Europeans have one of the best social protection systems in the world, and yet 84 million of them, nearly one sixth, live below the poverty line. The EU has set itself the target of lifting 20 million citizens out of poverty and social exclusion by 2020. The European Year for combating poverty and social exclusion has been instrumental in pushing political leaders to achieve this objective. The reduction of poverty is one of the keys of the new European strategy for sustainable, smart and inclusive growth, adopted by European leaders in June 2010. To achieve this objective, the European Union’s role is to coordinate the actions of the Member States and contribute with European funding.