Social Agenda 37 - The New European Social Fun

n37
06/2014
ISSN 1682-7783
SOCIAL AGENDA
focus on
The
new European Social Fund
12
24
EU growth
andjobsstrategy
Traineeships
An EU quality
framework
A public consultation
Social Europe
2 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014
EDITORIAL
Until the 31October 2014, EU citizens have the opportunity to
reply to the public online consultation launched by the European
Commission on the first four years of the Europe 2020strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth- and on how
to make sure that it acts as an effective post-crisis strategy
for growth and jobs in Europe. This consultation will pave the
ground for a mid-term review of the strategy in 2015.
European Union
As the first signs of overcoming the financial and economic

crisis appear, it is crucial to re-focus on the long-term objectives
of Europe 2020. This will help the EU Member States converge
again, especially in terms of jobs and social equality.
Whatever the outcome of the Europe 2020mid-term review,
Member States have already been called upon to focus more on the Europe 2020objectives,
through two recent developments.
One is the European Semester process of economic governance, which is now taking place
for the fourth year running. Through this collective process, the European Council sends customised recommendations to each EU country on how to better implement the
Europe2020strategy. The Member States later report on how they have taken
these recommendations into account in their national budgets.
Focusing more
on long-term
objectives
The on-going 2014European Semester has been enriched by the introduction of a

scoreboard which brings together and further refines key employment and social
affairs indicators, which have a great impact on the EUs overall capacity to benefit
fully from the first signs of economic recovery.
The second development is the new EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the
years2014-2020. It explicitly connects the dissemination and management of EU funds to the
way the Europe 2020strategy is being implemented in each country.
Investing in people is the key for Europe to restore its competitiveness on the world market. The
new MFF reinforces the EUs main financial instrument for doing just that the European Social
Fund. It will be more result-oriented than ever before.
For the first time, the European Commission will have the right to call upon Member States to
review, in due course, their plans on how to spend ESF money- if they fail to act upon EUrecommendations on how to achieve one or the other objective of the Europe 2020strategy.
Michel Servoz
Director General of the European Commissions Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion department
A magazine providing information on European employment and social policies, Social Agenda is published four times a year in English, French and German by the European Commissions
Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
Editor in chief: Michel Servoz, Director-General, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion European Commission, B-1049Brussels.
Subscription is free on request please fill in the registration form available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=740&langId=en
Notice: Neither the European Commission, nor any person acting on its behalf, may be held responsible for the use to which information contained in this publication may be put,
or for any errors which, despite careful preparation and checking, may appear. European Union, 2014
Non-commercial reproduction authorised, subject to acknowledgement of the source.
For any use or reproduction of photos which are not under European Union copyright, permission must be sought directly from the copyright holder(s).
Cover: Maud Millecamps European Union
SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014 / 3
CONTENTS
EMPLOYMENT
Taking EURES out of thegrey area 6
RESTRUCTURING
Anticipation and good management 8
The missing entrepreneurs 10
EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY

Adjusting the sights 12
The ESF and the EGF 14

The new European Social Fund 15
Nauras and Ebrahim, apprenticechefs 19
The EGF digs its heels in 21
What triggers EGF funding 23
10
Belgaimage
SPECIAL FEATURE
Belgaimage
INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
TRAINEESHIPS
An EU quality framework 24
OTHER VOICES
Michel Servoz, new Director General for Employment,

Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission 27
European Health Insurance Card
28
15
26
Social Platform
INTERVIEW
Belgaimage
Pierre Baussand, Social Platform Director 26
NEWS
INBRIEF
Belgaimage
5May: Public consultation

onEurope 2020
Promising sector: On what should the EU growth strategy focus

beyond 2015?
The Commission launched an online public consultation on the

Europe 2020strategy, the EUs long-term growth and jobs plan.
The consultation runs until 31October 2014to gather the views
of all interested people and organisations on how the strategy has
been working for the past four years, and on what its focus should
be in the coming years. It follows a 5March communication taking
stock of the Europe 2020strategy, which showed that progress
on meeting its five headline targets has been mixed (see p.12).
28April: More cooperation with ILO

European Commissioner Lszl Andor and ILO Director General
Guy Ryder agreed to step up cooperation in the area of health
and safety at work as a means to enhance synergy and promote
consistency in the way occupational safety and health challenges are addressed at global level, and so better address this
key challenge across the world. The better working conditions

are, the more committed people can be to economic success.
Improving working conditions can enhance efficiency and productivity within the enterprise, and it can boost competitiveness
in broader terms.
24April: Deterioration in worker satisfaction

While just over half of European workers perceive working conditions in their country to be good (53%), a majority (57%) nevertheless think that their working conditions have deteriorated in the
last 5years, according to a Eurobarometer survey which looks at
how the quality of work has been affected by the crisis. Although
most workers are satisfied with their own working conditions
(77% on average in the EU), there is a very wide disparity across
Member States, ranging from 94% in Denmark to 38% in Greece.
Belgaimage
24April: Improving worker

rights enforcement
The EUs Council of Ministers adopted a new Directive to ensure the
better application at national level of EU citizens right to work in
another Member State. The new rules aim to bridge the gap between
rights and reality and will make it easier for people working or looking for a job in another country to exercise their rights in practice.
Cross-border travelling: A new EU law ensures the better application

at national level of EU citizens right to work in another Member State.
10April: 26.2million unemployed

The EU population aged 15to 74can be classified into three groups:
in 2013, there were 216.4million persons in employment, 26.2million unemployed and 137.2million economically inactive. Among
those in employment, 43.7million were part-time workers, of which

9.9million (23% of part-time workers) are underemployed, meaning they wished to work more hours and were available to do so.
NEWS IN BRIEF
9April: Preventing undeclared work
The European Commission proposed the creation of a
European Platform to improve cooperation at EU level in
order to prevent and deter undeclared work more effectively
(seeSocial Agenda n36). Undeclared work is a phenomenon

that causes serious damage to working conditions, fair competition and public budgets.
Belgaimage
8April: Youth Guarantee conference
Looking for a job: How are EU countries implementing the EU Youth Guarantee?
At a Youth Guarantee: Making it Happen conference hosted

by the European Commission in Brussels, President Barroso
and Commissioner Andor gathered national and international organisations to discuss progress in tackling youth
unemployment through the Youth Guarantee (see Social
Agenda n36). The conference also looked at how EU countries are implementing the schemes, as recommended by
the Commission.
7April: Managing stress at work

The European Agency for Safety at Health at Work (EU-OSHA)
launched the Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress campaign
to raise awareness about the psychological, physical and social
risks linked to stress at work. Stress is one of the most frequently

reported work-related health problem in Europe and is believed
to be the cause of the majority of all lost working days.
4April: First signs of improvement for the Roma

EU action has put Roma integration firmly on the political
agenda across Europe. The first signs of improvement in the
lives of Roma are slowly starting to show, says a new European
Commission report which assesses progress made in the
28EU countries since 2011under the EU framework for Roma
integration. They identify both positive examples and areas for

further efforts from Member States. The assessment comes as
local, national and EU politicians gather with representatives
of civil society to discuss advances on Roma integration at the
third EU-level Roma Summit
The new EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)
was adopted for the years 2014-2020. It will provide over
3.8billion to help Europes most deprived. It will help Member
States to provide a broad range of non-financial material assistance including food, clothing and other essential goods for
personal use such as shoes, soap and shampoo to people most
in need. It will ensure that up to 4million people will benefit
from immediate assistance.
Belgaimage
10March: New EU fund

forthemost deprived
Food: A new EU fund will provide material, food and other forms
of assistance to potentially 4million people by 2020.
EMPLOYMENT
Taking EURES out

ofthe
area
grey
Belgaimage
The European Commission proposes a new law
A need for clarity: EU countries are not transparent enough about the state of their respective labour markets.
On 17January 2014, the European Commission put forward

a proposal for a Regulation (EU law directly applicable in the
Member States) which would turn the EURES network into a
more pro-active cross-EU job placement tool.
EURES needs to be mainstreamed. At their first encounter

with a public employment service, job seekers and employers do not receive systematically all the information they
need about it.
EURES is a cooperation network set up in 1993between the

