The Fund for European aid to the most deprived (FEAD) is intended to both replace and expand on the current EU food aid programme (the Food distribution programme for the most deprived persons of the community – MDP), which has been running since 1987. It would provide assistance to charities and NGOs working with the most deprived members of the community, including the homeless and children, for the period 2014-2020. The report by Emer Costello leaves it to each country to decide the final scope of the support within their own programmes (whether to provide food aid or basic material assistance and which groups to target amongst the most deprived).
FEAD is symbolic of European solidarity with those most severely affected by the crisis, but the increased budget is still far from adequate. In 2010, nearly 25% of Europeans (120 million people) were at risk of poverty and social exclusion. FEAD is an instrument designed to alleviate the most severe forms of poverty – food and material deprivation – which exist in all member states.