SPECIAL REPORT No 22/98 concerning the management by the Commission of the implementation of measures to promote equal opportunities for women and men accompanied by the replies of the Commission (Pursuant to Article 188c (4), second subparagraph, of the EC Treaty) (98/C 393/02)

INTRODUCTION

1. The European Parliament's discharge resolution for the year 1995 requested the Court 'to publish a special report covering mainstreaming and measures to promote equal opportunities`. This report examines the implementation by the Commission (DG V) of the training and other measures taken by the EU to enhance equal opportunities (EO) for women. The topic was last examined by the Court in 1992 (1). Two observations made in that report concerning the coordination of the monitoring committees for NOW and the Mainstream ESF and slow national payment procedures have not been satisfactorily resolved. The Commission has resolved three other matters and has informed the Court that it is currently following up the remaining observations in partnership with the Member States.

2. There are three main areas of Community activity on 'equal opportunities`:

- The 'Mainstream ESF`, through which the Commission seeks to integrate promotion of equal opportunities into all co-financed measures in the realm of professional training. Programme management is carried out in partnership with the Member States but the Member States are responsible for deciding priorities, selecting projects and monitoring them.

- The NOW part of the 'Employment` Community Initiative, through which the Commission also aims to promote equal opportunities at work through training, but with two additional features: priority is given to measures favouring the creation of posts with good prospects and managerial posts, and project managers have an obligation to work with at least one partner from another European Union country. In this case selection and management of the projects continue to be carried out at Member State level, but the priorities are set at the Community level.

- The Community equal opportunities programme, which goes beyond the confines of the labour market. It aims to encourage an exchange of information and good practice between Member States in all the areas where promotion of equal opportunities is still necessary. Here, the Commission carries out the selection and management of the projects.

The budgetary importance of EO

3. There are no comprehensive figures available which indicate the total annual spending specifically to promote EO under all expenditure headings. The total European Social Fund (ESF) programmed expenditure for the Community support framework 1994-1999 (CSF 2) is ECU 48 500 million (at 1997 prices), Commission data (2) indicates that women's participation in training measures under objectives 1, 3 and 4 varies by Member State between 15 % and 66 %. About ECU 500 million is dedicated to the Community Initiative (CI) Employment-NOW (3) for EO measures. In addition to the ESF, a further ECU 30 million has been allocated by the Council for an EO Action Programme (1996-2000) (hereafter referred to as the EO programme).

Women in the labour market

4. The unemployment rate for women in the EU is higher than that for men. While women represent 42 % (4) of the 170 million labour force (5), 49 % of the 18 million unemployed in the European Union are women (6). The average rate of unemployment is 10,6 %, which is made up by 9,2 % of the male labour-force and 12,5 % of the female labour-force. However, these rates of unemployment must be treated with caution, as they tend to understate the true level of female unemployment, as women seeking employment do not always register as unemployed (7). In addition, women are more affected by long-term unemployment than men and the rate of unemployment for young women is increasing (8).

5. Since the inception of the Treaty of Rome, it has been recognised that specific provisions were needed to combat the particular disadvantages that women suffer on the labour market. For example, maternity compels them to stop their employment and their reintegration can sometimes be difficult. A sizeable proportion of women seeking employment are in the particularly disadvantaged group of single mothers (9). Thus both Member States and the EU have developed policies to assist in EO.

6. The Council has underlined this (10) and, at the Luxembourg summit on employment (11), set out two main guidelines on EO for women:

a) to reduce the divergence of rates of unemployment between men and women,

b) to increase care for children and the elderly, which is frequently the responsibility of women.

SCOPE OF THE AUDIT

7. The framework regulation of the Structural Funds (12) stipulates that they should respect the principle of equal opportunities between men and women. ESF should contribute in particular to promoting EO on the labour market. The present report examines EO in the ESF mainstream operational programmes, the Community Initiative Employment - NOW and the EO programme (carried out directly by the Commission). It is based on audits carried out in Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. A total of 79 projects(of which 67 concerned women only projects) were audited, the total value was ECU 21,0 million of which ECU 9,8 million was financed by the ESF or the EO programme.

SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS

8. The Court found that the Commission needs to improve the overall strategy as regards EO and increase the effectiveness of evaluation in order to see how the results obtained matched the original aims (see paragraphs 11-22) (13). National cofinancing is not systematically provided to meet the full cost of the care of dependants and for transport to and from the training course, which adversely affects the participation of women in training actions (see paragraphs 23-25).

9. The Employment-NOW CI requires a transnational element. The Commission did not issue sufficient guidance on the extent to which it should feature in the projects until late 1997 and the chance of identifying and promulgating best practice has suffered (see paragraphs 33-41). Transnationality under the EO programme is not well-defined and its application should be improved (see paragraphs 66-67). Indeed, the effectiveness of the EO programme in its present state is questionable, as most of the projects dealing with the labour market could have been undertaken under NOW or as pilot projects under the mainstream ESF.

10. There were weaknesses in the management and control of the projects (see paragraphs 45-50 and 52-53). Delays in funding by Member States and the Commission for NOW and for the EO programme adversely affected the implementation of projects (see paragraphs 28-32 and 68-70). There is a need to improve the delivery of technical assistance (TA) under NOW (see paragraphs 42-44). The management and implementation of the TA contract has been weak (see paragraphs 54-65).

MAINSTREAM ESF OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Lack of strategy for equal opportunities

11. The structural fund framework regulation lays down certain requirements with regard to EO (14). The way in which EO should be implemented under the various ESF measures has however not been defined in detail. There has not been sufficient guidance from the Commission on how EO are to be applied in mainstream vocational training and allied activities. Thus, a series of overall objectives such as employment levels, reintegration rates, target economic sectors and priority groups e.g. single mothers, has not been set, nor as a consequence has the Commission clearly set out the means that should be used in achieving each of them including the funding required. The absence of overall strategy is demonstrated by the lack of systematic consultation between the Commission's geographical units and the EO Unit. Such consultation would have helped to ensure that the implementation of EO policy objectives was monitored and adapted where necessary. However, two important steps were taken by the Commission albeit with some delay. In February 1996, two years after the present CSF commenced, the Commission issued a communication on how monitoring and evaluating the results of EO in ESF actions might be developed (15); in October 1997 a guide (16) was issued to Commission managers on how to assess whether EO had been taken into account in the various measures, but the Commission did not ensure its use, although its report of March 1998 (17) states that the guide could constitute a useful tool for Commission officials. The evaluation reports on mainstream ESF presented by Member States did not always contain an examination of EO and, due to the delays in producing evaluations, were not available for ESF planning until the latter half of 1997.