European Commission and the public employment services
of the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. It
offers a service to jobseekers and employers willing to benefit
from free movement of work. The proposed Regulation gives
EURES a comprehensive legal framework and reinforces its
role in the context of the free movement of workers.
For those job-seekers and employers who have shown an

interest in moving within Europe, EURES support services
need to be strengthened to assist with matching, recruitment
and placement. This includes information on active labour
market measures and on social security rights in all the countries involved.
More visible
EURES would be made more visible. Presently, it has more
than 1200advisers that are in daily contact with jobseekers
and employers across Europe. However, information about
The EURES on-line portal has jumped from 175000registered jobseekers in 2007to 1100000in 2013. However, it
has limited matching capability between job vacancies and
CVs at European level. This is due to difficulties in reconciling the data sent by the national job vacancy systems of the
EURES countries.
Belgaimage
Cross-EU mobility potential: Greek doctors and nurses meet representatives

of German hospitals.
New functionalities
The European Commission is developing a European classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations.
However, for the time being, Member States are not obliged
to ensure mapping between their national systems and this
European classification. Yet such mapping is crucial for automating the portals matching capacity.
There is also a lack of transparency on behalf of all Member
States about the state of their respective labour markets. Only
part of the national pool of vacancies (around 30%) and CVs
of each country is accessible via EURES. As it stands, the information exchange and cooperation between the Member States
on national labour shortages and surpluses is inefficient.
New partners
The new law would open up EURES to other partners: temporary work agencies, non-governmental organisations, trade
unions, industrial and employers associations so long as
they fulfil all (or a combination of) specified roles and adhere
to a set of rules (e.g. providing services to jobseekers for free,
transparency, equal opportunities).
The European Commission would act as the European
Coordination Office providing common information, training
activities, tools and guidance and develop and maintain the
EURES portal. Member States would set up National Coordination
offices providing general support and assistance to all organisations operating for EURES and with their counterparts in the
other countries, as well as with the European Coordination Office.
Every job seeker and employer registering with employment
services would be made aware of EURES and, if interested in
moving, would receive a clear EURES offer for further assistance. The Member States would make available all the job
vacancies they publish nationally, including those only available at local or regional level at present, as well as vacancies
from private employment services and other organisations.
The EURES portal would continue to receive CVs posted
directly by jobseekers but would also receive those made
available through organisations. The proposed rules would

allow for an effective matching process at European level
between job vacancies and candidates.
Free movement
As a result, EURES would be better placed to tap into the
cross-Europe mobility potential and increase the transparency of the European labour market. At present, about
700000people move annually, on average, to work in
another European country. Studies show that about 2.9million EU citizens would ideally like to do so in the following
twelve months.
Fundamentally, the aim of the EURES reform is to increase
the exchange of information among Member States, particularly on surpluses and shortages on national labour
markets. This intelligence would place EURES in a better
position to organise and coordinate placement and recruitment activities. It would also help the EURES countries to
include mobility policies as an integral part of their social
and employment policies.
All in all, the proposed law introduces much more clarity: a
shared vision on intra-EU labour mobility, a clear operational
framework for coordination between Member States, systematic and intensive information sharing, common tools and a
clear distribution of responsibilities. Jobseekers and employers
would be able to make an informed choice on mobility and to
better prepare it, thus increasing the chances of successful
integration in the work place and in the host country. It would
also contribute to achieving the EU aim of having 75% of its
workforce in employment by 2020.
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&news
Id=2014&furtherNews=yes
The EURES job mobility portal:

eures.europa.eu

Informing and consulting workers:
EU legislation in this area could be
reviewed in the near future.
RESTRUCTURING
Anticipation and
>>
good management
Belgaimage
The European Commission has adopted a quality framework
The broader impact: Considering the industrial and social impact of restructuring on the cities and regions affected.
More than 16000restructuring operations have taken place

since 2002in the EU, with a net job loss of over 2million. During the third quarter of 2013alone, 250cases of
restructuring operations (company reorganisation, closures,
mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, outsourcing, relocation) were recorded, involving 57081job losses against
27792job gains.
On 13December 2013, the European Commission adopted an
EU Quality Framework for anticipation of change and restructuring- a further step in the work it has undertaken for several
years now on this issue, including the publication of a Green
Paper in January 2012(see Social Agenda n29).
Based on real experiences of companies, the Quality
Framework contains guidelines in the form of individual cards
which illustrate ways of anticipating restructuring and of managing specific restructuring processes: strategic long-term
monitoring of market developments; continuous mapping
of jobs and skills needs; measures for individual employees (e.g. training, career counselling, assistance to facilitate
professional transitions); involvement of external actors at
an early stage (e.g. public authorities, universities, training
centres and the supply chain); making full use of EU structural funds (e.g. the European Social Fund and the European
Globalisation Adjustment Fund, see the special feature p. 14)
in the concerned regions, in order to promote job creation

and transitions.
The Quality Framework shows to what extent the employment
and social dimensions of structural change have a bearing
on the long-term competitiveness of companies. It considers the broader industrial and social impact of restructuring on the cities and regions affected, stressing the role of
industrial and regional policies in anticipating adjustment to
structural change.
Mass redundancies
Anticipation and management are the key words of the
European Commissions approach to restructuring- the only
way of avoiding mass redundancies and the decline of entire
regions or the relocation of entire industries, often with a
heavy cross-border impact. They facilitate economic reconversion and successful human transitions towards economic
areas which will generate significant job opportunities in the
years to come, such as the green economy, the digital and
health sectors.
Anticipating and managing restructuring better is also a means
of avoiding heavy societal costs which have to be borne by
public authorities, particularly as regards unemployment,
Belgaimage
increased inequality and poverty. These costs weigh greatly

on public finances and can hamper economic recovery.
national level, with a view to improving their effectiveness and

coherence, particularly as regards the definitions of information and consultation.
The public sector too

