1. COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ON LONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENT Use of the ESF and related challenges…
Anita Vella, Deputy Head of Unit, Employment Strategy, DG EMPL, European Commission

2. 10.9 million long-term unemployed
The challenge at EU level is the diverging labour market contexts and challenges across the 28 Member States.
As we see on the slide, there are big differences between the Member States on the percentages of long-term unemployed, and in particular the share of LTU amongst the unemployed.
Some Member States with high transition rates to employment already have in place the elements proposed in the Recommendation. The impact will be higher in Member States with weaker support structures and higher rates of long-term unemployment. However, there is scope in most of the Member States for improving the performance of the support for long-term unemployed in the three aspects identified: coverage, discontinuity, and activation design. More continuity in support delivery: Impact would be higher in Member States with no formal coordination in place: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Romania. Increased individualised support: Impact will be higher in Member States without individual approaches in place: Czech Republic, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, Cyprus, Greece, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Hungary. Stronger employers' engagement: Impact is expected to be higher for countries with large public work schemes: Hungary, Germany, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Latvia

3. COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION LTU: Three steps to go back to work
Speaking points:
Our Council Recommendation tells Member states to provide individual (re-) assessments to registered long-term unemployed persons. Ensure that registered long-term unemployed persons are offered in-depth individual assessments and guidance at the very latest when they reach 18 months of unemployment. The assessment should cover their employability prospects, barriers to employment and previous job-search efforts.
Make a specific offer of a job-integration agreement at the very latest when a long-term unemployed person has reached 18 months of unemployment. For the purposes of this recommendation, a ‘job-integration agreement’ is understood to be a written agreement between a registered long-term unemployed person and a single point of contact, having the objective of facilitating that person's transition into employment on the labour market.
2. Individual assessment
3. Job Integration Agreement
1. Registration
12 months
18 months

4. SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT Personal and individual contact
One interlocutor providing guidance and access to benefits, employment and support services
Good examples, information from country fiche: - Germany: Benefits (insurance-funded) and services for long-term unemployed in line with Social Code Book III (UB I) are provided by the local employment agencies functioning as authorised local service centres. Benefits (means-tested!) and services in line with Social Code Book II (UB II) provided by the job centres. The fast and effective re-integration of unemployed people with massive integration barriers and the prevention of long-term unemployment is hampered by the splitting of social protection and activation for unemployed people into two separate systems (UB I and UB II) with differing regulations, administration and funding. The two systems result in double structures with many interfaces, which offer counselling, placement and integration services and whose differences impede effective solutions. The Job Centres within Social Code Book II (for UB II – recipients) are organised as either joint institutions of the local employment agencies and the municipalities or as sole operator (in the competence of the municipality alone). Currently, there are 304 joint institutions and 129 sole operators. The labour market integration services of the job centres should be complemented by social integration services (e.g. childcare, long-term care, debt counselling, addiction counselling and psychosocial care), which are the competence of municipalities. Not only are there deficits in many municipalities regarding the scope and availability of these services, but also the cooperation between job centres and municipalities (or other service providers) is not well developed.
- Sweden: By tradition the single point of contact for unemployed is the Public Employment Service. Regular contact with the PES is normally required to be eligible for unemployment benefits. Thus an unemployed should normally already be in contact with the local PES office before (s)he become LTU.
- Czech Republic: Local employment offices represent a one-stop-shop for LTU since they provide employment services and unemployment benefits as well as social assistance benefits. However, there is a division of tasks within employment offices: employment mediators (and counsellors) are responsible for dealing with the agenda of unemployment benefits, job mediation and IAPs while social counsellors are responsible for the agenda of social assistance benefits. They can easily share information but their handling of the LTU is done in parallel and separately. Therefore, the employment office being a single point of contact facilitates provision of services and exchange of information; however the split between the tasks handling within the offices might hamper the effectiveness of case treatment.

5. KEY CHALLENGES
SOME MS EXAMPLES
Development of Single Point Of Contact for the long-term unemployed
Bulgaria: The services for job seekers in the territorial divisions of PES are organized on the principle of "one stop shop", but only in terms of the provided mediation services for employment, training and inclusion of persons in active measures on the labour market for recovery of the labour habits and / or acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

6. Key Challenges (2)
Decreasing the disparities between the regional PES on the method to integrate the LTU
Spain: Central PES manage and control unemployment benefits while regional PES are responsible for the registration of unemployed and for the development and implementation of active labour market policies.
Allocation of funds for PES investments on the re- assessment of LTU.
Cyprus: The high case load for employment counsellors can be contributing to the fact that it can take up to 60 days before a basic activation plan is drawn up.
Key challenges explained with examples from countries:
Bulgaria, development of SPOC: There is no "single point of contact" for active and passive LTU support in Bulgaria. The services for job seekers in the territorial divisions of PES are organized on the principle of "one stop shop", but only in terms of the provided mediation services for employment, training and inclusion of persons in active measures on the labour market for recovery of the labour habits and / or acquisition of new knowledge and skills.
Spain, Central PES manage and control unemployment benefits while regional PES are responsible for the registration of unemployed and for the development and implementation of active labour market policies. On the positive side, since June 2014 the unemployed can complete the job seeker registration and the benefits application in the same building, but caseworkers still depend on their own agency, which may cause inefficiencies.
Cyprus: The high case load for employment counsellors can be contributing to the fact that it can take up to 60 days before a basic activation plan is drawn up.