12. In Member States there were also weaknesses in ensuring that EO were systematically applied. In the United Kingdom, 'the Equal Opportunities Commission`, monitors the application of EO legislation, but it is not a member of the Objective 3 monitoring committee and was not invited to participate when the 1994-1996 Objective 3 Single Programming Document (SPD) was written. One strand of the SPD (known as pathway 4) provides for targeted measures to help achieve EO for men and women. Use of appropriations for this measure in 1994 and 1995 was about 30 % below the figures planned in the SPD, which is the main vehicle for ESF delivery in Great Britain. The mid-term evaluation report does not include an assessment of pathway 4. In addition, there have been no ESF evaluation reports specifically on EO.

13. Under the United Kingdom government's Training for Work and Youth Training programmes which are supported by the ESF, facilities such as child-care, or financial allowances to cover the cost, had not been systematically provided so trainees had to find other assistance in order to attend training courses. The United Kingdom government took steps in 1998 to improve this situation.

14. In the Member States EO measures are laid down in most ESF objectives and CIs and are managed by different organisations. Neither the Commission nor the Member States have made an overall assessment of their results to ensure coordination. Without such information they cannot assess the cost-effectiveness of the funds allocated, nor the value of mainstreaming them in ESF programmes.

15. There were no systematic consultations between Member States' officials responsible for EO and the Commission's EO unit. This has meant that there has not been a full exchange of views and experiences at EU level - a key element in assisting EO delivery and helping to ensure a systematic follow-up of the plans set out in the programming documents. Indeed, the Advisory Committee on EO has requested increased consultation on EO matters.

16. The Court has in the past identified a lack of coordination between different monitoring committees (18). While the Commission has taken steps to improve this, there were no systematic exchanges of information between the committees responsible for EO actions under NOW and under the mainstream ESF. There continues to be a need to improve coordination between monitoring committees and between the administrations responsible for approval and control.

17. CSF 2 commenced without any overall guidance from the Commission on the implementation of EO. It was not until three years later on 1 October 1997 that the Commission issued a Communication (19) which indicated that 'Specific strategies should be developed to promote entrepreneurship among women to improve their employability and adaptability and to take into consideration the particular labour market situation of women` (20).

18. A Commission document (21) estimates that, during the period 1994-1999, ECU 785 million (which represents 1,6 % of expenditure) will be spent on ESF EO projects such as counselling, guidance and training organised for women. However the percentage of ESF funding spent on these specific measures varies considerably from Member State to Member State (22). Indeed, while the Commission's first annual report (1996) on EO for women (23) states that it is necessary to implement specific actions, it does not give statistics on the principal categories of women who require these specific actions (an absence of statistical information that is also evident in the EO programme), nor the finances that should be devoted to them. This basic weakness of lack of data has also been identified by the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee (24) and is confirmed by the Commission's Communication of March 1998 (25). The Commission has stated in the accompanying explanatory memorandum to its proposal for the next programming period (2000 onwards) that the ESF percentage dedicated to EO measures for women should be at least 15 % as an indicative target (26). However, the Court has not been able to find any detailed basis for this target percentage, which appears optimistic, given the large increase over the current spending levels under CSF 2.

19. The Commission's report on EO does not analyse the differences between Member States statistics. For example, why in some Member States the rate of female unemployment is much higher than that of men, (80 % higher in Spain, 65 % higher in Belgium and 40 % higher in Austria), whereas in Sweden and in the United Kingdom it is lower (27).

20. The impact of the case law of the Court of Justice (The 1995 Kalenke Case) (28) on how far positive actions for EO for the under-represented sex may be pursued are frequently not understood by the persons responsible for EO in the Member States. In addition, the potential impact of the Treaty of Amsterdam (29) in relation to EO has still to be fully examined. On 27 January 1998, a seminar held by the European Parliament Committee on Women's Rights confirmed the existence of uncertainties concerning EO measures (30). The Commission should give guidance so that the uncertainty with regard to positive actions is removed.

Absence of overall evaluation

21. The implementation of EO has not been systematically examined by the monitoring committees or by the Commission. The first annual report of the Commission on EO does not contain an analysis of the number of projects undertaken, the number of participants and the results. Indeed, the Commission could not carry out a meaningful study due to the absence of mid-term evaluation reports for the Objective 3 OPs for several Member States. By the end of 1997 there had been no overall (EU) analysis of the results of EO measures for the period 1994-1996. A similar problem was identified by the Court in its previous audit (31). However, a number of mid-term evaluation reports, for example, the Objective 3 OP of Bavaria, Germany (1994-1999) (32), provide a detailed analysis of the actions for women, the number of female participants and the reintegration rates. While there are few indications of the overall strategy, the Bavarian report shows that it is possible to produce meaningful data on EO implementation and that projects for the reintegration of women had a higher success rate than those for men.

22. In Greece, there are limited statistics on women seeking work, as the employment centres have not been set up as planned in the OPs. As a consequence there has been no examination of the training etc. needs of women, or whether their needs have been met by the training provided. Thus, there was little on which to judge the success or otherwise of the measures. Although indicators had been set, no evaluations had been carried out to examine whether these had been achieved. In general there has been no examination of the reliability of the indicators set by the Member States and the system of evaluation is still being developed.

Cofinancing

23. In several Member States (33) the greatest part of national cofinancing is represented by unemployment benefit and social allowances and is not directly linked to the training effort. Although the trainee may receive a small additional amount for training, most of the amount paid has nothing to do with the professional training activity and would be paid in any event as either unemployment pay or social benefit. Thus, the amount of national cofinancing varies from trainee to trainee, depending on their social benefits. This situation, besides reducing the overall amounts available for spending on the training effort, means that national authorities (34) reduce checks on training courses etc., as national funding is not at stake.

24. This cofinancing may have an effect on women's access to EO actions. In several Member States, the unemployment allowances are based on the beneficiary's working history. If a woman has little working history (i.e. is a returner to work) and her husband has a job, she might not be entitled to unemployment and training allowances. Thus, this target group poses additional problems in ensuring that national cofinancing is available.

25. In some Member States (35) the accompanying measures which are necessary for the effective delivery of training, such as childcare and transport to and from home where none is available, are not systematically cofinanced nationally in full. These costs particularly affect women in socially disadvantaged situations; indeed, such funding can make the difference between being able to follow a course or not. In view of their impact on EO measures, the Commission should, in partnership with the Member States, ensure that ESF supported projects receive such key assistance.

