One in six Europeans in poverty

Almost one in six Europeans are living below the poverty line, the European Commission has announced.

It is believed around 72 million people survive on less than 60 per cent of their country's average income - the "poverty threshold".

The figure was announced at a Brussels conference on poverty to demonstrate that more needs to be done to solve the problem.

EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimir Spidla, said Brussels would commit "considerable funding" from the EU budget to promote an inclusive society.

"The Commission will continue to support the fight against poverty and social exclusion," he said.

"Our goal must be to eradicate poverty in Europe. But we must not forget, that whenever we talk about targets and percentages we are in fact not talking about figures, we are talking about people and their potential and talents."

The statistics reveal that across the 27 EU countries 16 per cent of people live below the poverty threshold and 19 per cent of children are at risk of poverty.

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