91998E0417

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0417/98 by Freddy Blak (PSE) to the Commission (24 February 1998)

Subject: Combating unemployment

What EU funds are used to combat unemployment in the trade sector, broken down by area?

Which Directorates-General administer the funds, and what is the basis for assessing the priority to be given to the projects submitted?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (6 May 1998)

The European social fund (ESF) is the Community's main tool for developing human resources and improving the workings of the labour market throughout the Community. It is not sectoral in its approach, but covers a broad range of activities aiming to improve the employability of people on the local labour market by training them to fill the jobs available or by giving them access to new employment opportunities. Local authorities may, however, within the agreed Community support framework and in accordance with the ESF regulation propose specific programmes that favour local employment development in a specific sector. More than half of the amounts dedicated from the ESF to human resources development during 1994-1999 are spent on measures generally aimed at those excluded or exposed to exclusion from the labour market, but it is not possible to break these overall figures down by sector.

While the ESF is instrumental for enabling people with different points of attachment to the labour market to maintain or improve their employability, other structural funds like the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund (EAGGF), the Financial instrument for fisheries guidance (FIFG) and the European regional development fund (ERDF) underpin and develop employment opportunities through investments in infrastructure and capacity building as well as through investment in rural areas and on farms. The criteria used for determining the nature of projects eligible for support from the structural funds are put forward in accompanying guidelines, most recently in the context of the mid-term review ((Community Structural Assistance and Employment, COM(96)109 final. Note for Guidance concerning operations in the declining industrial areas (Objective 2) for the second programming period 1997-1999 of 29.4.1996. Priorities for the adjustment of Structural Funds programmes to the end of 1999 - Commission Guidelines of 30.5.1997. )).