EMPLOYMENT-NOW INITIATIVE

Role of Employment-NOW

26. The audit of NOW projects concentrated on the period 1995-1997 of the present CSF, on projects which were due to be completed at the end of 1997 or during 1998.

27. The decisions establishing the national programmes for NOW were made late in 1994, which delayed implementation of the initiative. In addition, due to delays in closing the NOW programmes under the previous period (1990-1993), evaluations of the projects already carried out were in most cases unavailable, adversely affecting the new planning. Continuity was also lacking between the two periods (36). Thus, in France, national technical assistance, financed mainly by the Community budget, stopped for nearly a year due to planning and funding delays which also hindered use of the results of the previous period.

Implementation of NOW

28. The NOW projects audited, particularly in France, suffered payment delays due to slow administrative procedures (37). Contracts started in November or December 1995 received their first payments in October 1997. The training providers said that they had had to take out loans equivalent to one year's funding, with consequent additional costs for the project and some intended to limit their future involvement with NOW.

29. Several projects in Bavaria, Germany, only received final approval from the administration several months after they began. In the meantime the project is carried out on the basis of a temporary approval, itself sometimes issued after the project has started. This creates uncertainty and tends to increase costs, as contractors use external short-term contracts until matters are settled. In order to cope with the delays in funding, which may be as long as five to six months, the Bavarian authorities have created an advance fund for the ESF. Despite this, there are still delays, sometimes of several months, in the payment of the 'advance` to a project.

30. In Italy, in 1995, the selection and final approval of NOW projects took about one year longer than in other Member States. The deadline for submission of projects was 20 June 1995. The projects could not begin or receive funding until the national co-financing had been approved. It was only in April 1996 that provisional approvals were given but with the requirement to reformulate the proposals in order to reduce the amounts requested.

31. All the projects audited in Italy had suffered this problem, which initially led to transnational partnerships being without an Italian partner. Later, when the partnerships had been set up, the non-Italian partners completed their contracts between September and December 1997, thus leaving the Italian partners to finish some months later on their own.

32. There is also a need to ensure that the projects and aspirations match real job opportunities particularly for those trainees who live some distance from centres of employment. This is demonstrated by a United Kingdom project where out of the original 17 trainees on the course only one found a (part-time) job after the course had ended. The total cost of the project was about ECU 364 000, approximately ECU 99 000 of which was ESF cofinancing.

Application of transnationality

33. Transnational partnerships are a condition of the Commission decision which sets out the criteria for projects to be approved under the CI Employment-NOW (38). There are considerable differences between the Member States as regards their training methods, work practices and national policies for the integration of women and for EO. Thus an exchange of experience is valuable. The transnational aspect of NOW aims at facilitating this, but its implementation needs substantial improvement.

34. A transnational partnership is not approved as such. Each Member State approves the project on its own territory, independently of the partnership. None of the original partners of one French project were approved by their national authorities. The current partners who have all been substituted by the Member States have interests in ecology, wind-power, horticulture, rural employment, industrial oil and regional planning, and have little in common with the French partner who deals with home-care and home-help.

35. The preparation for a project in the Netherlands was carried out with the planned partners from Spain, Portugal and Ireland, but the Spanish and Portuguese partners were not selected by their national authorities. Eventually replacement partners were found in France, the United Kingdom and Germany, which altered the balance of the project and delayed it by 15 months. The United Kingdom technical support agency (39) has estimated that about of the approved British projects (1994-1996) had lost at least one of their original partners.

36. Most Member States do not require a specific percentage to be spent on transnationality, but in France it must be between 15 and 20 % of the budget of the project. It was not until late 1997 that the Commission issued guidance on the implementation of transnationality. Ideally there should be an exchange of contracts between partners showing the responsibilities of each and the amounts budgeted. This is not done and, at present, the budgets of each partner are not exchanged between the Member States or the partners, which has led to problems of coordination in projects and may lead to a waste of funds. It would also allow an informed assessment of the success or otherwise of transnationality.

37. NOW transnational partnerships do not have a leader or person responsible for the management of each transnational partnership. This weakness may also lead to waste. The projects audited in the Member States showed weaknesses such as a lack of clear guidance on coordination; partners did not link up with each other and training was not completed as planned. Thus the expected results were not achieved.

38. An analysis made by the Court shows a tendency to choose partners from neighbouring countries. In order that the widest possible experiences can be shared between the Member States and best practice disseminated, the Commission and the EU TA agency should actively encourage partnerships accross the whole of the EU (40). To date this has not been done.

39. A large part of the expenditure on the transnationality element of NOW projects relates to travel and subsistence and the cost of receiving partners, including interpretation expenses. But there are no clear rules as to what expenses may be claimed and by which partner, particularly with regard to reception and interpretation expenses. Such uncertanties should be removed by setting out EU rules. For example, if transnational expenditure is claimed, the Commission might require that evidence be produced (by way of a certificate, etc.) so that the other partners will not make a claim for the same expenditure. In addition, the Commission should carry out transnational checks on project partners. No such checks had been made on NOW expenditure by the Commission by the end of 1997 (41).

40. Work carried out in preparing a project proposal prior to its submission is ineligible for reimbursement. Project managers (promoters) sometimes, therefore, attempt to allocate costs for the preparation of new project proposals to other projects. In France, in 1996, the cost of preparing and submitting a proposal, under another programme (Leonardo), was charged to a NOW project. Similarly, in Greece the preparation of other projects had also been funded by a NOW project. This indicates a failure to check projects properly.

41. Certain aspects of transnationality are uncertain such as copyright ownership, the right to produce and benefit financially from the products of the cooperation and the right or the duty to disseminate results.The Commission should clarify these aspects, as the uncertainty hampers efficient dissemination of the results of cooperation.

Technical assistance (TA)

42. TA under the NOW Programme comprises national support agencies in each Member State and EU TA provided by an agency in Brussels. A review by the Court of the operation of the EU TA agency (for NOW) showed that management has improved as experience has been gained. However, for the period 1994-1996, no list was available of the projects approved in the Member States until March 1996 (42).

43. The Commission should reinforce and fully develop the system to ensure that as wide a use is made as possible of the results obtained. Successful projects should be considered for mainstreaming, i.e. wider application within the ESF. The projects audited were not required to include and budget for these aspects. The Court believes that they should be included. The absence of a project leader means that it is much harder to sum up and exploit the results. In addition several projects did not contain details on how the results would be disseminated.

44. In France and the Netherlands the project promoters audited were largely unaware of the type of assistance that their national or regional support agency could provide, preferring to address themselves directly to their own contact organisations abroad.

