EUROPEAN COMMISSION Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG ESF Coordination Brussels, 28 January 2008. D(2008) ESF COMMITTEE - PLENARY SESSION 29 NOVEMBER 2007 MINUTES Chair: Lenia Samuel, Deputy Director General DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities European Commission (replaced by David Coyne for points 1 to 6) Note: meeting documents and audio recordings are on the ESF CIRCA website http://forum.europa.eu.int/public/irc/empl/comite_fse/library The Chair opened the third plenary meeting of the European Social Fund Committee in 2007. 1. ADOPTION OF DRAFT AGENDA The draft agenda (ESF071129/1 v.3) was adopted with an additional point on an update on ESF support for transnational projects and networks (see below under point 13.) at the request of Sweden. 2. ADOPTION OF DRAFT MINUTES The draft minutes of the ESF Committee meeting of 30 May 2007 (ESF071129/2 v.1) were adopted without change. 3. ESF COMMITTEE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP: DEBRIEFING The Commission reported on the meetings of the ESF Committee Technical Working Group (TWG) on 24 October and 28 November 2007. At the 24 October meeting two items, which offer a potential for major financial simplification and for reducing error rates, had been discussed: the possibility to declare indirect costs on a flat rate basis and the use of public tendering. Three more European Commission, B-1049 Brussels Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11. http://ec.europa.eu/esf
technical issues had also been discussed: the closure of assistance from the Structural Funds for the 2000 2006 period, "cross financing" (Art. 34.2 of Regulation (EC) n 1083/2006) and the publicity on ESF beneficiaries. On the 28 November meeting, two major issues had been discussed: first, the integration of migrants in the labour market and potential complementarity of support from the ESF and the European Integration Fund, and second, a study for the development of an evaluation tool for the monitoring systems in the Member States 4. AD HOC GROUP ON ESF SUPPORT FOR SOCIAL PARTNERS: DEBRIEFING The Commission noted that the fiche on Social Partners as beneficiaries was adopted by the Committee as no comment had been received during the written consultation. The Commission then reported on the fourth and last meeting of the Ad Hoc Group on ESF support for social partners on 28 November. The meeting had mostly consisted of presentations of national plans to implement ESF support for social partners (Ireland, Lithuania, UK, Malta and Italy). These presentations had been well received by the Group. Business Europe and ETUC had presented the results of their survey on the implementation of Article 5 3 of the ESF Regulation. It was concluded that the work of the Adhoc Group had allowed for very useful exchanges and discussions. The Group had requested the Commission to keep ESF support to social partners as a standing point of the agenda of future meetings of the ESF Committee, and to carry out an analysis of the OPs assessing national plans to implement ESF support to social partners. Other conclusions were that the drafting of the third fiche on complementarity and consistency of ESF Support to social partners with other EU financial instruments should be completed, and that members of the Group would be invited to contribute to the drafting of a chapter on ESF support to social partners to be published in the next Industrial Relations Report. Employers and trade unions representatives reiterated their appreciation for the activities of the Group which they regarded as a very positive exercise, while calling the attention of the Committee on difficulties still faced by social partners in being involved in the governance of the ESF and in receiving support in some Member States. ETUC requested to address these issues within the ESF Committee as well as at national level. 5. ESF CONFERENCE EDUCATING & TRAINING FOR EMPLOYMENT & COHESION, 23/10/2007, LISBON Portugal (António Valadas Da Silva) reported on the outcome of the ESF seminar organized by the Portuguese Presidency on the contribution of the ESF to education and training, which took place in Lisbon on 23 October 2007. The Commission thanked the Presidency for having organized a very successful ESF seminar. It also stressed the importance of early pre-school education, in particular as a factor for social integration. Business Europe and ETUC reiterated the importance of the role of social partners in designing and implementing lifelong learning strategies and referred to recent initiatives of the social partners at EU level, in particular their 2
framework of action for life long learning, their joint labour market analysis which include a chapter on education and training, including lifelong learning, and their commitment to negotiate an autonomous agreement either on the integration of disadvantaged groups in the labour market or on lifelong learning. 6. ESF-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS AT COMMISSION LEVEL The Commission (David Coyne) presented its consultations on the future of the EU budget and on the future of cohesion policy. The consultation on the future of the EU budget is part of the 2008-2009 budget review process launched by the EP, the Council and the Commission in May 2006. It covers all EU policies but is critical for policies, such as social policies for which the deployment of financial resources is essential, and therefore account for an important share of the EU budget. The ESF represents about 10% of the EU budget. In concluding its presentation, the Commission invited the ESF Committee to prepare an opinion in response to the consultation on the budget review. During the debate that followed the Commission presentation for which the Committee thanked the Commission, several Member States together with both Business Europe and ETUC, supported the idea of an opinion by the Committee. Reservations were however expressed on the principle of public consultations on complex political issues and the way in which the relative weight of contributors would be taken into account. It was also highlighted that the budget review consultation came early as the 2007-2013 programming period had just started. Issues related to the legitimacy of Managing Authorities to formulate an opinion on the budget review were raised. Concerns that the social needs would be overlooked by the budget review were expressed: the principle of having an ESF should be a sine qua non condition. The need to take into account local and regional dimensions was equally stressed. The UK asked whether the budget review might be an opportunity to simplify financial management rules of the EU budget. The Commission replied that contributions from major organisations would have more weight but that individuals also added value to consultations. The focus of the budget review would be on areas where there is an EU added value. It added that simplification of financial rules was already on its way and should be further pursued. In conclusion the Committee agreed to set up an adhoc group comprising members of the Committee for which the support of the Commission was requested, to draft an opinion of the Committee to be adopted by mid 2008. 7. NATIONAL STRATEGIC REFERENCE FRAMEWORKS AND ESF OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES Information from the Commission on the state of adoption of NSRFs and ESF OPs The Chair updated the Committee on the state of progress of NSRFs and OPs. All National Strategic Reference Frameworks had been adopted. The Commission had received all the expected 117 OPs. The Committee had been consulted on 115 OPs. 3