One of the novelties of the Quality Framework is that it covers
the issue of public sector restructuring, which the governments
of some EU countries are reluctant to address.
At a time when public sector employees are gradually losing their specific status, there are less and less reasons to
exclude them from attempts to improve the way restructuring is managed in the public sector- especially when the
provision of public services moves from public monopolies towards concession systems, or when concessions
are renewed.
The public sector employs about 25% of the EU workforce
and plays a pivotal role in shaping the economy and society.
Consulting workers
In January 2013, the European Parliament adopted a
Resolution linking up the issue of restructuration management with that of informing and consulting workers, including
in restructuring situations: an area which is largely covered
by EU legislation.
Indeed, several EU laws, adopted since 1975, cover the protection of employees in the event of collective redundancies,
transfers of undertakings, the insolvency of their employer
as well as the permanent information and consultation of
workers at national and transnational level.
The Quality Framework is a supplementary step in this direction. The Commission will monitor the way the Member States
and social partners implement it and take stock of the whole
exercise in 2016.
In the process, it will look into the possibility of consolidating
or recasting the information and consultation directives at
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=782&langId=en
The steel and automotive industries

show the way
An example of restructuring good practices are the
Steel Action Plan which the European Commission
adopted on 11June 2013and the CARS 2020Action
Plan which it launched in November 2012.
Both aim to help EU countries use the European
Social Fund for workers retraining and reskilling, and
facilitate dialogue between social partners in view of
reaching an agreement on temporary initiatives to
maintain jobs.
The Steel Action Plan also intends to help industry
play an active role to remedy skill gaps and shortages,
as well as involving trade unions and regional
stakeholders when envisaging to restructure.
CARS 2020identifies good practice and promotes an
anticipative restructuring approach, in consultation
with representatives of the automotive-intensive
regions, of the employment authorities and of the
sectors stakeholders, including the social partners.
Itencourages the EU countries concerned to make
useoflabour flexibility schemes in support of the
suppliers who might need additional time to find
new clients, following a closure or downsizing of
anautomotive plant.
INCLUSIVE
ENTREPRENEUR
SHIP
The
Constrained: Some state welfare policies are poorly

adapted to disabled peoples self-employment.
>>
missing entrepreneurs
Belgaimage
Helping governments make it easier for under-represented

and disadvantaged people to create businesses
Doors shut: Ethnic minorities and immigrant entrepreneurs are more likely to be forced to rely on non-bank and informal finance.
Entrepreneurship creates jobs and growth but not all social

groups have an equal opportunity to succeed.
Women are half as likely to start businesses as men. Young
people are only one-third as likely as adults to be selfemployed and their businesses are less likely to survive.
Seniors who retire as employees can lack entrepreneurshipspecific skills and networks. Ethnic minorities and immigrant
entrepreneurs are more likely to be forced to rely on non-bank
and informal finance. And people with disabilities may be
constrained by state welfare policies that are poorly adapted
to self-employment.
Many inspiring policy responses have been put in place at
national, regional and local levels across Europe. Sweden
has reformed the social security system for self-employed
workers. Austrias Mingo Migrant Enterprises provides consultancy support to immigrants and ethnic minorities. The
Flanders region in Belgium provides training, advice and
coaching to unemployed people starting businesses and guarantees continued access to social benefits for 18months.
Tworegions of the Czech Republic have created tailored

consulting, business development and bank loan application
assistance for female entrepreneurs.
However, much more can be done, conclude the Organisation
for Economic co-operation and Development (OECD) and the
European Commission, in their 2013report on The Missing
Entrepreneurs.
Analysis and policy guidance

Indeed, to better understand the challenges and inspire policy
makers from existing experience, the European Commission
and the OECD are collaborating in a series of annual reports,
policy briefs, good practice compendiums, policy reviews and
capacity-building seminars. As a result, the data collection and
analysis capacity of the OECD is combined with the European
Commissions connections with the authorities of the EU countries and its operational funds, such as the European Social
Fund (see p.14) and the European programme for Employment
and Social Innovation (EaSI, see Social Agenda n35).
Belgaimage
SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014/ 11
The 2013Missing Entrepreneurs report contains a series of

key recommendations focused on building a supportive institutional environment, improving entrepreneurship skills, facilitating access to finance, and improving policy delivery. It also brings
together dispersed data on entrepreneurship activities and barriers for disadvantaged groups, analyses the main policy issues
and gives inspiring policy examples from each EU Member State.
The project is not so much about new data collection,
explains Jonathan Potter, Senior Economist at the OECD
Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development,
who supervised the preparation and editing of the annual
report. It is about bringing together information that does
exist and putting it into one reference document. Employment
and unemployment data are easy to get but there is a gap
in information on what the rates of business creation for
different social groups are and how their businesses fare.
The present OECD-Commission conventions in this area run
until 2015. However, the avenue of greater understanding and
more action for entrepreneurship and self-employment of disadvantaged and under-represented groups, is particularly underexplored. There are enough topics and angles to address to carry
on well beyond this deadline, underlines Marco Fantini, Deputy
Head of the Sectorial Employment challenges, Youth Employment
and Entrepreneurship service at the European Commission.
Especially in view of the fact that, to return to pre-crisis EU
employment levels, approximately 4million jobs are needed.
T he Missing Entrepreneurs- Policies for inclusive

entrepreneurshipin Europe (18/12/2013)
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&p
ubId=7685&type=2&furtherPubs=yes
ECD LEED Programme (Local Economic
O
andEmployment Development)
http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/
Inspiring entrepreneur
Veronica Hedenmark, from Gothenburg, Sweden,
founded three companies from 1996onwards:
VHAssistants, VH Action and VH Kids. All three
provide personal assistance for children, youth and
adults with disabilities. Today, these companies have
more than 600employees altogether across Sweden.
Veronica was born with osteogenesis imperfecta,
a congenital bone disorder characterised by brittle
bones. By the time that she had turned 9years old,
she had already suffered 152bone fractures. Despite
her condition, Veronica had a very social upbringing
and enjoyed attending public school.
However, upon graduating high school, she was left
confused and insulted when the Social Insurance
Office offered her an early retirement pension,
implying that she would never be able to work.
More information:
upporting entrepreneurs and the self-employed
S
mployment, Social Affairs & Inclusion- publications
E
catalogue on entrepreneurship
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?pager.offset=0&catId=73
8&langId=en&advSearchKey=entrepreneur&mode=advance
dSubmit&langId=en&search=Search
Today, in addition to running successful businesses,

Veronica is a successful advocate for people
with disabilities and is a sought after speaker.
In 2008she was appointed ambassadress of the
Swedish Minister for Enterprise and was a finalist for
Making Prize. She won the Compass Rose in 2009,
the Kings award for young leaders and was named
by Business World magazine as one of the 100Most
Powerful leaders under the age of 40.

Internet consultation: EU citizens can
air their views on how the EUs Europe 2020
strategy, launched in 2010, has worked so far.
EUROPE 2020
STRATEGY
>>
Adjusting the sights
Belgaimage
The EU is not on track to meet its employment

andsocialpolicy targets but it has sharpened its tools
Divergent: The divergence between EU countries is clearly visible in the rates of youth unemployment.
On 5May 2014, the European Commission launched an online

public consultation on Europe 2020, the EUs strategy for
smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The consultation will
be open until 31October. Its aim is to draw lessons from the
first four years of the strategy.
One of the novelties of the Europe 2020strategy, when it
was adopted in 2010, was that the EU countries collectively
decided to try and meet quantifiable employment, education,
poverty, research and climate targets.
In particular, they aimed to have at least 75% of people
aged20-64in employment, to reduce the school drop-out
rates to below 10% and increase the share of young people
with a third-degree or diploma to at least 40% and to ensure
20million fewer people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Each country then translated these headline EU targets
into individual national targets, based on its own starting point.
Four years later, the EU as a whole is not on track to meet
its employment and poverty reduction goals. In fact, results
and forecasts at Member State level vary widely from one
country to another in these areas.
Divergences
Since 2010, imbalances or divergence within EU countries and
between them the southern and peripheral countries, on one
hand, and the northern and central ones, on the other- have
increased in the area of employment and social affairs.
A stock-taking Communication published by the European
Commission on 5March 2014confirms that Member
States focus has clearly been on emergency crisis management rather than on meeting the long-term goals of the
Europe2020strategy.
EU governance
However, the Europe 2020strategy has had a structuring
impact on the development of EU-level economic and social
governance and on its financial framework.
In 2010, a European Semester process was put in place. It
leads the Heads of state and governments to send recommendations to each EU country at the beginning of summer
on how to better implement the EU 2020strategy. Each
Member State must later report back on the way it has
taken them into account when preparing its own budget for
the following year.
And at the end of 2013, the EU adopted the 2014-2020EU
Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which conditions
the availability of EU funds to the way Member States are
implementing the Europe 2020strategy. For the first time,
the European Commission can now ask a Member State to
Belgaimage
adapt its operational programmes in due course to European