Audit findings in the Member States

45. The ESF Regulation permits actions to modernise vocational training systems. In Italy, two of the five NOW projects audited aimed at improving certain training agencies. Women did not benefit directly from the aid granted. The national representatives stated that such financing was not unusual and was aimed at increasing the rate of consumption of appropriations, as projects for training agencies' employees were faster to programme and carry out than training activities for the reintegration of women. The Commission should undertake a close scrutiny of such use of NOW funds.

46. In another NOW project the target group was 135 female municipal administrators. The ESF eligibility of this action for EO in local authorities is questionable as it was not in an objective 1 region. Furthermore, as the trainees were neither unemployed nor threatened by unemployment they would appear ineligible. The Commission stated in its reply to paragraph 7.26 of the Court's 1996 Annual Report, that the ESF financing in Sweden of training for public-sector employees was an exception. This point has not yet been satisfactorily resolved in the new eligibility criteria. The Commission should take a clear and EU-wide stance on this matter.

47. One French project, costing ECU 318 000 including ECU 143 000 ESF support aimed at helping women, with little or no education, to create their own small businesses. Thirty hours of guidance and counselling were planned on a modular basis for each trainee. Although 30 hours is most unlikely to be sufficient for the participants to learn about local legislation, recruitment, personnel, industrial accidents, taxation, accounting, insurance, etc., few trainees completed all modules. Most did, however, take part in a week's stay in Spain or Italy financed by the project. Such poor planning may lead to a waste of funds.

48. Under one NOW project in Spain (total project cost ECU 40 000) the Chamber of Commerce was providing advice and information to women wishing to start up or improve their own businesses. It was unaware that the regional authorities nearby were funding a similar project (total cost ECU 110 000) under their Objective 1 OP. Liaison between the two projects would have improved quality and efficiency.

49. There have also been examples of improper claims. The expenditure on one Spanish project included the full purchase cost of computer equipment of ECU 11 500, whereas only depreciation of about ECU 4 000 should have been charged. The French project mentioned above could not provide supporting documents or explanations for hotel expenses and allowances charged to the project and travel expenses were claimed twice.

50. Eleven of the 17 national mid-term evaluation reports on the CI employment (including NOW), were prepared by mid-1997. At the time of the audit (late 1997 and early 1998) reports were still unavailable for Italy and Greece. However, interim results were discussed by monitoring committees and this, together with reports on technical assistance (which were completed on time) compensated in some measure for the delays in production of some of the national mid-term reports. In October 1997, using the data available, the Commission produced a draft report on EO for discussion with Member States and a final version was published in June 1998. The delays of some Member States in producing their mid-term reports are regrettable in view of the problems identified by the Court, particularly in respect of transnationality.

THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAMME 1996-2000

51. The Court's audit found that there was no identifiable difference between EO programme projects and ESF actions, particularly under Employment NOW or as pilot projects under the mainstream ESF. This leads to problems of coordination and calls into question the value of carrying out such projects separately under this programme. The Court found weaknesses in some of the projects particularly in relation to transnationality, and, although management was expensive, the control of projects needed to be strengthened.

Management of the programme

52. The programme is supervised by the Commission with the assistance of a management committee. There are 18 members who are national officials, a Commission chairperson and a secretary. In addition to this, there is an advisory committee on EO (which has a different remit from that of the management committee), of 46 members and 23 observers. Both committees hold regular meetings in Brussels with consequent costs. Given the number of projects to manage and the policy lines to develop under the EO programme, management would benefit from streamlining and the Commission should undertake a review with the Member States of the two committees.

53. Although the Commission has generally forwarded the information to the management committee one week before the meeting,it is not always in sufficient time for the members to prepare meetings properly.

Provision of technical assistance

54. The Commission has contracted out the day-to-day operational management of the EO programme including management and financial monitoring of projects. The payment appropriations for the EO programme are approximately ECU 6,5 million per year. The TA contract which is the only activity of the EU TA agency (43) costs each year ECU 3,1 million, ECU 1,2 million of which is for staff and administrative expenditure. This is out of proportion to the funds being managed. (The balance of ECU 1,9 million is for dissemination, seminars, etc.).

55. Budget line B3-4012 which covers the operational expenditure for the EO programme sets a maximum amount of ECU 1,75 million to cover expenditure on studies, meetings of experts, conferences and congresses, information and publications directly linked to the achievement of the objective of the action of which they form an integral part, excluding expenditure concerning the management of these actions or general administration. The total commitments made directly by the Commission for the above-mentioned actions in 1997 were ECU 1 386 526. However, in addition to these commitments, there was a commitment to the EU TA agency of ECU 1 509 396, which was also used for those activities of the programme. The ECU 1,75 million budgetary limit was thus exceeded by approximately ECU 1,1 million.

56. The contract was audited by the Commission in June 1997. Follow-up action was undertaken in order to solve the various points raised but some matters such as weaknesses in sub-contracts with experts, non-transparent selection procedures and flat-rate remuneration, remain.

57. The call for tenders to provide TA was published in the Official Journal. The selected contractor was given a one-year contract renewable four times for one year and a fifth time for six months (total of 5 1/2 years)for a total value of ECU 16,8 million. The terms of the Commission's contract are unclear. As the Commission has itself observed in its own audit, it has contracted to pay up to the amount stated in the contract, but has not set out how the expenditure incurred under the contract is to be calculated. This has led to delays in approving the EU TA agency's claim. In March 1998 the Commission had not determined the amount due for the first year's contract, which ended on 18 July 1997.

58. The management of the programme was partly subcontracted by the EU TA agency itself. A subcontract for 55 000 ECU was signed for the first year of the contract and increased to 164 450 ECU in the second year of the contract with one of the agency's parent companies to provide staff. These contracted amounts were paid by the EU TA agency without invoice and proper supporting evidence from the parent company justifying the time spent by its staff on behalf of the EU TA agency. The Commission has informed the Court that it has taken steps to require proper supporting evidence in future.

59. The first contract between the Commission and the selected contractor was signed on 19 July 1996 appointing the contractor as the EU TA agency. The same day the manager of the newly appointed agency signed a contract for 31 500 FF per month to employ a coordinator of the agency and the latter signed a contract with the manager of the agency to provide management services for 85 000 ECU p.a. There are clear financial risks in contract arrangements of this type. The Court recommends that such contracts should be signed by the supervisory board of the EEIG.

60. For the first year of the coordinator's employment contract, mentioned above, the difference between the amount in ECU in the EU TA agency's contract with the Commission, and the amount stated in French francs in the employment contract with the agency was paid after the contractual period. This payment was made to the parent company which employed the coordinator in the second year and not to the individual concerned.

