Abstract

The European Union developed a new approach to coordinate social policies. In this approach the eighteen indicators on poverty and social exclusion commonly agreed by the Member States in 2001 will play a significant role. In the first section of the paper we describe the institutional process which led to the choice of these indicators discussing also their role in the European economic integration process. In the second section we present the eighteen indicators illustrating some caveats to bear in mind when using them to compare different countries.