross societies, which were involved in the implementation of more than half of the contracted projects, and the analysis of the dynamics of the implementation, it was determined that the continuity of assistance was not achieved, nor was regional representation of all areas achieved. The managing and implementing body left the choice of beneficiaries and aid recipients to the organizations implementing the projects, therefore the aid was not available to all groups at risk of poverty, nor was there uniformity regarding what actually reached the end users. The volunteer contribution in the implementation of FEAD was very significant, especially in the Croatian Red Cross system, and the paper shows their value and measured economic contribution, which is completely marginalized in all official documents and reports on FEAD in Croatia. Through a case study based on the examples of Croatian Red Cross societies, the paper established that the societies achieved significant progress in strengthening their capacities in the implementation of projects, and above all in a significantly larger coverage of beneficiaries whom they helped over the years by distributing food, toiletries, school equipment and supplies and other types of assistance. The reputation of the Red Cross in Croatia has grown both among users and donors, and by implementing FEAD projects, they have strengthened their humanitarian mission.

Ublažavanje siromaštva u Republici Hrvatskoj kroz Fond europske pomoći za najpotrebitije (FEAD), istraženo je u ovom radu za financijsku perspektivu 2014.-2020. godinu. Pokazatelji ublažavanja siromaštva, prema službenim dostupnim podatcima, nisu dali jasnu sliku tko su primatelji, kakvu vrstu pomoći su primili i na kojem području, samo je zabilježen njihov ukupni broj. Na primjerima društava Crvenog križa, koja su bila uključena u provedbu više od polovice ugovorenih projekata, te analizom dinamike provedbe, utvrđeno je kako nije postignut kontinuitet pružanja pomoći, a niti regionalna zastupljenost svih područja. Upravljačko i provedbeno tijelo prepustili su izbor korisnika, primatelja pomoći, organizacijama koje provode projekte stoga pomoć nije bila dostupna svim skupinama u riziku od siromaštva, a niti ujednačenost onoga što je došlo do krajnjih korisnika. Volonterski doprinos u provedbi FEAD-a bio je vrlo značajan, posebice u sustavu društava Hrvatskog Crvenog križa, te je radom prikazana njihova vrijednost i izmjeren ekonomski doprinos, a što je potpuno marginalizirano u svim službenim dokumentima i izvješćima o FEAD-u u Hrvatskoj. Studijom slučaja na primjerima društava Crvenog križa radom je utvrđeno kako su društva postigla značajan napredak u jačanju svojih kapaciteta u provedbi projekata, a ponajprije u znatno većem obuhvatu korisnika kojima su kroz godine pomagali podjelom hrane, higijenskih potrepština, školske opreme i pribora i drugih vrsta pomoći. Društvima Crvenog križa u Hrvatskoj porastao je ugled i kod korisnika i kod donatora te su provođenjem FEAD projekata ojačali svoju humanitarnu misiju. Poverty alleviation in the Republic of Croatia through the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) was investigated in this paper for the financial perspective for years 2014-2020. The indicators of poverty alleviation, according to the official available data, did not give a clear picture of who the recipients were, what kind of aid they received and in which area, only their total number was recorded. Based on the examples of the Croatians Red Cross societies, which were involved in the implementation of more than half of the contracted projects, and the analysis of the dynamics of the implementation, it was determined that the continuity of assistance was not achieved, nor was regional representation of all areas achieved. The managing and implementing body left the choice of beneficiaries and aid recipients to the organizations implementing the projects, therefore the aid was not available to all groups at risk of poverty, nor was there uniformity regarding what actually reached the end users. The volunteer contribution in the implementation of FEAD was very significant, especially in the Croatian Red Cross system, and the paper shows their value and measured economic contribution, which is completely marginalized in all official documents and reports on FEAD in Croatia. Through a case study based on the examples of Croatian Red Cross societies, the paper established that the societies achieved significant progress in strengthening their capacities in the implementation of projects, and above all in a significantly larger coverage of beneficiaries whom they helped over the years by distributing food, toiletries, school equipment and supplies and other types of assistance. The reputation of the Red Cross in Croatia has grown both among users and donors, and by implementing FEAD projects, they have strengthened their humanitarian mission.