61. Other persons received contracts from the EU TA agency to perform duties. They were paid gross amounts, unsupported by an invoice or other satisfactory evidence of the work performed.

62. As part of its financial monitoring of the projects the EU TA agency checks the final declarations of expenditure and forwards them to the Commission for approval. The overall amount is then paid to the EU agency to forward to each contractor. In January 1998 the Commission had not set up effective systems for making final payments. Most of the 68 projects had been closed on 30 June 1997. It was only on 16 December that the Commission received from the EU TA agency a payment claim in respect of 28 projects. Only 13 projects had been paid by 1 April 1998. These delays were due to inefficient management, as the Commission only pays the EU agency once all project claims have been received and approved.

63. There has been no EU evaluation of the results of projects. Evaluation was limited to 'self-evaluation` by the contractor as part of the final report submitted in July 1997.

64. The EU TA agency was also involved in the selection of 12 study contracts on various subjects (from about 100 applicants) financed under the EO programme. A French university professor who was responsible for the study under one of the contracts had been, until one year before the contract was signed, a member of the board of one of the two associations which cofounded the EU TA agency. In that particular case the EU TA agency should have declared an interest. Although the contract was with a French University the payments were made directly to that person.

65. At the request of the Commission, the EU TA agency also contracted a number of EO and legal experts for a total of ECU 365 000. The payments were made in stages according to the terms of the contracts, without an invoice or equivalent financial evidence. In addition, some payments were made to the experts themselves, rather than the University or other body that had contracted to provide the expertise.

Transnationality

66. The fifteenth recital of the Council Decision instituting the EO programme states that 'it is important . . . to promote a partnership between . . . non-governmental organisations`. Indeed, the main justification for an EU programme managed by the Commission is the transnational aspect, as it is the only distinguishing feature between projects under this programme and pilot projects under mainstream ESF (44). However, the majority of the EO programme projects audited do not identify each partner's responsibilities and the allocation of the project budget. The Commission could have used the implementing power allocated to it (45) to lay down the appropriate rules.

67. The transnational dissemination of information is an important aim of the programme; this is confirmed by the descriptions of the projects. However, the EO programme projects checked in the Member States showed that the amounts devoted to distribution were insufficient and disproportionate when compared with other expenditure. Without the distribution of results, the investment in projects is largely wasted as the impact is minimal.

Management of projects by the EU TA agency

68. At the beginning of the TA contract, the EU TA agency often did not reply to questions sent by contractors or was late in providing guidance. Such delays may adversely affect the successful implementation of projects by contractors. This situation has improved as the EU TA agency has gained experience of the project management.

69. The contracts issued for projects by the agency started on 1 October 1996, but had often been signed in December 1996 or January 1997. Sometimes signatures were undated. Commission representatives have said that owing to time constraint, the back-dating of contracts was necessary as otherwise the annual appropriations might not have been spent. This is clearly irregular. The uncertainty for contractors meant that they could not commit themselves and the projects were delayed as a consequence.

70. A three month delay in starting a German project, due to the late signing of a contract, affected its efficiency and, at the time of the audit, at the beginning of 1998, other Member States were unaware of the results although a similar project was being run in the Netherlands. In such circumstances there is a risk of waste of EU funds.

71. There has been a lack of long-term planning. The European network IRIS, created by the Commission's second Programme (1988-1992), was intended to facilitate links between vocational training bodies and the exchange of expertise on women's training. The Commission ceased supporting IRIS in mid-1995. Similarly the Commission's second and third programmes had co-financed a network listing children's nursery schools, which ceased with the (1996-2000) EO programme. The Commission's third programme also set up a network of EO experts which was discontinued under the EO programme. Even under the current programme lack of long-term planning has led to waste; an internet site which was set up was discontinued in mid-1997 after having incurred expenditure of about ECU 24 600. Thus, in each of these examples the investments yielded little return, (a weakness also noted by the Economic and Social Committee) (46).

72. The audit also found that a consultant was employed under two contracts and was an organiser of another. The texts of the studies carried out show that payments were made for variations of a report on the situation of women. The Commission should examine the risk of multiple financing under the EO programme.

73. Another project was to analyse and publicise the four pages of the Rome Charter on EO. Eight experts were employed yet the contractor was unable to justify their individual roles. A mailing expert and a data-entry expert were paid for five months (ECU 18 000 in total) to enter 2 300 addresses and to prepare the corresponding address labels,- addresses which are already available in at least one other project under the EO programme. In addition, ECU 30 600 were spent on the remuneration of the project leader and the principal manager of the project.

CONCLUSION

74. The Court's audit identified several valuable EO training actions and the Commission has made progress, in partnership with the Member States, in developing and implementing EO policy. However, the implementation of EO policies under the mainstream ESF, Employment NOW and the EO programme has suffered from weaknesses. The Commission should make further efforts in conjunction with the Member States and the partners to meet the political objectives set out in this field and to improve the impact of Community actions.

75. The audit has found that the Commission needs to improve the overall strategy for the development and implementation of EO policy including a failure to identify clear goals and remove legal uncertainties on the extent to which positive action may take place and on copyright.

76. There was insufficient coordination between the Commission's ESF units and the unit responsible for EO. Similarly there was insufficient consultation and guidance between the EO unit and the officials responsible for EO in the Member States. This, taken together with the problems identified in relation to transnationality, has inhibited the transfer of best practice within the EU.

77. While the Commission's initiatives on monitoring and evaluating EO in the mainstream ESF were a useful step forward, their impact was limited by their late issue (in February 1996). Furthermore, the Commission should, in partnership with the Member States ensure that full and reliable data is available for the evaluation of results and the development of EO strategy itself.

78. The audit has demonstrated a number of weaknesses in the design and implementation of projects to assist EO, which at present account for only 1,6 % of ESF expenditure. Care should therefore be taken to ensure that the desired expansion of expenditure to 15 % should be clearly planned and targeted.

79. The Court recommends that the Commission examines the operation of the TA contract for the EO-Programme including a review of the selection procedures and the contractual terms.

This report was adopted by the Court of Auditors in Luxembourg at its meeting of 14 and 15 October 1998.

For the Court of Auditors

Bernhard FRIEDMANN

President

(1) Annual Report of the Court concerning the financial year 1991, Chapter 8.

(2) Commission Monitoring and Evaluation Unit DG V report by a consultant entitled 'Methodology paper for the evaluation of the provision for EO between Men and Women in ESF interventions.` Forwarded to the Court on 18 May 1998.

(3) The acronym NOW is formed from New Opportunities for Women.