Semester recommendations.
imbalances is becoming crucial for the quality and speed of each

countrys recovery.
The European Semester is now in its fourth year. And while the
previous MFF (2007-2013) had been conceived well before
the Europe 2020strategy, the new MFF, strongly linked to the
strategy, is fully in place.
This entails re-focusing on the Europe 2020objectives. The more

cohesion there is inside and between EU countries, the more and
the earlier each Member State will benefit from the first symptoms of recovery.
Spill-over effects
All EU countries have undertaken or are preparing reforms in many
employment and social areas in all EU countries. However, the
problem lies with the degree of progress, which varies considerably
across policy areas and between Member States.
Employment and social problems that are not sufficiently addressed
in one country have a knock-on and spill-over effect on the more
resilient ones. This in turn makes for reduced aggregate demand,
eroded confidence and contamination via the financial markets.
To better grasp the social and employment impact of the crisis and prevent such spill-over effects from happening, the ongoing2014European Semester has been enriched with a new
scoreboard which brings together key employment and social
data (see box). The Scoreboard will allow for better and earlier
identification of major employment and social trends and, therefore for swifter action.
Thanks to the 2014Scoreboard, the divergence between EU countries is clearly visible in the rates of unemployment, of youth
unemployment and of young people who are neither in employment nor in training or in education. Greater divergence within the
euro area, compared to the EU as a whole, is also apparent as
far as household income and inequalities are concerned. And the
poverty rates have increased in some euro zone countries while
remaining steady in others.
Crisis exit
As the first signs of overcoming the crisis begin to appear,
addressing country-specific and intra-EU employment and social
To take part in the public consultation:

http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/public-consultation/
index_en.htm
A scoreboard for employment

andsocial data
An EU employment and social developments
scoreboard was created at the end of 2013. It
consists of five indicators of trends in EU countries
that can severely undermine employment, social
cohesion and human capital: unemployment,
youth unemployment and the rate of those not
in education, employment or training; household
disposable income, the at risk-of-poverty rate and
income inequalities.
It is an analytical tool which brings together
data which the European Commission has been
collecting from different sources, giving it more
visibility and impact.
The Scoreboard was first published in the
2013Joint (European Commission and EU Council
of Ministers) Employment Report, one of the
documents which serve as a basis for the European
Semester (see main article).
S PE CIAL
F E AT U R E
The E F and the E F

Social Agenda is carrying on its review
ofthe2014-2020EUMultiannual Financial Framework
ESF (European Social Fund), EGF (European Globalisation
Adjustment Fund) In many ways, those two EU funds are very
different. The ESF was created at the inception of the European
Economic Community, in 1957. It represents an important part
of the EU budget and amounts to more than 80billion for
2014-2020. The EGF was only created in 2007and it is funded
by money left over at the end of each year in the EU budget,
within a ceiling of 150million per year.
Yet the EGF and the ESF are complementary. The EGF is
designed to increase employability and ensure the rapid reintegration of redundant workers into employment through active
labour market measures, while the ESF is the major instrument
for promoting employment in the EU.
Different time perspectives
EGF and ESF measures are sometimes used to complement

each other to provide both short-term and longer-term solutions. The decisive criterion is the potential of the available
instruments to effectively help workers, and it is up to the EU
countries to select and programme the instruments and actions
best suited to achieving their objectives.
Whether they choose the ESF or the EGF, in both cases the
Member States have to top up the EU funds with national
funding. But of course, between the ESF and the EGF, there is
a huge difference in the amounts of money involved.
Thinkstock
The complementarity of the two funds lies in their ability to

address these issues from two different time perspectives. The
EGF provides tailor-made assistance to redundant workers in
response to a specific European-scale mass redundancy event,
within two years after a country has applied for it.
As for the ESF, it supports strategic, long-term goals (e.g.

increasing human capital, promoting innovation) through preprogrammed multi-annual programmes, the resources of which
cannot normally be reallocated to deal with crisis situations
caused by mass redundancies. However, it also provides half
of the available funding for the Youth Employment Initiative
(YEI) which funds direct and immediate support to young people
neither in employment nor in education or training, in those
areas most affected youth unemployment. The YEI is in fact
managed via the ESF.
Effective help: EU funds effectively help workers, in the short term or in a more strategic, medium-to-long term approach.
Belgaimage
More participation: Womens labour market participation and day-care facilities

for children are now ESF investment priorities.
new
The
European
Social Fund
Andriana Sukova-Tosheva and Peter Stub Jrgensen,
EuropeanSocial Fund Directors at the European Commission,
explain what is new about the 2014-2020vintage
Reaching an agreement on the European Social
Fund (ESF) required a great number of trilogue
discussions between the EU Council of Ministers, the
European Parliament and the European Commission
When the Commission drafted its proposal in 2011, we
knew that there would be tough political discussions on
some of the novelties it contained: macro-economic conditionalities, performance reserve, ex-ante conditionalities,
the Youth Employment Initiative (see box p.18).
Macro-economic conditionalities?
They relate to the macro-economic stability of the economy
of each EU country. They ensure that EU funds are focused
on achieving the targets of the EUs Europe 2020strategy for
a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (see p.12). For the
first time, the European Commission can now ask a Member
State to change its operational programmes and adapt them
to recommendations sent to that particular country by the
EU as a result of the European Semester economic governance process.
What about the performance reserve?

It introduces the new principle of result orientation into
EU cohesion policy. This implies that a certain percentage
of the overall spending for priority axes and operational
programmes be put aside until a mid-term evaluation is
carried out. If the milestones are met, then the money set
aside goes automatically to those axes and programmes. If
they are not met, the money may go to other priority axes
and operational programmes, in the same Member State,
which are really having an impact.
And ex-ante conditionalities?

These are new provisions which actually ensure that EU
funding is focused on results. They are a combination of
requirements: an appropriate regulatory framework, effective policies with clear objectives and a sufficient administrative or institutional capacity. Ex-ante conditionalities
represent a strong incentive for EU countries to ensure the
effective delivery of Europe 2020objectives and targets
through the ESF and the other European Structural and
European Union
SPECIAL FEATURE
Result oriented: Because the EU budget has been reduced, the European Commission pushed all the more for result-orientation
and for the added value of EU spending (Andriana Sukova-Tosheva).
Investment (ESI) funds. They are key to ensuring that all

institutional and strategic policy arrangements are in place
for effective investment.
And what about the Youth Employment Initiative?

This was a hot issue, not only because it was integrated
in the regulations at a time when discussions on the draft
Commission proposals had already started, but also because
of its high political profile and the technical nature of the
different elements that were negotiated. But in the end,
we succeeded in preserving almost intact our initial proposal. This is a dedicated support for young people, but also
for EU countries in implementing their Youth Guarantee
Implementation plans.
Pre-financing was also hotly debated

Yes, the co-legislators also happen to be the budgetary
authorities! A difficult agreement was reached on how much
initial pre-financing should go to the Member States and how
much pre-financing should be cleared on an annual basis. The
main thing is that any money that is given is spent on time
and contributes to effective results rather than being stored
somewhere without being used.
Are you happy with the ESF Regulation as adopted in

November 2013by Council and Parliament?
The Commission put forward its proposals in 2011. In the
meantime, the Heads of State and governments introduced
additional elements, such as the Youth Employment Initiative
in favour of young people who are neither in employment,

education or training, or the SME initiative. At the beginning of European integration, the ESF represented half of
European funds. Since the introduction of a European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF), its relative share has been declining. The ESF 2014-2020puts an end to this decline. There is
now a minimum share of ESF funding within the EU cohesion
policy. Because the overall EU budget has been reduced, we
pushed all the more for result-orientation and for the added
value of EU spending. We also promoted simplification: easing
the administrative burden for the beneficiaries and reducing
the risk of error for managing authorities.
Could you expand on the issue of simplification?