7. COM proposals for COUNTRY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS ON LTU
EUROPEAN SEMESTER
COM proposals for COUNTRY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS ON LTU
Five countries: Bulgaria/ Croatia/ Cyprus/ Portugal and Slovakia
Aimed at strengthening activation/ registration/ up- and re-skilling and enhancing capacity of the Public Employment Service
Text of CSRs:
Bulgaria: Reinforce and integrate social services and active labour market policies, in particular for the long-term unemployed and young people not in employment, education or training. (…)
Croatia: Provide appropriate up- and re-skilling measures to enhance the employability of the working-age population, with a focus on the low-skilled and the long-term unemployed. (…)
Cyprus: Enhance the capacity of the public employment services and their provision to the long-term unemployed; improve outreach to the non-registered unemployed. (…)
Portugal: Ensure the effective activation of the long term unemployed and improve the coordination between employment and social services. (…)
Slovakia: Improve activation measures for the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups, including individualised services and targeted training. (…)
Relevant text of recital related to CSR:
Bulgaria: While unemployment is gradually improving, there are still important challenges, for example as regards the long-term unemployed and young people not in employment, education or training. Active labour market policies could play a stronger role in helping these groups to access the labour market. The activation of people on social benefits is hindered by the fragmentation of, and limited cooperation between, different agencies delivering benefits and labour market integration services.
Croatia: Long-term unemployment rates have fallen recently but are still about twice the EU average. Participation in lifelong learning remains very low, due to an underdeveloped adult education system.
Cyprus: The labour market started recovering in 2015, but unemployment remains high. In particular, youth and long-term unemployment are a source of concern. Some measures have been taken in the areas of active labour market policies and public employment services. However, the latter still lack the capacity to meet demand, to deliver quality job-search assistance and counselling and to reach out to the non-registered unemployed. Plans to strengthen the administrative capacity of the public employment services, including specialisation of and an increase in the number of counsellors directly serving customers' needs, have been delayed
Portugal: absorbing the large pool of long-term unemployed remains a challenge, negatively affecting economic growth and the social situation. There is room for further activation of the long-term unemployed, through targeted labour market policies and enhanced coordination among employment and social services.
Slovakia: The rate of long-term unemployment continues to be one of the highest in the EU (7.6% vs. 4.3% in the EU as a whole in the third quarter of 2015). It particularly affects marginalised Roma, the low-skilled and young people.
Background information on European Semester
The implementation of the EES - supported by the work of the Employment committee - involves the following four steps of the European Semester:
Employment guidelines are common priorities and targets for employment policies proposed by the Commission, agreed by national governments and adopted by the EU Council.
The Joint employment report (JER) is based on (a) the assessment of the employment situation in Europe (b) the implementation of the Employment Guidelines and (c) an assessment of the Scoreboard of key employment and social indicators. It is published by Commission and adopted by the EU Council.
The Commission publishes a series of Country reports, analysing Member States' economic policies and issues Country-specific recommendations.
National Reform Programmes (NRPs) are submitted by national governments and analysed by the Commission for compliance with Europe 2020.
In this process, the issue of long-term unemployment became more prominent in 2015, so the European Commission proposed a specific initiative aimed at providing guidance to MS on integrating the LTU into the labour market. The Council of the EU (MS) agreed on the proposed Recommendation on 15 February 2016.

