To ensure an efficient and
effective use of the more than €70 billion (more than €80 billion in
current prices) available to Member States from the European Social Fund
(ESF) in the 2014-2020 period, the European Commission, together with
the Greek Presidency of the EU's Council of Ministers, is bringing
together policy makers and ESF stakeholders at a conference in Brussels
on 6-7 February. The conference will focus on which policies the ESF
could and should support under the new investment priorities and on new
ways to use the ESF. László Andor, Commissioner for Employment, Social
Affairs and Inclusion, and Giannis Vroutsis, Greek Minister of Labour,
will be opening the conference.
"Investing in
people's skills and improving their opportunities are essential to
achieve sustainable and inclusive recovery. In the present context of
multiple social and economic challenges, the Commission is working
closely with Member States to ensure the most effective use of ESF money
for the 2014-2020 period, seizing every opportunity provided by the new
regulations", said Commissioner László Andor.
The conference will focus on new
ESF policy areas and tools. In this context, the Commission is helping
Member States to simplify use of the ESF in order to focus more on
results and facilitate access to funding, especially for smaller
beneficiaries...
Participants will discuss how the ESF can best support the achievement of priorities identified in the Country Specific Recommendations and Commission services' Position Papers, thereby helping Member States to meet the Europe 2020 employment and poverty reduction targets.
The recently adopted European Code of Conduct on Partnership (IP/14/5) will also be discussed. It is an important innovation in the 2014-20 period which will also help to maximise the impact of the ESF
by strengthening the role of partners such as regional, local, urban
and other public authorities, trade unions, employers, non-governmental
organisations during the planning, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of projects.
In the framework of the conference, the Commission has issued two new ESF thematic papers on Promoting inclusive growth and Promoting good governance.
Taking into account its
complementarity with the ESF, a session at the conference will be also
dedicated to the launching of the new Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme, which integrates and extends the coverage of three existing financial instruments: the Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (Progress), the European network of Public Employment Services EURES and the European Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship Facility. EaSI was adopted by the EU's Council of Ministers in December (IP/13/1212), and will make €920 million available for the 2014-2020 period.
As the number of participants is limited, the plenary sessions in the morning of 6 and 7 February will be web streamed via the ESF website.
Questions can be raised during the plenary sessions via Twitter (#EUfunds).
Background
Investing in human capital is the
core purpose of the ESF as it is one of the main drivers for
competitiveness, sustainable growth and recovery. The
ESF is Europe’s main instrument for helping people get better jobs and
qualifications and integrating the disadvantaged into society. In
2014-2020, for the first time in the history of EU cohesion policy, a
minimum budget representing at least 23.1% within cohesion policy
funding has been allocated to the ESF - see MEMO/14/84.
