Brussels, 02/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - The future of the European Social Fund (ESF) will be centre-stage during talks ahead of the introduction of the EU's new five-year budget plan, the “Financial Perspectives 2014-2020” because the future role of the EU's Cohesion Policy will be discussed by the European Commission, Member States and the European Parliament and the idea of separating off the European Social Fund from Cohesion Policy has been mooted. The aim of the debate currently being led by the European Commission is to set up a fully independent employment strategy, backed by the ESF.
In a letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, the chair of the EP's Regional Development Committee, Danuta Hübner, warns against any weakening of the ESF's value-added. She explains that the EP's Regional Development Committee “has always strongly and unanimously maintained that the European Social Fund must remain an integral part of cohesion policy, for it is an effective structural instrument to be exploited primarily by the regions in the context of an inclusive and place-based development policy”.
Until now, the ESF has been part of the EU's Cohesion Policy to support national policies to increase jobs, improve quality and productivity in the workplace, reduce social exclusion and reduce the employment gap between the regions. “Its role in the framework of cohesion policy goes far beyond the employment agenda, embracing all other aspects of social cohesion,” explains Hübner, adding that separating ESF from Cohesion Policy can undermine the coherence of two EU structural funds, the ESF and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and therefore undercut their efficiency. (G.B./transl.fl)