We are switching focus from process to results. Its a
small revolution called simplified costs options which
was introduced in 2007for the ESF and European Regional
Development Fund. It was so successful in some Member
States that it has been expanded in scope as well as to
all ESI Funds. Simplified costs options will allow Member
States and fund managers to focus on what they are actually doing rather than how they are doing it. Until now, they
had to keep evidence of even small expenditure like bus
tickets, telephone bills With the simplified costs options,
if for example providing training in a particular school costs
on average 100euros, the EU will reimburse on that basis
and will only check how many people effectively completed
the training and how the average cost was calculated.
That removes a lot of error sources and bureaucracy and
allows people to concentrate on the outcome (training people) rather than on managing the funds. We also have the
SPECIAL FEATURE
performance framework through which we now measure
what is produced as a result of our intervention: not how
much money we put into it but how many people actually
obtain better qualifications and manage to find a job. So
its the results that matter. Indicators play a very big role
there: when you start measuring and setting quantifiable
targets that you can reach, you know whether you are
successful or not.
So the focus is now on results rather than processes?

Yes. We now have a new concept: the Joint action plan.
The Commission says to a Member State: Tell us what you
want to achieve, e.g. raise the education level of a certain
cohort of young people. We dont check how you do it. What
we do care about is setting up some targets, taking action
and measuring what has been achieved and if you reach
your targets you will be paid accordingly, according to an
agreed formula.
Has the Europe 2020strategy reinforced the ESF?
Could you specify what reaching the Europe

2020targets means for the ESF?
To reach the employment target, Europe has to provide
support for people to improve their employability. This
is reflected in the ESF investment priority for balancing out private and professional life, in order to increase
the participation of women in the labour market, as well
as through an investment priority focusing on day-care
facilities for their children. Another example relates to
the capacity of the public administration to function in a
modern society. In some EU countries, there are deficiencies in the services delivered by the public authorities. The
ESF can be used for capacity-building: e.g. funding the
training of lawyers in fiscal matters. An efficient public
administration is part of the ex-ante conditionalities we
talked about earlier on.
Getting the Member States to involve other actors

in managing EU funds is also an important part of
the new ESF?
Yes, the more you involve your partners and stakeholders, the
more ownership you will get. In the process, you will ensure a
European Union
Yes. We are now going for thematic concentration: we try

to focus all the efforts and money on certain key priorities in each Member State, in line with Europe 2020and
the relevant EU recommendations (the European Semester,
seep.12) so that there are visible results. Thats how we can
prove the added-value for European spending and contribute
to the achievement of the Europe 2020objectives. This

strong link with the overall EU strategy is new, with all the
structural investment funds moving in the same direction.
Conditional: An efficient public administration is part of the conditions for receiving ESF funding, which can be used for capacity-building:
e.g. funding the training of lawyers in fiscal matters (Peter Stub Jrgensen).
SPECIAL FEATURE
better and more transparent performance. The Commission
has adopted a European code of conduct on partnership. It
specifies what kind of partnerships Member States need to
set up in order to draw up their partnership agreement , how
to involve them in the monitoring committees and in the
evaluation of the operational programmes. In a democratic
society, everybody should be involved in the overall spending
of the EU budget, which stems from the contribution of every
single taxpayer. We have always had partnerships but now
it is done in a more systematic way. It permeates the entire
process, from the concept and the first ideas to the drafting
of the proposal and the finalisation of the agreement.
Is everything on track for the new ESF to become

operational?
The new ESF regulation entered into force on 22December 2013,
which means that the deadline for the European Commission
to receive all partnership agreements was 22April 2014. Then
Member States have three months to submit their operational
programmes to the Commission. However, you must bear in
mind that the 2007-2013ESF is still pretty much active. Right
now, we have have spent only two thirds of the money available for the previous programming period: we still have 25billioneuros to pay out this year, next year and the year after.
2014-2020: some of the novelties

More than 80billion: A critical mass of human capital investment will be ensured through a minimum
guaranteed share of the ESF within the cohesion policy funding in each Member State. More than 80billion
(in current prices) will be invested in Europes people over the next 7years;
20% to social inclusion: Allocating at least 20% of the ESF allocation to social inclusion will mean
that people in difficulties and those from disadvantaged groups will get more support to have the same
opportunities as others to integrate into the labour market;
Mainstreaming gender equality: Promoting equality between women and men and equal opportunities for
all without any discrimination will be integrated in all actions and also supported through specific initiatives;
Youth: A greater emphasis is placed on combating youth unemployment. The Youth Employment Initiative
will help young people not in employment, education or training in regions experiencing youth unemployment
rates above 25%. At least 6.4billion (in current prices), half of which from the ESF, will come in support of
Member States efforts to put their Youth guarantee implementation plans in practice;
Concentrating funding for achieving results: the ESF will focus its interventions on a limited number of
priorities in order to ensure a sufficiently high critical mass of funding to make a real impact in addressing
Member States key challenges;
Transnational cooperation: Enhanced support will be provided by the Commission through a common
framework and an EU-wide platform for exchange of experience, mutual learning and capitalisation
of results;
Innovation: Greater support will be provided to social innovation, i.e. testing and scaling up innovative
solutions to address social, employment and education needs;
Partnership: The ESF will be implemented in close cooperation between public authorities, social
partners and bodies representing civil society at national, regional and local levels throughout the whole
programme cycle;
Simplification: The European Social Fund will be at the forefront of innovative managing rules to
simplify implementation of projects. The European Commission is helping Member States to simplify ESF
implementation in order to focus more on the results and make ESF easier and safer for the beneficiaries.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Nauras and Ebrahim,

chefs
apprentice
Rudi Miel European Union
Learning cooking and life skills through a course backed by the ESF
Increasing young peoples opportunitites: Nauras is from Iraq, Ebrahim from Iran but both found asylum in Germany and trained as chefs in France
thanks to a German programme co-funded by the ESF.
Nauras comes from Iraq. She left Baghdad when

she was 7, when her neighbourhood was bombed.
She lived in Jordan for five years and moved to
Germany when she was 13. She missed the sun,
had to learn the language and to write from left to
right. When she was 15, she worked as a barmaid
to make a bit of money. The opportunity to train
and become a chef came from a job centre.
Ebrahim is from Iran, which he left when he was 17,
during his military service. His mother helped him
escape. He crossed Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Croatia and Slovenia on foot for 21days. He met
up with his brother in Italy. He had not seen him
for 5years. His brother drove him to Germany. His

