Persisting high poverty and social exclusion rates remain a key challenge of European welfare states. The socio-economic consequences following the COVID-19 crisis are challenging the protection of social citizenship and social rights of the most vulnerable. We examine the role of the European Union (EU) in supporting the most vulnerable citizens by focusing on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD). Our key question is, if and in which ways the EU strengthens social citizenship and social rights through FEAD. We base our analysis on a document analysis of the Regulation, Member States’ operational programmes and results of a survey with food aid organizations in Belgium, Lithuania and Portugal. Our findings suggest that FEAD represents a contradictory case of European action in the field of social citizenship and social rights. On the one hand, FEAD is a highly targeted social policy instrument. On the other hand, food aid, as the main provided instrument, is based on charity and not on social rights. Accompanying social inclusion measures could support beneficiaries in the take-up of social rights, but these measures lack clear rules for implementation and monitoring. We conclude that FEAD seems to contribute to the institutionalization of charitable food aid within national welfare systems.
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