In a report published on Wednesday 8 December, the European Court of Auditors criticised the effectiveness of measures financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) to facilitate access to employment, saying they are not sufficiently targeted.
Over the 2014–2020 period, €11.4 billion was allocated to ESF “access to employment” measures. However, according to the Court, these measures were not specifically targeted since they treat the unemployed and disadvantaged groups equally. For example, the auditors found that there was no clear link between ESF support and individual needs.
The Court finds it difficult to monitor the results achieved by the ESF with regard to the long-term unemployed, which is partly due to weaknesses in the ESF framework for monitoring and evaluation.
Due to the lack of specific categories of expenditure for the different target groups, including the long-term unemployed, the auditors are of the opinion it is “difficult not only to determine the amount of EU funds allocated to these measures, but also to assess their results and their impact on the target group”.
Furthermore, the measures funded by the ESF did not necessarily reflect the scale of the long-term unemployment problem in some Member States and in particular regions.
While noting an improvement in the targeting of the European Social Fund plus (ESF+) 2021–2027, in particular regarding the modalities of profiling jobseekers and assessing their needs, the auditors are inviting the European Commission to insist on an approach that targets the long-term unemployed on the basis of the territorial situation.
To read the report: https://bit.ly/3EBcxly (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)