early days there were tough. He had to wait several
years for his work permit and he was not allowed
to study. Then he had an interview with the same
job centre as Nauras.
Both Ebrahim and Nauras live in Koblenz, Germany,
and were given the opportunity to do a traineeship
in Bordeaux, France.
Over to Nauras:
I was sceptical. It seemed too good to be true. I did the
traineeship in Bordeaux for a few weeks and I loved it!
SPECIAL FEATURE
Ittaught me a great deal. I learnt about certain ways of
working and trying different approaches to cooking. I always
loved baking and making desserts. But the project enabled
me to learn that there are lots of other things that interest
me in the kitchen. Every time I prepare an ingredient, I think
about its flavour and the way I could use it in a recipe. I love
to discreetly observe the customers reaction when they taste
my dishes, especially when Ive made something new or unusual. I am also careful to present the dishes well in general.
I am a real perfectionist. I try to motivate my colleagues to
get them to do the same. The kitchen team is like a family.
Everyone has adopted me, even though it is a male-dominated
environment. Everyone agrees on how good my chocolate cake
is. But the recipe is a secret! Ive had a German passport for
two years now but I still dont feel completely German. When
people ask where I am from, I always instinctively want to
say Iraq. But this is more of an emotional issue because I do
really like living in Germany. I speak German and my friends
speak German. I appreciate all that my host country has done
for me. Im the first to support the German national team in
football matches!.
Ebrahim adds:
My interview with the job centre was a shock, but a positive one. The moment everything clicked was when I did the
traineeship in Bordeaux. All of a sudden, I knew I had found
my way. I was certain. I was proud. I was going to be able
to be a role model for my son, who was born in Germany.
The thing I like the most about the training I received is the
confidence people have in me: they believed in my abilities. And the most satisfying thing, when I experiment with
new things in the kitchen, new combinations of flavours,
is when customers enjoy my dish creations. I love making
special dishes from scratch and impressing customers.
My life is here now, even though my heart is still in Iran. I
had a very happy childhood. I have good memories of my
home country. My father still lives there. I went to Iran a
few years ago. The government has given up looking for me.
I will go back definitely. And maybe open a hotel there,
why not But the minute I am focusing on my training, I
want to travel and to learn new things in Asia (China or
Japan). I love the way they sculpt fruit and vegetable and
how they cook shellfish, crustaceans and fish. I still have
a lot to learn.
Taken from:
Seven lives on the road to success with the European
Social Fund, ISBN 978-92-79-30126-1
Video:
http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=564&langId=en&portr
aitId=258
More information:
http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=564&langId=en
Integrating the labour market in Germany via France

Nauras and Ebrahim benefited from MYK4international, an innovative qualification project in the hotel
and catering sector. Its aim is to increase the training and employment opportunities of disadvantaged
young people through guided learnings and working visits in France.
The project is managed by the Institute for Applied Communication Research in Non-Formal Education,
IKABeV, which was founded in Bonn, Germany, in 1978. The aim of IKAB eV is to contribute to the promotion
of civil society in Europe through intercultural political education.
Besides the acquisition of job-specific skills, the participants to MYK4international have the opportunity
to develop and deepen their intercultural and social competencies, as well as their competence in
foreign languages.
MYK4international is promoted and funded by the German Federal ministry of Labour and Social Affairs,
the European Social Fund, the Job Centres of the Mayen-Koblenz administrative districts and other partners,
in the framework of the Integration through exchange programme.
SPECIAL FEATURE
The
EGF digs its heels in
Belgaimage
After some tough negotiations, the European Globalisation

Adjustment Fund was prolonged until 2020
For the young too: Until 2017, the EGF will support young people who are not in employment, training or education in regions hardest hit by youth unemployment.
An effective tool to help people who have lost their jobs, and
in particular for lower-skilled and disadvantaged jobseekers, is how European Commissioner for Employment, Social
Affairs and Inclusion, Lszl Andor, describes the European
Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). A report published
in November 2013shows that, in 2012, the EGF helped
15700workers find new jobs. They had been dismissed due
to the economic crisis and the effects of globalisation.
The EGF provides funding for concrete measures to help dismissed workers improve their employability and find new jobs
opportunities. It can be used to finance measures tailored to
the specific circumstances of the workers concerned- intensive,
personalised job-search assistance, various types of vocational
training, up-skilling and retraining measures, temporary incentives
and allowances for the duration of the active measures, business
creation support, mentoring and public employment schemes.
New jobs
The annual report for 2012shows that half of the workers
who participated in the 41EGF cases covered in the report
had found new jobs or were self-employed by the end of
the assistance period. An additional 1069people were in
education or training to increase their future employability.
The results in terms of re-integration into employment are
encouraging, given the current difficult job situation- and
considering that the EGF supports workers made redundant
in the particularly difficult circumstances of mass lay-offs.
The supported workers are often among those with greater
difficulties in the labour market, such as people who have
worked for the same employer for a long period of time and
have acquired expertise which may not be helpful when looking for a new job.
SPECIAL FEATURE
The EGF has also proven to facilitate innovation, with some
beneficiaries going as far as third level education. In countries like Denmark, Sweden and Ireland, universities have
cooperated and invented special condensed courses so
that EGF beneficiaries can acquire their new qualifications
within the limited EGF time frame (two years from the
application date).
Up-hill struggle
Despite the recognised achievements of the EGF during its
first seven years, prolonging the Fund for 2014-2020was
an up-hill struggle. A clear sign of this was the paradoxical outcome of the negotiations between the European
Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, on the basis
of the proposals put forward by the European Commission
in 2011: on one hand, the EGF annual funding ceiling has
been considerably reduced from 500million per year
in 2007-2013to 150million per year in 2014-2020; on
the other, its scope has been widened to include the selfemployed, those on fixed-term contracts and temporary
agency workers.
It is not uncommon that hundreds of small or micro-enterprises close down in a single area or region, making not just
the workers but also the self-employed owners redundant.
The EGF will now be able to support them too, so long as
they employed not more than 10workers.
In some countries (e.g. Spain, Slovenia), a high proportion
of workers are on fixed-term contracts. It did not feel fair
that if, say, a thousand workers were made redundant, of
whom 600were working with fixed-term contracts, the EGF
would only support the 400who had open-ended contracts!
Moreover, the crisis criterion (eligibility of workers made
redundant as a result of the present or future global financial and economic crisis)- which had been temporarily
introduced between 1May 2009and 30December 2011is now back for the entire 2014-2020period
Finally, there is the fact that the EGF is increasingly
well known.
Young people
The notoriety of the EGF will be further increased by the fact
that, for the first three years of the 2014-2020EU budgetary period, it will exceptionally be available to support
young people who are not in employment, training or education in regions particularly hard hit by youth unemployment.
In effect, it will reinforce the amount of money available
under the Youth Employment Initiative (3billion from
the European Social Fund and 3billion from a specific
EUbudget line) which has to be spent at the beginning of
the new budgetary period, in the regions that are hardest
hit by youth unemployment.
A much lower funding ceiling for many more people, therefore- but the EGF is here to stay!
More information:
Spain and the Netherlands

applymost
The EGF started its operations in 2007. Up to
August2013, there had been 110applications:
overall, 20EU countries requested some
471.2million to help 100022workers made
redundant. The EGF was expanded in 2009to include
workers made redundant because of the global
financial and economic crisis. EGF applications have
been presented by an increasing number of Member
States and in an increasing number of sectors.
EGF funding is a contribution to the measures
also being funded by the EU countries which
apply for the support: the EGF takes 60% of the
overall costs of the measures, while the Member
State pays 40% from public or private funds. The
highest number of applications originates from
Spain (18), followed by the Netherlands (16).
The majority of the applications concern
workers made redundant in the manufacturing
sector (82%), out of which the automotive
industry represents the biggest share, followed
by machinery and equipment, textiles and the
printing industry.
SPECIAL FEATURE
What
triggers EGF funding
Belgaimage
Reports on completed EGF interventions draw a vivid picture
Hard hit: The textile sector in the EU has been particularly affected by trade liberalisation.
In Finland, in 2007, 921workers benefited from EGF support after the Perlos Oyj company, a manufacturer of components for the telecommunications and electronics sector,
announced in January of that year that it would shut down
production in Finland and focus its manufacturing activity
on low-production cost countries. It was the largest private
sector employer in the Joensuu region. 1104workers were
made redundant, including 964in that sole region.
suppliers situated in 11regions across France, were dismissed between September and December of that year.
EGF assistance was targeted at a group of 267workers
dismissed by Ateliers Thom Gnot (ATG) in October 2006.
The company was located in Nouzonville, in the structurally
weak region of Champagne-Ardennes, where ATG was the
main employer. The company had gone to judicial liquidation
and was no longer able to provide assistance to its workers.
In Germany, in 2009, 1305telecommunications workers