73 OPs had been adopted and there were 44 OPs still to be adopted. All but 2 OPs were expected to be adopted in 2007. The 73 already adopted OPs amounted to 77.45% of the ESF budget for 2007-2013. With the remaining 42 OPs expected to be adopted in 2007, 99.66% of the ESF budget would be committed. The two remaining OPs represented 0.34% of the ESF budget and were expected to be adopted in 2008. The Chair noted that this was a remarkable achievement for both the Member States and the Commission. Presentations by Member States of their NSRF and OPs Renáta Tóth, Ministry of Employment and Labour in Hungary, and Margus Haidak, Ministry of Education and Research in Estonia, presented their respective NSRF and OP. In her comments, the representative of Hungarian trade unions stressed that the improvement of employment and the living standard were their priorities and complained that competitiveness was overshadowing employment issues in Hungary s NDP. She asked for an employment programme agreed and implemented together with the social partners, with a focus on training, in particular vocational training, for more and better jobs. She emphasized also that social partners should be closely involved in the implementation of the cohesion policy, from planning to monitoring and evaluation. Ms. Tóth agreed on the importance of employment which should go hand in hand with competitiveness. As a result of negotiations with social partners and the Commission employment was now a high priority of the NSRF. In response to a question from Austria, Ms. Tóth confirmed that trans-nationality was mainstreamed in all priorities. In response to a question of ETUC Mr. Haidak confirmed that funds were earmarked for social partners but they had access to funds across priorities. In response to a question from Poland about the coordination of the various Ministries involved in cohesion policy in Estonia, Mr. Haidak explained that the coordination of the ESF OP was ensured by the Ministry for Education and Research. 8. RAISING THE VISIBILITY OF THE ESF Alison Mizzi, Office of the Prime Minister in Malta, and Petra van Golen, ESF agency in the Netherlands, presented ESF communication activities in their respective countries. Johannes Wikman, ESF authority in Sweden, presented also the results of a project entitled Toolkit for Diversity in Media. Presentations were well received and their quality was appreciated. 9. EUROPEAN SKILL NEEDS FORECASTING (CEDEFOP) Alena Zukersteinova, CEDEFOP, presented CEDEFOP s European skill needs forecasting project, which the Committee found very interesting. In response to a 4
suggestion from ETUC, Ms Zukersteinova confirmed that CEDEFOP cooperated with the EURES network. 10. COMMUNITY PROGRAMME FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SOLIDARITY 2007-2013 (PROGRESS) The Commission (Flaminia Bussacchini) presented PROGRESS, the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity, which aims at supporting the implementation of EU objectives in the fields of employment and social affairs and complements the ESF. During the debate which followed the presentation, questions were raised regarding the complementarity of PROGRESS and the ESF (Sweden), the involvement of social partners in the governance of PROGRESS (Business Europe), the coordination between PROGRESS and national programmes (France), the selection of measures with high EU added value (Lithuania), and the added value of an integrated programme (Italy). France questioned the potential impact of PROGRESS given its limited means and wondered why PROGRESS had not been integrated in the ESF. Ms. Bussacchini agreed on the importance of ensuring the added value of PROGRESS and its complementarity with ESF, in particular through exchanges of information. She explained the contribution of the PROGRESS Programme Committee to its governance and that the added value of PROGRESS was in areas not covered by the ESF. 11. EUROPEAN GLOBALISATION ADJUSTMENT FUND (EGF) The Commission (Isabelle Prondzynski) presented the EGF, European Globalisation adjustment Fund, which was launched by the European Union in January 2007 and aims at helping workers made redundant as a result of changing global trade patterns to find employment again as quickly as possible. During the debate which followed the presentation, questions were raised regarding the risk carried by Member States, given the long approval process for EGF contributions (UK), the likely approval timeframe of a specific case (Malta) and the review of the EGF Regulation (ETUC). Ms. Prondzynski explained that the Commission attempts to limit the risk carried by Member States by providing ongoing advice to them. She stressed the difficulty of predicting the timeframe for final approval by the Council and the European Parliament. She confirmed that the Commission will assess the need for a review of the EGF Regulation within the context of the first annual report. 12. PROPOSED ESF COMMITTEE MEETING DATES IN 2008 The Chair proposed a schedule of meeting dates for 2008, which was approved by the Committee. Note: the schedule of the ESF Committee is likely to change: please check dates on the CIRCA website. 5
13. OTHER BUSINESS In response to a request of Sweden, the Commission (Gerhard Bräunling) presented its progress in preparing its action plan for promoting transnationality in the ESF. The action plan comprised several components (the exchange of information on transnational activities at national level on a website; a network of national contact points; support for beneficiaries in finding partners and sharing results through an online platform; and support of networks and communities of practice for peer learning, for which the Commission would launch a call for proposals early in 2008). The Chair closed the meeting by thanking the Committee members for their constructive participation and the interpreters. 6