(4) Table - Participation of women in the labour market and in ESF interventions Commission publication 'Employment Europe 1997`, p. 33.

(5) Labour force is the sum of those employed and those unemployed.

(6) Eurostat, September 1997.

(7) Commission's first Report (1996) on equal opportunities p. 32-34 and Bavaria, Germany, Objective 3 mid-term evaluation report (ISG Institut 1996, p. 9): 161 000 women were registered unemployed, with a further 40 000-50 000 not registered who were seeking work.

(8) Source: Commission Report by M.C. Lefebvre ESF workshop, Birmingham 26-28 May 1998.

(9) The Objective 3 OP 1994-1996 for the Netherlands and a survey of the Ministry of Labour Bavaria, Germany underline the high percentage of single mothers.

(10) The sixth recital of Council Resolution (OJ C 386, 20.12.1996, p. 1.) 'concerning the integration of the dimension of equal opportunities between men and women within the framework of the European Structural Funds`, recalls that the promotion of equal opportunities on the labour market is a specific task of the ESF. The ninth and eleventh recitals state that it would be advisable to encourage a more active approach; paragraph III.1.c invites the Commission and the Member States to promote equal opportunities in the Structural Funds by integrating it into all actions financed and by implementing specific actions for women.

(11) 21 and 22 November 1997.

(12) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93 of 20 July 1993, Article 7 (OJ L 193, 31.7.1993).

(13) See also the Court's Annual Report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraph 8.39.

(14) Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93 of 20 July 1993, Article 7 : 'measures. . . shall be in conformity with . . . . the principle of equal opportunities between men and women`. Article 3(2): 'the ESF shall . . . . in particular contribute to . . . promoting equal opportunities in the labour market`.

(15) Communication: 'to integrate equal opportunities between women and men in all the Community policies and actions`, paragraph 3, p. 20 (COM (96) 67 final of 21 February 1996).

(16) Commission internal guide to staff.

(17) Progress report of the Commission on the follow-up of the Communication: 'Incorporating EO for women and men into all Community policies and activities`. COM(98) 122 final of 4 March 1998.

(18) The Court's Annual Report concerning the financial year 1995, paragraphs 6.44-6.49.

(19) Communication of 1 October 1997 COM(97) 497 final.

(20) See also the Court's Annual report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraph 8.20.

(21) ESF Info-review No 1, dated February 1997, p. 6.

(22) Commission Monitoring and Evaluation Unit DG V report by a consultant entitled 'Methodology paper for the evaluation of the provision for EO between Men and Women in ESF interventions`. Forwarded to the Court on 18 May 1998, paragraph 2.1.

(23) Adopted by the Commission in 1997.

(24) The resolution of the European Parliament and the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the Commission's First Report on Equal Opportunities for women and men in the European Union - 1996 (OJ C 304, 6.10.1997 and OJ C 296, 29.9.1997 respectively.

(25) Progress report of the Commission on the follow-up of the Communication: 'Incorporating EO for women and men into all Community policies and activities`. COM(98) 122 final of 4 March 1998.

(26) Working document COM(98) 131 of March 1998 and speeches in March/April 1998 by Commissioner Flynn to Parliament and Council.

(27) Eurostat, October 1997.

(28) Training measures envisaging specific advantages for women can be taken to ensure full equality.

(29) Article 2 of the Treaty of Amsterdam and new Article 141 in the consolidated text include the aim of equality between men and women in all fields. Articles 1, 3 and 7 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93 of 20 July 1993, mention that EO is a condition of ESF cofinancing.

(30) Commission Report by M.C. Lefebvre ESF workshop Birmingham 26-28 May 1998 states that: 'Hitherto, [i.e. prior to the 1997 Court of Justice jurisprudence] EU action in favour of women had no solid legal basis`.

(31) Court's Annual Report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraphs 8.16 and seq.

(32) The evaluation Report of the Objective 3 OP of Bavaria, Germany (1994-1999), December 1996.

(33) Notably Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands but to a large extent in most Member States.

(34) Notably France and Germany.

(35) This has been identified under some French and German OPs.

(36) A lack of continuity was also noted in the previous audit. See also the Court's Annual Report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraph 8.33.

(37) See also the Court's Annual report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraph 8.8.

(38) Commission Decision No 94/C 180/10 (OJ C 180, 1.7.1994, p. 36.).

(39) ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd.

(40) The Italian national support agency for NOW (ISFOL) stated in its report on transnationality that 'know-how` should be disseminated to Objective 1 regions.

(41) See also the Court's Annual Report concerning the financial year 1996, paragraphs 7.20 - 7.29.

(42) See also the Court's Annual report concerning the financial year 1991, paragraph 8.38, as far as the late provision of technical assistance is concerned.

(43) Anima (European Economic Interest Group - EEIG).

(44) See Article 4(1)(a) of Council Decision 95/593/EC of 22 December 1995, setting up the 1996-2000 fourth medium-term Community action programme on equal opportunities for men and women.

(45) Council Decision 95/593/EEC of 22 December 1995, Article 9.

(46) Progress report of the Commission on the follow-up of the Communication: 'Incorporating EO for women and men into all Community policies and activities`. COM(98) 122 final of 4 March 1998.

REPLIES OF THE COMMISSION

INTRODUCTION

Women in the labour market

6. In addition to the two recommendations mentioned by the Court, the Council had a third aim: to facilitate the reintegration of women and men in the labour market and the advancement of their careers after an inactive period.

SUMMARY OF OBSERVATIONS

8.

- Equal opportunities for women and men have been a political priority at Community level for a number of years. Activities in the area of equal opportunities involve legal measures (e.g. provisions in the Treaty of Amsterdam, Directives, Communications by the Commission), administrative measures (e.g. Inter-service Group on equal opportunities, Group of gender mainstreaming officials, both with the participation of all Commission services), development of tools (e.g. a model Guide to gender impact assessment, an instrument for evaluation of the equal opportunities impact of the Structural Funds operations) accompanied by a very active information policy throughout the European Union. Particularly the implementation of the mainstreaming approach (1) has led to a visibly broadened presence of equal opportunities on the Community's agenda (Employment guidelines, proposal for a reform of the Structural Funds),

- Both ESF and the EO community programmes have regulatory evaluation requirements. Evaluations are being carried out accordingly, including for the EO Community programme. As to available results, there are of course the results of previous programmes (Third EO programme, thematic evaluation for the ESF in 1993). For results on current programmes, the only evaluation completed is the ESF mid-term evaluation completed in March 1998. The Commission has compiled an overview of the results on equal opportunity issues (2),

- The measures to accompany training activities mentioned by the Court (transport, childcare, etc.) are eligible for support under the ESF. In a few cases, the hourly rates for vocational training do not include accompanying measures such as childcare. The Commission, like the Court, thinks that they should.

