Brussels, 27/07/2000 (Agence Europe) - Anna Diamantopulou, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, signed the Single Progamming Document (SPD) for Austria for the period 2000-2006 under Objective 3 of Regional Policy (support for the adaptation and modernisation of educational, training and employment policies and systems throughout the regions of the EU, except for regions under Objective 1, or regions behind in development). This programme has a budget of 1.260 bn euro, 581 million of which paid by the Federal State, 45 million by the Laender, 85.5 million by the private sector and 548 million by the European Social Fund (1% of this aid is earmarked for the Territorial Employment Pacts and other local initiatives, and 2% will be used for technical assistance). This signing comes within the framework of a series of Commission decisions that currently mark the beginning of the new programming period of Objective 3 (for the programmes relating to France, East Wales, Scotland and England, see EUROPE of 20 July, pp. 13-14).
A Commission services press release states that Austria's SPD: 1) sets out the following priorities: the prevention and fight against adult and youth unemployment; promoting equal opportunities for all and tackle all forms of exclusion from the jobs market; the fostering of flexibility in the jobs market; the promotion of lifelong learning and employment potential in the fields of research, science and technology; the promotion of gender equality in the labour market; 2) describes how the horizontal issues (local employment initiatives, information society and gender mainstreaming) have been taken into account in the development of the Objective 3 strategy and in the selection of priorities; 3) sets out the framework for employment initiatives under Objectives 1 and 2 of Regional Policy, and also reflects the priorities of the National Employment Action Plan. It also identifies the target groups for the Community initiative EQUAL (which proposes new practices in the fight against discrimination and inequalities of all nature on the labour market) in Austria.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour is responsible for implementing the programme, including administering and monitoring payments. It will be assisted by the Austrian Labour Market Service, the Federal Office for Social Affairs and Disable Persons (part of the Federal Ministry for Social Security and Generations), as well as the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Culture. Information on calls for applications and project selection can be obtained from any of these bodies.
Anna Diamantopulou welcomed the fact that "negotiations with Austria had allowed for new priorities to be identified in order to implement the European Employment Strategy. Thus, for the first time, education has been singled out as a key area, as have measures to boost job opportunities for women".