benefited from EGF support after Nokia dismissed
2300workers in Bochum, where it was one of largest
employers. The site of the Nokia plant was located in the
structurally weakest part of the region.
In Italy, the textile sector used to be an important part of

the economy of the Piedmont region, although the regions
economic competitiveness was mostly due to the construction
and service industries. When the crisis started in 2008, the
textiles sector was not able to sustain its competitiveness.
It consisted mostly of SMEs, which could not face the costs
of reorganizing their production processes, diversifying their
products and investing in innovation. 90% of the textile companies of the region closed down. Italy applied for EGF support to 1537workers who had been dismissed by 202SMEs.
1298of them benefited in the end from such support.
In Spain, the textile sector was historically strong in

Catalonia, in terms of employment and income. It consisted
mainly of small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), using
predominantly manual labour. However, the sector was
severely affected by trade liberalisation. In 2008, Spain
applied for EGF support in favour of 1100workers who had
been dismissed by 33textile companies.
In France, in 2006, the automotive sector was severely
affected by a reduction in its volume of activity. 1345workers,
spread across 18different Peugeot Socit Anonyme (PSA)
Stories on opportunities created by the EGF:

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en&pu
bId=6218&type=2&furtherPubs=yes
TRAINEESHIPS
An EU
quality framework
Belgaimage
Content and conditions guidelines for EU countries
Key for the youth guarantee: Quality traineeships are a key component of the Youth Guarantee adopted by the EU Council of Ministers in April 2013.
One in three traineeships is substandard with regard to

working conditions or learning content. Many of these substandard traineeships are used by employers to replace
entry-level jobs.
Over the past years, nearly half of young people have tried
entering the labour market through a traineeship. And since
the present financial and economic crisis struck in 2008,
there have been growing concerns about abuses.
On 10March 2014, the EU Council of Ministers adopted
a series of guidelines that the European Commission had
proposed on 4December 2013. EU countries are now asked
to ensure that national law or practice respects the principles set out in the guidelines and adapt their legislation
where necessary.
The Youth Guarantee

The aim of these guidelines is to enable trainees to acquire
high-quality work experience, help companies offer good
quality traineeships, especially small and medium-size ones
(SMEs), and prevent any abuse.
This is all the more crucial as traineeships are a key component of the Youth Guarantee adopted by the EU Council
of Minister in April 2013, whereby all young people up to
the age of 25receive a good quality offer of employment,
continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship
within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving
formal education. Indeed, there are currently more young
people in traineeship than in apprenticeship.
Quality is the key word, here: Quality of conditions and of
content, the two being intimately linked. The Commission
proposal requires that traineeships be based on a written
agreement, covering learning content (educational objectives, supervision) and working conditions (limited duration,
working time, clear indication whether trainees will be paid or
otherwise compensated and whether they would be covered
by social security).
Transparency
Quality goes with transparency: traineeship providers will be
asked to disclose already in the vacancy notice whether the
traineeship will be paid. Traineeship seekers should also be
Belgaimage
Transparency: Vacancy notices should disclose whether or not the traineeship will be paid.
able to see the rate of trainees who are properly recruited

by a company at the end of their traineeship.
The Framework does not cover traineeships that form part
of a university degree or that are mandatory to access a
specific profession. What it does cover, though, are open
market traineeships, where potential trainees are directly
in touch with companies, as well as traineeships which are
part of active labour market policies, where a public authority is involved.
The Quality Framework for Traineeships is therefore able to
support the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes
by EU Member States and would help extend EURES, the
European network of employment agencies, to traineeships
(see article p.6). It can also support programmes under the
Youth Employment Initiative, which provides EU funding to
directly support young people in regions where youth unemployment rates are above 25%.
It is complementary to the European Alliance for Apprentice
ship, which covers forms of nationally recognized Initial
Vocational Education and Training (IVET) that formally alternate company-based training and school-based education.
The Alliance promotes the quality, quantity and attractiveness of apprenticeships, which are equally important under
the Youth Guarantee.
Transnational traineeships
The Quality Framework also encourages more transnational
traineeships, a key condition for helping EU citizens make
full use of their right to live and work in another EU country,
where their skills might be more sought after than in their
home country. Indeed, cross-EU labour mobility would be
grandly facilitated if EU workers first experienced a positive
traineeship in another EU country.
The results of a Eurobarometer survey published in
November2013show that only 9% of respondents have
had a chance to carry out a traineeship abroad (see box).

If all EU countries guarantee the quality of traineeships in
a comparable way, this would encourage potential trainees
to apply to a traineeship offer in another country, possibly
with the help of a public employment service. Indeed, one
in five respondents who had not had a traineeship abroad
said that they did not have enough information about what
they can expect from a cross-border traineeship.
Eight out of ten respondents who had a traineeship abroad
reported that it had improved their language skills and
seven in ten that the experience had made them consider
livingabroad.
Multiple traineeships
46% of respondents to a Eurobarometer survey
on the experience of trainees in the EU, carried out
in April and May 2013, have done a traineeship.
A high proportion of them have even done
multiple traineeships.
23% of trainees are offered to renew the traineeship
at the end of their time, instead of being properly
recruited. Only three in ten respondents who
completed a traineeship were offered an employment
contract at the end of their traineeship (27%).
35% of traineeship providers do not offer a written
traineeship agreement.
Only 9% of traineeships take place abroad.
Respondents in Luxembourg (27%), Latvia (25%) and
Austria (23%) were most likely to report that they
had at least one traineeship abroad. Respondents with
traineeship experience are most likely to have had
their most recent traineeship in another EU country in
Luxembourg (22%), Ireland (20%) and Latvia (19%).
OTHER
VOICES
EU funding
social leverage
Social Platform
society organisations (CSOs). The involvement of the social

partners and CSOs at the appropriate territorial level in the
programming and implementation of the ESF is of capital
importance for achieving good governance as well as to
ensure the effective and efficient implementation of the
funds. To date the involvement of civil society and other
stakeholders in the implementation of the funds has been
very haphazard with very few Member States applying the
partnership principle properly. Stakeholders were often just
informed about decisions that were already taken by public authorities.
Pierre Baussand, Social Platform Director:

