Brussels, 06/10/2011 (Agence Europe) - As contained in the European Commission proposal on cohesion policy 2014-2020, presented on Thursday 6 October, the link between granting European Social Fund aid and compliance with the economic stability and growth pact is a matter of real annoyance to the European Parliament (EP) employment and social affairs committee rapporteur, Elisabeth Morin-Chartier (EPP, France). She delivered a mixed opinion on the Commission communication on the future of the ESF, highlighting, in particular, the dependence of allocation of funding for social projects on sound management of the state, that is, on macro-economic criteria.
What should be done, then, in situations such as those currently in Greece, Ireland and Spain? “If we hitch European funding for job-creation projects to the stability pact of these countries, we will sink the people who are already suffering economically”, she warned. The Commission suggests in its proposal that European cohesion funding, including from the ESF, should be allocated according to states' budgetary situation. If sovereign debt cannot be brought under control, a (gradual) suspension procedure could be begun (see EUROPE 10460). For Morin-Chartier, such a mechanism runs the very serious risk of creating social injustice. “We cannot inflict double punishment on countries which are already in financial difficulty,” she said.
In addition, the EP will have to complete two points in the Commission proposal she opined. They reflect the idea that the priorities related to the EUROPE 2020 strategy should not result in a closed understanding of the scope of the ESF. Firstly, “Parliament will have to make efforts to address the situation of young people leaving the training system with no qualifications” because this is the “root of the problem” in relation to employment. Furthermore, it should also be possible to use the ESF to tackle potential social difficulties, ones which are easily foreseen. The question raised by the rapporteur relates to issues of the enhancement of the skills and qualifications of workers currently employed in certain sectors, “who at some point in the future are going to have to be able to respond to changes in their work”. The broad outline of the areas of contentions is only beginning to be drawn. The battle on defining the operation of the ESF is shaping up to be tough. (JK/transl.rt)