The draft report by Veronica Lope Fontagné (EPP, Spain) on the post-2020 European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) appears to have obtained consensus at the employment and social affairs committee (EMPL) of the European Parliament, judging by the discussions held on Wednesday 29 August. Ms Lope Fontagné sought to concentrate on the main points and “complete” the Commission proposal and repeated that she agreed overall with the European Commission proposal (see EUROPE 12082), notably on the merger of the different funds: ESF, Youth Employment Initiative, European food aid programme for the most deprived, the programme for employment and innovation, and the health programme.
The applies to the strengthened link between the European Semester budget process and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
It should be recalled that Ms Lope Fontagné would like to increase youth aid from 10 to 15% and signpost the priority for social inclusion (25% of the ESF) towards extreme poverty. She is also proposing to reorientate resources planned for tacking extremely poverty (2%) towards social inclusion. She is also seeking to enhance the territorial dimension and include NGOs in the partnerships.
These proposals received support from Brando Benifei (S&D, Italy). The latter, however, pointed out that the European Semester did not contain a genuine social dimension. He also indicated that he wanted to strengthen ESF+ action for young people by extending it to accommodation, social services and health care.
Ulrike Trebesius (ECR, Germany) insisted that the Fund should cover all member states. She expressed her concern about the large number of priorities and action plans and pointed out that the European budget is limited. The MEP also expressed scepticism about the budget breakdown between member states and did not appreciate the way spending is wasted in certain member states that do not have adequate infrastructure.
Jasenko Selimovic (ALDE, Sweden) expressed fears that ESF+ support for the outermost regions could slow down infrastructure implementation and suffer from the shortfalls in this area. The MEP would also like to exceed the 15% proposed by the rapporteur to support young people. He believes that they should not just focus on emergency situations but invest in long-term infrastructure.
Gabi Zimmer (GUE/NGL, Germany) would like guarantees for the fund to help find quality jobs and assurances that it does not contribute to the expansion of precarious employment. She also emphasised the need for a 5% increase to underpin action in support of the most deprived sections of society suffering from material deprivation.
The Chairperson of the GUE/NGL also criticised the Commission proposal for allowing the transfer of money from the ESF + to the InvestEU fund, because these two funds do not pursue the same objectives. Finally, she rejected any further link being established between the ESF + and the European Semester.
Terry Reintke (Greens/EFA, Germany) would like to strengthen the link between the European Pillar of Social Rights and the allocation for the most deprived citizens to be set at 4%. The environmentalist also highlighted the importance of taking the time necessary to obtain inspiration from people who have direct experience with the current ESF, in order to be able to provide better legislation.
The parliamentary committee, however, would like to move ahead quickly on this dossier, given as the end of the mandate is approaching. The EMPL committee vote is planned for the end of November. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)