8. ESF THEMATIC GUIDANCE FICHE
Relevant ESF investment priorities:
Text of CSRs:
Bulgaria: Reinforce and integrate social services and active labour market policies, in particular for the long-term unemployed and young people not in employment, education or training. (…)
Croatia: Provide appropriate up- and re-skilling measures to enhance the employability of the working-age population, with a focus on the low-skilled and the long-term unemployed. (…)
Cyprus: Enhance the capacity of the public employment services and their provision to the long-term unemployed; improve outreach to the non-registered unemployed. (…)
Portugal: Ensure the effective activation of the long term unemployed and improve the coordination between employment and social services. (…)
Slovakia: Improve activation measures for the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups, including individualised services and targeted training. (…)
Relevant text of recital related to CSR:
Bulgaria: While unemployment is gradually improving, there are still important challenges, for example as regards the long-term unemployed and young people not in employment, education or training. Active labour market policies could play a stronger role in helping these groups to access the labour market. The activation of people on social benefits is hindered by the fragmentation of, and limited cooperation between, different agencies delivering benefits and labour market integration services.
Croatia: Long-term unemployment rates have fallen recently but are still about twice the EU average. Participation in lifelong learning remains very low, due to an underdeveloped adult education system.
Cyprus: The labour market started recovering in 2015, but unemployment remains high. In particular, youth and long-term unemployment are a source of concern. Some measures have been taken in the areas of active labour market policies and public employment services. However, the latter still lack the capacity to meet demand, to deliver quality job-search assistance and counselling and to reach out to the non-registered unemployed. Plans to strengthen the administrative capacity of the public employment services, including specialisation of and an increase in the number of counsellors directly serving customers' needs, have been delayed
Portugal: absorbing the large pool of long-term unemployed remains a challenge, negatively affecting economic growth and the social situation. There is room for further activation of the long-term unemployed, through targeted labour market policies and enhanced coordination among employment and social services.
Slovakia: The rate of long-term unemployment continues to be one of the highest in the EU (7.6% vs. 4.3% in the EU as a whole in the third quarter of 2015). It particularly affects marginalised Roma, the low-skilled and young people.
Background information on European Semester
The implementation of the EES - supported by the work of the Employment committee - involves the following four steps of the European Semester:
Employment guidelines are common priorities and targets for employment policies proposed by the Commission, agreed by national governments and adopted by the EU Council.
The Joint employment report (JER) is based on (a) the assessment of the employment situation in Europe (b) the implementation of the Employment Guidelines and (c) an assessment of the Scoreboard of key employment and social indicators. It is published by Commission and adopted by the EU Council.
The Commission publishes a series of Country reports, analysing Member States' economic policies and issues Country-specific recommendations.
National Reform Programmes (NRPs) are submitted by national governments and analysed by the Commission for compliance with Europe 2020.
In this process, the issue of long-term unemployment became more prominent in 2015, so the European Commission proposed a specific initiative aimed at providing guidance to MS on integrating the LTU into the labour market. The Council of the EU (MS) agreed on the proposed Recommendation on 15 February 2016.

9. PROGRAMMING AND RE-PROGRAMMING
In case OPs require specific targets or adaptations, the Commission could consider favourably a reallocation and re-programming of funding to support the recommendation's implementation.
Aligning programmes with challenge identified in the CSRs and using the monitoring mechanisms of the programmes…
Full text of guidance fiche:
Member states can use resources available in the relevant Investment Priorities in the existing OPs. Should the allocation within the OPs require specific targets or adaptations, the Commission could consider favourably a reallocation and re-programming of funding to support the recommendation's implementation. Similarly, re- programming should be requested by a Member State in the case of a Member State receiving a new CSR related to the scope of the LTU recommendation.
It would be useful to recall that re-programming would be at the initiative of the Member State and would require a Commission decision. Where discussed and agreed beforehand, the Commission could facilitate such a request with a prompt adoption. Beyond this, the Commission will make sure that Programmes are aligned with the challenge identified in the CSRs on the issue and use the monitoring mechanisms of the programmes (in particular the Monitoring Committees) to verify that the interventions do tackle the LTU challenges.

10. IMPLEMENTATION
Whilst staying within the limits of the regulatory framework, MS could propose specific selection criteria that may help in addressing some of the requirements of the Council Recommendation.
For example: calls for proposals under IPs 8i, 8ii and 9i could include selection criteria embedded in organisational partnerships, such as employment and social services, but also with employers, social partners, and training providers and establishing a single point of contact for facilitating access to services, measures and benefits.
Full text of guidance fiche:
Whilst staying within the limits of the regulatory framework, Member States could however consider the possibility of proposing specific selection criteria that could help in addressing some of the requirements of the Council Recommendation. For instance, when a Member State issues calls for proposals under IPs 8i, 8ii and 9i they could devise the selection criteria in a manner that enables them to ensure that projects are fully embedded in organisational partnerships, such as employment and social services, but also with employers, social partners, and training providers. This embedding in organisational partnerships could also aim at already establishing a single point of contact for facilitating access to services, measures and benefits. Such a criterion would ensure, amongst others, that the services provided better meet the needs of enterprises and registered long-term unemployed persons, in line with the spirit of the Council Recommendation.
This is just one example. The Commission is open to further discussions and exchange of ideas and experiences at meetings of the upcoming ESF Committee or national Monitoring Committees as appropriate.

11. Points for reflection…
How may the ESF (in your MS): Increase coverage, ensure continuity and coordination between relevant services, increase the effectiveness of interventions aimed at both long-term unemployed and employers?
How can selection criteria for calls be best devised to ensure that projects are fully embedded in organisational partnerships? Any experiences in this regard?