1. Adoption of the Draft Agenda

ESF Committee

Plenary Session

22 March 2002

Draft Minutes

1. Adoption of the Draft Agenda

The agenda was adopted, subject to a change in the order of items according to the availability of participants.

2. Chairman’s Announcements

Written procedures

No written opinions have been adopted since the last meeting.

European Employment Strategy – review of the situation

2002 will be the last year of the strategy in its present form, and as such the timetable for the delivery of the National Action Plans and the arrangements for their analysis will be the same as in previous years. The experience over the last five years has shown that the strategy can be relevant in a more gloomy global economy, and that the objectives and the guidelines should not be changed for cyclical reasons alone.

For the future, three main issues are being examined as part of the mid-term review, which is based on the 15 country studies evaluating the impact of the EES, including the role of the ESF:

• The timing
• The synergy with other processes
• The content

As far as the timing is concerned, the synthesis of the evaluation will be discussed in the Employment Committee (EMCO) in June, followed by a Commission Communication in July which will provide the blueprint for a new generation of employment guidelines for 2003 and up to 2010, thus providing the link to the Lisbon targets and strategy. In Autumn, this Communication will be discussed with the Member States, the European Parliament and the Social Partners, leading to a new package in November which will contain the Commission proposal for the new strategy. This new strategy will be presented to the Spring European Council and adopted by the Council in June 2003. In subsequent years, NAPs would be delivered in October/November and the Commission’s evaluation would be geared to an orientation debate in the Spring Economic European Council and adopted at a June Council.

In this way, there would thus be synchronisation with the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines procedure as agreed at the Barcelona European Council. It would also permit the majority of Member States to align both these processes to their national budget process.

The content of the new strategy will take account of the mid-term evaluation, but the Commission will not propose changes in the strategy just for the sake of change. Nevertheless, the strategy must evolve over time to meet current challenges and adapt to changing circumstances.

Questions relating to possible changes in ESF objectives in connection with changes in the EES should be dealt with in the framework of the Medium Term Review. The Commission would ensure that there was full participation of all those concerned in these discussions.

Enlargement

The Chapter 21 negotiations are now well under way. Candidate countries are also progressively adopting their National Development Plans (NDPs) and the Commission is stressing with them the need to put appropriate emphasis on Human Resources and Structural Funds issues. The majority of candidates have also now agreed a Joint Assessment Paper (JAP) with the Commission, which is the link to their implementation of the Employment Strategy. A summary of the results of the JAP seminars will be ready by Autumn and an analysis of the labour market situation in candidate countries will be included in the synthesis report for the Spring 2003 Economic European Council (as requested at Stockholm EC).

On Social Inclusion, a series of bilateral seminars with the candidate countries is being planned for the summer to discuss the Joint Inclusion Memoranda (JIMs), with a follow up conference in November.

A seminar with candidate countries on 13 February discussed the three issues of Employment, Social Inclusion and the ESF. A similar event will be held in Autumn, back-to-back with the Social Inclusion Conference.

It was noted that it is possible to invite the Candidate countries to meetings of the Committee. The Chairman proposed to do this for the December meeting.

High level group on the Future of the ESF

The High level group has met three times. The parallel Barnier group has also met, although they have discussed different issues, following the themes of the Cohesion Report. The most recent meeting in February focussed on Objective 2 questions.

A major conference will be organised by DG Regio on 27-28 May, on the Future of Cohesion Policy, a follow up to the Cohesion Forum held in 2001. Members of the Committee were encouraged to ensure a wide participation in this conference, although it was noted that only around 100 place are available for Member States. Three issues would be discussed:

• Challenges and objectives of the Structural Funds
• Delivery systems
• Architecture

A seminar on human resource development, training and social inclusion would be held on 5 July. Invitations will be sent out shortly.

Technical Working Group meetings

18 February 2002

At this meeting the group agreed on a work programme for the year, and on an improvement in its procedures with a view to improving coordination between the ESF Committee and the CDRR. The TWG will focus on technical issues relating to management and implementation of the ESF. While it has no formal status, Chairman’s conclusions will be drawn up after each meeting and posted on the website of the Committee. Important issues requiring decisions will be submitted to the Committee, and the Commission will continue to report to the Committee on the discussions in the TWG.

21 March 2002

Among the issues discussed were the problem of Payments Ceilings at measure level (with the Legal Service), and a summary paper on the Annual Reviews exercise. It was agreed that the TWG should follow the discussions in the CDRR on simplification, and would devote its next, informal, meeting in May principally to this issue, focussing on ESF specificities.

The government representatives on the Committee presented a declaration which they had adopted following the two meetings of the TWG (annexed).

It was noted that Member States had some fundamental concerns about the current implementation of the regulations, It was however stressed that the present system will be implemented until 2006, hopefully by taking away some of the complication. The debate for the future should focus on what should be the role of the ESF, how it should perform it and why, as long as it is the instrument for human resource development within the Structural Funds.

The Committee agreed to request the Chairman to transmit the concerns, and in particular those related to the co-financing rates to the Legal Service and the Chairman of the CDRR. On the Annual Reviews paper, members should send written comments, and it would be discussed again in June.