9. In the case of NOW projects, only those which found at least one partner in another Member State could finally be approved. The guide mentioned by the Court covers practical implementation of the principle of transnationality. It contains practical examples and guidelines and was widely distributed to project promoters by the national support structures.

In the case of the Community action programme, Article 4 of the Council Decision is complemented by the annex which gives a more detailed description of the eligible activities as well as the transnationality requirement of these activities. Accordingly, the added value of the programme lies in the identification and exchange of information and experience on good practice in the field of equal opportunities for men and women. To qualify for support under the programme, actions must, among others things, present added value at European Union level, i. e. permit transnational exchanges. In addition, the concept of transnationality is also described and explained in the text of the call for proposals, which is published in the Official Journal, as well as in the guidelines sent to applicants with the application form (see annexes, section III of the call for proposals, section II of the guidelines).

The range of application of the Community action programme for equal opportunities is much wider than that of the ESF. Projects promoting equal opportunities outside the labour market can be cofinanced only by this programme. Its added value is thus obvious.

10.

- The timetable for allocating appropriations to project promoters differs depending on whether the projects come under NOW or the Community action programme for equal opportunities. In the first case, the Commission is responsible for implementing programmes rather than projects, so the funds are channelled through the Member States, drawing out the payment process and possibly causing delays at Member State level. In the second case, the Commission manages the projects directly and abides by the timetable for payment (see replies below to the specific points brought up by the Court).

- In the case of NOW, there is a very comprehensive technical assistance set-up, comprising an agency in Brussels, national agencies in each Member State and even regional agencies in some countries. In the case of the Community programme for equal opportunities, a technical assistance set-up tailored to the programme's needs was created. Following an audit by the Commission, the provisions of its contract with the programme's technical assistance agency were amended to improve management.

MAINSTREAM ESF OPERATIONAL PROGRAMMES

Lack of strategy for equal opportunities

11.

- In compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, operational programmes are managed in partnership with the Member States which are primarily responsible for the way in which equal opportunities' policy is implemented,

- There is a real strategy for promoting equal opportunities which is deployed along three main lines: mainstream ESF programmes, the NOW Community initiative and the Community action programme (see general introduction). This three-fold structure requires good coordination,

- In order to provide this, the Commission created a sub-group 'Structural funds and equality` (coming under the purview of the Interservice Group on Equal Opportunities) in 1996, which is made up of representatives of the Structural Funds' geographical units and the unit responsible for equal opportunities. On the other hand, a Guide to gender impact assessment was agreed on 15 September 1997 by the Group of gender mainstreaming officials (3). It was developed as a tool to generally assist Commission services putting into practice the Commission's Communication on 'mainstreaming` equal opportunities into all Commission policies and activities (4). The guide has the status of an unofficial working document and was not targeted specifically to officials in charge of EO activities in the ESF.

- 118 of the 120 mid-term assessment reports were available by the end of 1997. These reports considered the question of equal opportunities, though the majority confined themselves to a quantitative approach (the number of participants in ESF action). In future, more emphasis is to be placed on qualitative analysis, identifying, for example, the factors which put women at a disadvantage in the labour market.

12. As regards mainstreaming activities, the role assigned to the Member States should be taken into account to define practical ways of including the principle of equal opportunities in operational programmes and to designate the players authorised to sit on the monitoring committees.

As far as the implementation of Priority 4 is concerned, the Commission was aware of the difficulties in this area. It had raised the issue at numerous monitoring committees in order to focus efforts towards dealing with the problem. There was significant progress over the course of the SPD. The Commission continues to watch this area of implementation within the current SPD very carefully to ensure a full and appropriate use of the priority.

The United Kingdom authorities recently undertook a thematic assessment of equal opportunities, the results of which are expected at the beginning of autumn 1998.

14. As the programmes mentioned above are still in progress, no final conclusions as to their implementation can be drawn.

15. Regular consultations between officials responsible for EO in Member States and the Commission exist in the framework of:

- the Advisory Committee on equal opportunities for women and men is the committee where national EO bodies and the Commission's EO unit meet on a regular basis (5). It is composed of representatives of each Member State, national EO and the social partners. It meets at least three times a year to offer an opinion on the Commission's Communication and on the desirability of Community legislation, thereby offering important advice and guidance to the Commission in an early stage as to whether legislative proposals will possibly be accepted by Member States. A process of partnership with the Member States has been implemented in this way,

- the Management Committee for the implementation of the medium-term Community action programme on equal opportunities for women and men (1996-2000) is composed of representatives of the Member States and meets on a regular basis to discuss the general guidelines for the support to be supplied by the Community (6).

16. The Commission is aware of the problem and will continue its efforts to solve it.

17. The Commission devised ways of raising awareness of equal opportunities' policy which were incorporated in the mainstream ESF operational programmes when these were defined. The principle of equal opportunities therefore featured in the planning documents in two ways: specific measures were devised for groups of women under Objective 3 or 'Human resources` under Objective 1 and the principle of equal opportunities was integrated into every measure in the programmes. In the majority of cases there are specific measures to supplement this mainstreaming approach and these are reserved for the women who are most difficult to integrate into the labour market.

18. The 1.6 % mentioned by the Court represents only the appropriations allocated for specific measures to promote equal opportunities but in most cases these merely supplement mainstreaming activities to promote equal opportunities provided for in the programmes. To assess the total amount allocated for equal opportunities, both approaches pursued by Community policy would have to be taken into account. Statistical data on equal opportunities for women and men is published each year in the Commission 'Annual Report on equal opportunities for women and men in the European Union`. This publication provides a good overview of recent data on the issue. The second edition (corresponding to 1997) was adopted by the Commission on 13th of May last (7). Furthermore, Eurostat publishes regularly in its publication 'Statistics in Focus` recent data on equal opportunities for women and men. In 1997, it published the results of the survey on the structure of earnings (8) which provided interesting data on the gender wage gap. The Commission supports all efforts to enhance the publication of more gender specific data. For this purpose, the Commission would also welcome more statistical information coming from the competent services of the Member States.

19. The Commission publishes each year its Employment in Europe Report, which focuses more specifically on employment trends. It also publishes the report of the group of experts 'Gender and Employment` of the Community action programme in which the labour market is examined in detail.

