ABSTRACT
The empirical analysis revealed that the implementation of Europe 2020 in Belgium has further increased the political salience of the poverty issue, also prompting an agenda shift: the social inclusion of migrants with a non-European Union (EU) background. Belgium is a 'crucial' case to study the national-supranational relationship within EU social policy coordination for at least four reasons: the strong anti-poverty policy tradition, the extent of the problem pressure, the traditional positive relationship towards the EU and the decentralised policy settings. A participatory approach has also spilled over to the anti-poverty policy arena. Belgium has a long tradition of involving trade unions and organisations dealing with poverty in defining the national anti-poverty strategy. In 2010, at the end of the Lisbon era, the variety of substantive and procedural effects prompted by the Open Method of Coordination in Belgium has represented a strong legacy for the implementation of the new Europe 2020 strategy.