3 Minutes of the meeting of 13 December 2001

The minutes of the last meeting were adopted. With reference to point 5, it was noted that the Exemption Regulation for State Aids in relation to employment measures would be adopted shortly, and that this would be discussed at a later meeting.

4. Evaluation: Progress report

a) ex-post 1994-99; evaluation 2000-2006

The Commission representative presented the state of play on the different types of evaluation currently under way:

• The ex-post evaluation of the 1994-99 period
• The Mid-term review 2000
• EQUAL

The aim is to coordinate the evaluation across the different strategies and exercises, which should help to clarify how the ESF is contributing to the European Employment Strategy. It was noted that the evaluation of EQUAL was delayed but would be in place by May.

There was considerable interest in the analysis of the impact of the ESF on the Employment Strategy. It was noted that while this was feasible at the level of OPs or measures, and in terms of employability of individuals, it was more difficult at macro level. In response to some concerns about the timetable, the Commission noted that the deadlines were rather optimistic.

b) Article 6 – Local Social Capital

The Commission representative presented the present situation with regard to the evaluation of the Article 6, Local Social Capital projects, which is still on-going. The aim of this evaluation was to assess the efficiency of the projects, their local impact, additionality and degree of mainstreaming. Overall it was considered that the results were positive. On effectiveness and impact, the projects had reached priority groups and achieved positive outcomes. The majority had produced additionality which the degree of mainstreaming depended on the sectors involved. Partnership was a critical element in the success of projects as well as flexible procedures. The Committee will be informed of the final evaluation report when it becomes available.

There was some concern that there was not enough emphasis on qualitative aspects in the evaluation, and that part of the local dimension (local social partners) had not been involved. The Commission noted that this is a new strategy with high diversity, and that more networking at local level was needed.

In conclusion, it was agreed that members could accept the timetable and the schedules which had been presented.

5. Situation regarding the 2001 call for proposals under budget line b5-5030 – preparatory measures for a local commitment to employment

The Commission representative presented the situation regarding this call for proposals. In total, 19 projects had been selected which had exhausted the budgetary resources available. The selection process is extremely thorough and transparent, external evaluators made an initial assessment, a selection committee drew up a short list using an evaluation grid while aiming to maintain a geographical balance. It is recognised that presenting projects involves considerable work for promoters, and that there is significant frustration for those who are not selected. While the thresholds imposed on project managers as regards the minimum amount of partners were necessary for management reasons, this did not prevent organisations from presenting high quality projects. It was pointed out that in any event, this budget line is due to disappear, and the focus for this type of project will shift to the Employment Incentive Measures programme for the analysis and exchange of experience aspects and to Article 6 for the funding of projects.

Supplementary information on the Article 6 programme noted that there were 130 projects selected. This issue will be presented at the next meeting of the Committee.

6. Gender Mainstreaming

The Commission representative raised the issue of setting up a network of ESF correspondents for gender equality. The aim would be for these correspondents to review and follow developments in gender mainstreaming in the ESF. It would not be a formal structure but operate as a virtual network. Ideally it would consist of 1 ESF correspondent and 1 equal opportunities expert from each Member State, to promote coordination between the two issues. In principle, it would not be tripartite but comprise Member State representatives. In a first phase, the exchange of experience and good practice would feed into the Conference to be organised in June.

The Chairman concluded that this contributed to the importance of the equal opportunities dimension in the ESF and beyond, and the Conference would provide an opportunity to deepen discussion on issues such as progress to date and how to address further challenges. The idea of a network is potentially interesting, but the complementarity with existing groups must be made clear. The conference could help to clarify this. The Committee will return to this issue after the conference.

7. Preparation of NAPs 2002

The Chairman paid homage to Mr Marco Biagi, former member of the EMCO, killed this week in Bologna.

The Commission representative noted that this year, more information on the ESF would be requested from Member States. The Joint Employment Report 2001 suggested that the connection between the ESF and EES was not clear in many Member States.

The Chairman stressed that this highlighted the need for close cooperation between those responsible for the NAPs and the ESF, in assessing how the ESF can contribute to the four pillars. The role of the ESF is embedded in the guidelines. Members are reminded that NAPs should be delivered to the Commission on 1 May.

8. Leonardo and the ESF

The discussion showed that the group welcomed this document and endorsed the actions presented in it, which emphasise the need for greater complementarity and synergy between the actions of the two programmes. This will be even more important in the search for value-added of Community action after 2006. It was important to widen the discussion to include the Erasmus and Socrates programmes.

9. Lifelong Learning - Update

The Commission representative presented an update of Lifelong Learning policy, with a view to identifying the role of the ESF in the various areas and examining how these areas could be made more specific for the ESF.

The Committee welcomed this discussion, as Lifelong learning and employment are intrinsically connected, so there is a role for the ESF in promoting skills and qualifications.

The Chairman concluded that lifelong learning should be enhanced in a new framework for the EES. This issue is relevant in many other areas and is at the heart of the Lisbon strategy. It is important to turn general principles into concrete action.

The Committee will discuss this matter again in the Autumn.

10 Conclusions of the Barcelona European Council

The Chairman reported that the European Council confirmed the need for a balanced European Social Model. Some new objectives were identified such as the possibility of raising the retirement age by 5 years, childcare and pension systems. Overall, it represents a very ambitious set of aims.