Three levers must be activated to make the new ESF a success.
The 2014 2020European Social Fund (ESF) includes three

key social levers. The first lever is a political one. For the
first time in ESF history promoting social inclusion and
combating poverty (and any discrimination) in particular
through active inclusion is one of the four thematic objectives. To ensure that spending reflects this priority, the EU
has set a minimum threshold: at least 20% of the 71billion
allocated to the fund has to be used for combatting poverty
and promoting social inclusion. This is a milestone in the
history of EU funds.
The second social lever is a contractual one. The ESF sets up
social pre-conditions that have to be in place before disbursing funding. Any application for funding has to demonstrate
that it will promote social inclusion and combat poverty, antidiscrimination, ensure gender equality fully, and implement
the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with
disabilities. Member States should identify from the beginning in a concrete and not too broad way, how and for what
they want to use the money. This was often missing under
the previous ESF.
The third social lever is democratic, the so called partnership principle. It is now mandatory for Member States to
organise partnerships with relevant actors, including civil
To ensure CSOs are properly included, they should be involved

in the preparation of partnership agreements and progress
reports throughout the preparation and implementation
of programmes, as well as in monitoring committees. This
allows making an added value of: CSOs sound knowledge
of the reality on the ground; the needs of different target
groups; how to successfully run integrated projects funded
by Structural Funds; and the key role played by Structural
Funds in delivering on the Europe 2020poverty reduction
and employment targets. This cooperation ensures that those
who are socially excluded, and the organisations working
with them, have a say in the implementation of the ESF.
Politically these are major achievements at the EU level
and they can certainly be a springboard for better support
in combatting poverty. However make no mistake, the ESF
on its own cannot reverse the dramatic increase in poverty
and unemployment that we currently witness, and never was
it meant to. At the moment, this responsibility lies within
Member States. It is nonetheless worthy to mention that
other EU funds, including the ERDF, EaSI and Horizon 2020,
have also to support social policies, as promoting social
inclusion and combating poverty is one of the overarching
priorities for all EU funds as enshrined in the general regulation on the common provisions on structural funds.
The ESF on its own is not the solution to our social crisis
in Europe but it can be a part of the solution. It has in its
design good political, contractual and democratic principles
to ensure positive social leverage in the EU and can support
Member States in alleviating poverty and ensuring social
inclusion. Now, lets implement it.
Pierre Baussand
Social Platform, Director

Michel Servoz, new European Commission Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion Director General: The challenge
now is to get out of the crisis together.
INTERVIEW
European Union
Michel Servoz is Director General

of the European Commissions
Employment, Social Affairs
andinclusion Directorate General
since 1February 2014
You were a judge in France and now you are a

Director General at the European Commission
I studied law and political science and after that, indeed,
I became a judge. I then worked on European issues with
the First president of the Cour de cassation, one of Frances
courts of last resort. This gave me the urge to work at
European level. I joined the European Commissions External
Affairs Directorate General in 1991and never practised
law again! It is rather what I learnt about economics and
international relations at Sciences Po, in Paris, that proved
to be useful. Thats the good thing about the European
Commission: people come from all sorts of professional
backgrounds. You learn to become polyvalent and flexible. At
the time there was a rather idealistic and abstract perception of Europe. Nowadays, the perception is more pragmatic,
some would say inter-governmental Yet we managed to
achieve a Banking Union in a time of crisis!
You then became Deputy Secretary General of

the Commission and coordinated the work on the
Europe 2020strategy for smart, sustainable and
inclusive growth, which was adopted in 2010. What
do you think of it today?
The Europe 2020strategy was conceived at a time when
we thought we could master the crisis. Since then, however,
everyone has been doing crisis management instead. It is
only now that we are starting to see signs of overcoming
the crisis. We must go back to the long-term objectives of
the Europe 2020strategy. The good thing is that, throughout
the crisis, the European social model and its automatic
Time to converge
again
stabilisers worked quite well. The problem, however, is
that the same stabilisers are now putting the brakes on
economic recovery. That is a weakness we have to address.
The Europe 2020strategy is having a structuring

effect on European economic governance
Indeed, the European Semester process stems from the
strategy. It tries to help the Member States converge and
correct the most blatant excesses. And its working! By
and large, the governments have taken substantial action,
though not always very delicately The Commission has
repeatedly called upon certain governments to undertake a
smart budgetary consolidation and preserve social protection and education. The challenge now is to get out of the
crisis together. During the crisis, divergence increased both
between Member States and within them. Restoring the convergence engine is one of the great challenges lying ahead.
Will not the fate of the Europe 2020strategy be

decided at global level?
In the G20framework, growth strategies are being discussed
which are exactly the same as the Europe 2020strategy.
Its a form of recognition. There might be some degree of
convergence on certain aspects of it but the real issue is
to be competitive on the global market: We cannot compete with China on labour costs or environmental norms.
We must seek our competitiveness elsewhere: in terms of
quality, innovation, research and education areas where
we are not very good compared to the USA, Japan, South
Korea and Canada.
KE-AF-13-037-EN-N
Travelling in Europe*?
Check out the European Health Insurance Card app!
With your European Health Insurance Card you

can access state-provided healthcare if you fall ill
or have an accident during your stay abroad. Show your
card to a doctor or at the hospital and you will receive
the necessary treatment under the same conditions as
people insured in that country.
Cards are issued free by your national health insurance
provider.
How does it work?
http://ehic.europa.eu
Download European Health Insurance Card

app for your smartphone:
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*EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland
C ad.indd 1
02/04/2014 10:08:32
Useful websites
The website of Commissioner Andor: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/andor/index_en.htm
The home page of the Commissions Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion: http://ec.europa.eu/social/
The website of the European Social Fund: http://ec.europa.eu/esf
To download or to order these publications, please go to http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=738&langId=en
To subscribe to the Social Agenda magazine or to other publications of DG Employment,
Social Affairs and Inclusion, please fill in the registration form available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=740&langId=en

Social Agenda 37 - The New European Social Fun

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n37

new European Social Fund

2 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

As the first signs of overcoming the financial and economic

The on-going 2014European Semester has been enriched by the introduction of a

SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014 / 3

The missing entrepreneurs 10

EUROPE 2020 STRATEGY

The ESF and the EGF 14

Michel Servoz, new Director General for Employment,

Pierre Baussand, Social Platform Director 26

4 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

5May: Public consultation

Promising sector: On what should the EU growth strategy focus

The Commission launched an online public consultation on the

28April: More cooperation with ILO

key challenge across the world. The better working conditions

24April: Deterioration in worker satisfaction

24April: Improving worker

Cross-border travelling: A new EU law ensures the better application

10April: 26.2million unemployed

those in employment, 43.7million were part-time workers, of which

SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014 / 5

(seeSocial Agenda n36). Undeclared work is a phenomenon

8April: Youth Guarantee conference

At a Youth Guarantee: Making it Happen conference hosted

7April: Managing stress at work

risks linked to stress at work. Stress is one of the most frequently

4April: First signs of improvement for the Roma

integration. They identify both positive examples and areas for

10March: New EU fund

6 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

Taking EURES out

The European Commission proposes a new law

On 17January 2014, the European Commission put forward

EURES needs to be mainstreamed. At their first encounter

EURES is a cooperation network set up in 1993between the

For those job-seekers and employers who have shown an

SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014 / 7

Cross-EU mobility potential: Greek doctors and nurses meet representatives

available through organisations. The proposed rules would

The EURES job mobility portal:

8 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

The European Commission has adopted a quality framework

More than 16000restructuring operations have taken place

in the concerned regions, in order to promote job creation

SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014 / 9

increased inequality and poverty. These costs weigh greatly

national level, with a view to improving their effectiveness and

The public sector too

The steel and automotive industries

10 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

Constrained: Some state welfare policies are poorly

Helping governments make it easier for under-represented

Entrepreneurship creates jobs and growth but not all social

Tworegions of the Czech Republic have created tailored

Analysis and policy guidance

SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014/ 11

The 2013Missing Entrepreneurs report contains a series of

T he Missing Entrepreneurs- Policies for inclusive

Today, in addition to running successful businesses,

12 / SOCIAL AGENDA / JUNE 2014

Adjusting the sights

T he Missing Entrepreneurs- Policies for inclusive