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Funding: some solutions for matching
policy commitments with resources
The European Social Fund
Dominique Bé
Second meeting of the National Roma Contact Points
7 March 2013, Brussels
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European Social Fund 2007-13
Key principles
• Europe 2020 financial instrument
• 7 year financial framework
ESF
• +/- €10 bn / year
• +/- 10% EU budget
ERDF +
Cohesion
Fund
• co-financing  85%
• tripartite governance
• shared management
other EU
spending
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ESF allocations by priority (2007-13)
institutional
capacity
3%
partnerships Other
4%
1%
adaptability of
workers &
enterprises
18%
social inclusion
13%
access to
employment
28%
human capital
33%
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Countries with large Roma populations did
not allocate “proportionate” ESF in 2007
% ESF allocated to fight poverty (2007-2013)
30%
20%
10%
0%
FR IE AT UK BE DE MT FI RO CY PL SK CZ LU EL HU IT NL LV ES PT SI LT SW BG EE DK
5
ESF reality turned out worst than planned in
countries with large Roma populations
% ESF 2007-2013 envelopes actually paid to
countries
(at end 2012)
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
LV IE AT EE PT FI UK LT PL ES DE BE LU SI IT SW FR NL CY EL DK HU SK BG MT CZ RO
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Why ?
 lack of political will
 reluctance of majority population to invest in fighting poverty
 lack of capacity
 central administration
 potential beneficiaries (NGOs, local authorities)
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What impact on the ground ?
 lack of reliable data but empirical evidence of
little impact on unemployment & poverty among Roma
limited “soft” outcomes (basic employability skills, self
confidence, interpersonal skills, etc.)
 lack of sustainability when EU funding stops
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How to do it better next time
 no one-approach fits all situations … integrated approaches do
 education + employment + health + housing + services
 national + EU funds
 job-seekers + families
 in a desegregated way
 in cooperation with local authorities & NGOs (small grants)
 vocational training (construction, care, etc.)
 personalised support rather than one-off measures
 job placements [but challenge of transition to “real” jobs]
 self-employment schemes
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How to design & implement funding
 aim at mainstreaming (beyond pilot projects)
 explicit but not exclusive (not to alienate majority population)
 consistency between funding & policies