Brussels, 24/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Since the European Commission proposed in mid March that there should be minimum thresholds for recourse to the European Social Fund (ESF) for the years 2014-2020, many voices have been raised both in the European Parliament and the EU Council to denounce an approach that is deemed insufficiently flexible. Taking the floor at the EP committee on employment and social affairs on Monday 23 April, Commissioner Laszlo Andor sought to give an answer to those who criticise the proposal, explaining why the Commission wishes to set such a scheme in place, a scheme which, for some, is tantamount to tying the hands of national governments in the management of cohesion funds.
The context. The Commission has suggested a general regulation relating to the ESF, which fixes the percentages and the minimal amounts that should be allocated by member states in order to be able to benefit from European support. Thus, out of the €376 billion (according to the Commission proposal of 14 February) earmarked for cohesion policy for the period 2014-2020, 25% should be allocated to the ESF, which corresponds to €84 billion. Nonetheless, that is not the only predefined share. The present proposal also determines the minimum percentages to be allocated to the national authorities for each category of regions: - the least developed (25%) and the most developed (40%). For territorial cooperation, a predefined share of 52% is proposed. The number of investment priorities, moreover, will be more limited than before, with four “thematic objectives” (employment and professional mobility; education and training; social inclusion and the fight against poverty; and the promotion of an effective administration). In this way, the Commission plans to bring use of the ESF within the lines set out by the EUROPE 2020 strategy. It is a matter of reversing national policies, also through Commission supervision in the context of national reform programmes, in order, mainly, to promote job creation and combat poverty.
Commission justifies its position. The argument of less flexibility for the states and the regions in the context of the ESF “is not valid”, said Andor. This, he said, is because “fixed or minimum amounts are essential and justified to the EU budget authority to ensure that its political objectives are concretely implemented”. He went on to point out that, within that framework, “having a predefined share of the EU budget to support the inclusive human dimension of growth is an essential political point for the Commission”. One might ask whether the shares set are too high. Those fixed in the last proposal are relatively close to those currently practised and are therefore “not out of reach for the member states”. However, the main problem that the Commission wishes to tackle is that of the situation in which some states only allocate 10-15% of cohesion funds to the ESF, Andor explained. By way of conclusion, the commissioner called on MEPs to take a stance in favour of the 25% share, “so that we can really speak about an EU budget supporting Social Europe”. (JK/transl.jl)