Jerome Hughes
Press TV, Brussels The heads of the EU institutions, as well as civil society groups, business leaders and union representatives all came together in Brussels to take part in the so-called 'Tripartite Social Summit'.

This, as figures just released by the EU's statistical agency, Eurostat, show that 109 million people in the bloc are living on the poverty line, that's 22% of the EU's entire population.  Social Dialogue Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis responded to our question by defending the European Commission's record over the past five years as a new commission prepares to take office.

Unemployment is down he said.

But the head of the bloc's rotating presidency was less sanguine.

Poverty rates in Bulgaria are running at an incredible 32.8% of the population, in Romania 32.5%, Greece 31.8% and above 25% in Latvia, Lithuania, Italy and Spain.  We already see a record number of eurosceptic politicians in the European Parliament and eurosceptic parties are actually in government across several EU member states.  Experts warn this trend will continue and the bloc will ultimately fall apart if EU leaders and institutions fail to ensure greater social justice for citizens