ESF and Social Partners Partnership ESF and Social Partners

Legal framework ESF Regulation No 1304/2013 stipulates:   ESF Regulation No 1304/2013 stipulates: "the efficient and effective implementation of actions supported by the ESF depends on good governance and partnership between all relevant territorial and socio-economic actors…, in particular, social partners and non-governmental organisations".

Funding for capacity building Option 1   ESF Investment priority (TO 11ii) "Capacity building for all stakeholders delivering education, lifelong learning, training and employment, and social policies this includes sectoral and territorial pacts to mobilise reform at the national, regional and local levels"

State of play , TO 11 ii

Funding for capacity building Option 2 Article 6 ESF Regulation : MAs of an OP in less developed or transition regions or in MS eligible for support from Cohesion Fund shall ensure that, according to needs, an appropriate amount of ESF resources is allocated to capacity building activities, such as training, networking ,and to activities jointly undertaken by the social partners.

Funding for capacity building Option 3 Article 59 CPR: : - use of MS TA for capacity building of SPs, and for exchange of good practices, when SPs are directly involved in management of OPs - use of MS TA for capacity building of SPs not directly involved in management of OPs only on the basis of concrete applications/projects

ESF Survey on capacity building of SPs Member States were invited, through the ESF desks in DG EMPL, to provide information on use of ESF resources for capacity building of social partners in previous and current financing periods 21 MS replied (no feedback received from EE, IE, HU, FR, PT, SE, UK)

General comments - Coverage of two programming periods - Responses by OP or at national level - Variation as to level of detail provided - Examples of good practice

Participation of SPs in Monitoring Committes Full members , hence functions and voting rights review the implementation of the OP for which the committee is in charge and the progress made towards achieving its objectives examine all issues that affect the performance of the OP be consulted and, if appropriate, give an opinion on any amendment of the OP proposed by the Managing Authority (MA) make observations to the MA regarding implementation and evaluation of the OP

Capacity Building Capacity building actions in several OPs , in particular in MS who benefit from provisions of article 6 ESF Budget earmarking only in 5 MS , covering both SPs and CSOs Use of ESF Technical Assistance not mentioned

Types of planned activities -organisation of trainings for project management, including on tools for monitoring and evaluation - information and publicity measures regarding financing opportunities - networking events - possibility for social partners to implement projects - no provision for undertaking joint actions in partnership between social partners

Involvement in European Semester "Standard reply" from limited number of MS: ESF support will contribute in equipping stakeholders with necessary technical capacity that would further enhance their participation in development of policies within the ESF related areas, ie employment, social inclusion, education and training.  

Next Steps 7-8 November:Capacity building of ESF stakeholders involved in TNC coordinated calls for projects Organisation of mutual learning/training activities on the basis of specific requests formulated by SPs at national level