The European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) are instruments by which the European Union (EU) acts as a ‘material supporter’ of national welfare states. Originally, these funds served social objectives only in a derived form. Today, however, the merger European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), integrating both ESF and FEAD, is presented as the main financial instrument to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). This raises the question of what these levers can do in terms of financial support, especially for Member States with greater social needs. Since this question has remained unanswered so far, we aim to fill a gap in the literature by studying this topic. Concretely, in this paper, using the Social Scoreboard indicators that monitor the EPSR implementation, we analyse the size and the distribution of ESF and FEAD allocations according to Member States’ economic capacity, social needs, policy outputs and efforts required to meet the European social goals. We find that the funds benefit relatively more the poorer Member States who also tend to have greater social needs. However, especially in the case of ESF, there are significant deviations from this general pattern. Some countries consistently receive less funding than others with similar levels of social needs, and vice versa. Moreover, if we express ESF and FEAD budgets as a percentage of the efforts required to lift all income-poor citizens to the EU-wide 60% poverty line, it appears that countries who need to make the greatest efforts get relatively less funding. This outcome seems to be significantly driven by the funds’ allocation rules, which give only little importance to the great social and economic discrepancies between countries. Ultimately, this raises the question whether social needs should be taken more into account in the distribution of the funds, while paying attention to the risk of moral hazard.

Fond europske pomoći za najpotrebitije (FEAD) dio je Europskog socijalnog fonda (ESI). Cilj ovog fonda je osigurati hranu i/ili osnovne materijalne potrepštine za najpotrebitije. To uključuje hranu, odjeću i ostale materijale za osobnu upotrebu. Ovaj rad objašnjava jedan natječaj iz FEAD-a na primjeru projekta Caritasa Dubrovačke biskupije „Ruke dobrote“ Fund for european aid to the most deprived (FEAD) is part of European social fund (ESF). The goal of fund is to provide food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived. It includes food, clothing and other essential items for personal use. This paper explains one FEAD project on the example of Caritas Dioecesis Ragusina "Ruke dobrote"

Ovaj rad bavi se istraživanjem provedbe Fonda europske pomoći za najpotrebitije u Hrvatskoj. Glavni cilj je procjena kvalitete provedbe i identificiranje prostora za poboljšanje u budućnosti. U glavnom djelu rada prikazuju se rezultati provedenog kvalitativnog istraživanja u obliku polustrukturiranih intervjua. Odgovori ispitanika, ali i podaci iz operativnog programa, izvješća Europske komisije i strukturirane ankete krajnjih korisnika, sistematizirani su u evaluacijske kriterije Europske komisije: efektivnost, efikasnost, koherentnost i relevantnost. Tako su identificirana sljedeća područja za poboljšanje: skraćivanje perioda čekanja rezultata i potpisivanja ugovora, pojednostavljenje obrasca za nadoknadu sredstava, povećanje alokacije sredstava za administrativne troškove i tehničku pomoć, osiguravanje pravovaljanih informacija te suradnja s djelatnicima u posredničkom/upravljačkom tijelu s većim znanjem o procesu javne nabave, skraćivanje rokova provjere ispravnosti isplate odobrenih zahtjeva za nadoknadu sredstava te češće provođenje savjetovanja kao popratne mjere., This research aims to examine the implementation of the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived in Croatia. The main objective is to evaluate the quality of implementation and identify areas that require further improvement. The results of the qualitative research conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews are presented. Respondents’ answers, as well as data from the operational program, European Commission reports and structured end-user surveys, are systemized into the European Commission’s evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and relevance. Thus, the following areas that require further improvement are identified: shortening the waiting period before signing the contract, simplifying the reimbursement form, increasing the allocation of funds for administrative costs and technical assistance, providing valid information and cooperating with staff in the intermediary/governing body with greater knowledge of the public procurement process, shortening deadlines for verifying reimbursement requests and providing consultations as a side measure more frequently.

Food insecurity has risen by 40% in Europe&rsquo, s post-economic crisis, linked to the economic turmoil and austerity. Despite the intensification of efforts to fight all forms of poverty, including the implementation of programs targeted to the most deprived, the study of individuals at risk of food insecurity has been largely neglected. This study aimed to map the nutritional habits and needs of the most deprived in Greece, one of the countries most affected by the economic crisis. Individuals classified as most deprived under the Fund for the European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) criteria (n = 499) from across Greece and an age matched control from the general population (n = 500) were interviewed between December 2017 and December 2019. Participants provided information about demographic characteristics, and self-reported anthropometric measures and nutritional intake of the past month via a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Protein and energy malnutrition were defined as daily intake &lt, 1.950 kcal and &le, 0.75 g/kg body-weight accordingly. Protein and energy malnutrition were high among FEAD recipients (52.3% and 18.6% respectively, p &lt, 0.001), alongside a high prevalence of overweight and obesity (BMI &gt, 25: 68.4% versus 55.1%, p &lt, 0.001). The diet of FEAD recipients included higher amounts of carbohydrates, lower amounts of monounsaturated fat (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fat (PUFA, 0.001 compared to control), larger amounts of plant-based proteins (5.81 &plusmn, 1.7 versus 4.94 &plusmn, 1.3% E respectively, p &lt, 0.001) and very limited intake of fish (0.07 portions/day). Despite being enrolled in a food assistance program, protein and energy malnutrition is prevalent among Greece&rsquo, s most deprived who experience not only lower diet quality but also the double burden of malnutrition.