The factors which can have an impact on the rate of female unemployment in Member States are known and manifold. They are, among others, the sectors of employment, level of education, flexibility in the employment status (full time, part time and atypical employment), care provisions. The annual report on equal opportunities for women and men names and highlights many important key factors of gender gaps on the labour market (particularly in chapters 2 and 3). Nevertheless the wide range of different subjects to be analysed, the unequal quality of existing data coming from the Member States and the limited number of pages of the report do not allow an exhaustive comparative analysis of all factors and subjects.

20. The Commission reacted to the Kalanke ruling of the European Court of Justice by adopting on 27 March 1996 a communication detailing some models of positive action (COM(96) 88 final). Furthermore, the Commission adopted a draft modification (COM (96) 93 final) of Article 2(4) of the Directive 76/207/EEC on equal access to employment, promotion and working conditions, which was the base of the Kalanke ruling. The modification aimed at clarifying that positive action for the underrepresented sex in general was compatible with European law, if the specific circumstances of an individual case were taken into consideration. This draft has been discussed in the European Parliament and in Council, but a decision has not yet been taken.

Absence of overall evaluation

21. Concerning the ESF mainstream programmes, the Commission has made sure that EO is part of the mandates of the programme evaluators appointed by the monitoring committees. This issue has been examined and commented in nearly all the mid-term evaluation reports which have been systematically discussed by Monitoring Committees as illustrated by the Court reference to Bavaria. An overview of the results is provided in 'Conclusions of the ESF mid-term evaluations - Part VI: Equal opportunities between men and women in ESF interventions` of which a first draft was available in October 1997. The first annual report of the Commission on EO should not be considered as an overall evaluation report of the Action Programme or ESF projects.

22. The Greek Employment Agency (OAED) is in the process of setting up specialised centres responsible for active policy to promote employment. This key innovation will no doubt have a positive impact on equal opportunities policy. The Greek human resources operational programmes are also being assessed currently which will enable the questions raised by the Court to be answered.

With regard to the more general question of indicators, the mid-term assessment, which also included an analysis of the monitoring systems, showed that considerable progress had been made with regard to the systematic breakdown of monitoring data for men and women. As regards the results of the assessment proper, the Commission refers to the activities mentioned under 20 and points out that, by their very nature, these are dependent on the specific characteristics of the national context and the ESF activities within each programme. The Commission's summary of the mid-term reports presents the assessors' conclusions on the five major effects of action on the situation of women. Their assessments covered both specific activities and the application of the mainstreaming principle.

Cofinancing

23. The provisions of Article 13(3) of Framework Regulation (EEC) No 2081/93 and Article 17(2) of Coordinating Regulation (EEC) No 2082/93 do not limit the eligible costs to the cost of training. They also include remuneration of beneficiaries of activities eligible for support (Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) No 2084/93). Obviously this is only acceptable as a proportion of the number of hours of vocational training given. For an unemployed person, such remuneration may constitute unemployment benefit or a subsistence allowance.

Moreover, when a project is audited by the national or Community authorities, all expenditure is scrutinised, including remuneration of trainees.

24. Persons eligible for activities cofunded by the ESF may still be entitled to an allowance because they are taking part in a training course, even if they no are longer entitled to unemployment benefit. In a few cases, however, it is true that the promoters may be better off if they give priority to participants receiving unemployment benefit. The Commission will take steps to draw the attention of the Member States concerned to this issue.

25. Accompanying measures are eligible for support under the ESF. In a few cases the hourly cost of vocational training do not include accompanying measures such as childcare. The Commission, like the Court, thinks that they should.

EMPLOYMENT-NOW INITIATIVE

Role of employment-NOW

27. The fact that there is no break between the planning periods and preparations for the 1994-1999 period started before the1990-1993 CIPs ended means that the results of ex-post assessments are not available, since the long-term effects of structural action can only be determined several years after completion. Besides, the results of interim evaluations were available, and, in turn, results of the final evaluation of the 1990-1993 NOW programmes were available in time for the selection of the second round of projects in Employment-NOW in 1997.

In the first planning period in France, each Community Initiative Programme had its own technical assistance agency, the women's rights department being responsible for NOW. For the following period, the French authorities selected a single technical assistance agency for all the CIPs after the CSF had been approved and after putting the contract out for tender. The women's rights department thus withdrew from the programme. The interim period mentioned by the Court was used to present the balances.

Implementation of NOW

28. The Commission made an initial payment to France, equal to 50 % of its total annual budget allocation for the first year of operation of the Initiative, on 29 December 1994.

The Commission acknowledges that the French payment procedures are too slow but points out that when the Court carried out its audit, the beneficiaries of the NOW programme had all received at least one ESF payment (the whole tranche for 1995 and the first advance for 1996).

29. Generally speaking, the projects started after having received final approval from the national authorities.

30. The situation described by the Court does not only apply to NOW. The Commission acknowledges that there were delays in making available national cofunding for the Italian projects cofunded by the ESF in 1994 and 1995 but the situation has since improved.

31. The question of delays in making available national cofunding in Italy has now been resolved (see replies to Chapters 7.54 and 7.57 of the Annual Report of the Court of Auditors on the 1996 budgetary year).

Following a proposal from the Commission, the Member States agreed, for the second NOW round (1997-1999), a common timetable for the various steps of the selection process, including the period for introducing applications, the period for assessment and provisional selection by the Member States, the transnational partner search stage, and final selection. All Member States agreed to apply the agreed timetable, and, with minor exceptions, all succeeded in following the schedule at the same pace.

The main advantage of the common timetable is related to transnationality. Included in the common timetable approach was a commitment by most Member States to allow applicants to indicate a preference for 'intended transnationality` rather than to require them to indicate the identities of their proposed transnational partners in their application forms. Subsequently, during the partner search phase, provisionally-selected projects were given assistance in forming partnerships with other provisionally-selected projects. Thus all second round projects and partnerships began working at approximately the same time.

32. One of the priorities of the Employment Initiative is that Member States' programmes should encourage a co-ordinated approach at local level, by involving all relevant actors. In practical terms, this implies a 'bottom-up` approach which, in turn, implies that the projects grow out of perceived needs at the local level, and are implemented by organisations that are close to the target groups and understand their aspirations.

The Initiative seeks to test innovative methods of delivering training, counselling, guidance and advice, to develop innovative educational materials, networks and activities related to business creation, and to ensure that these innovations are fed into the mainstream. The results of the project in question are not thus limited to the trainees who participated on the course, but to all of those current and future trainees who will benefit from the lessons learned from the project and which assist in the development of labour market policy in the United Kingdom and other Member States.

Application of Transnationality

33. The Commission is aware of the progress which needs to be made in implementing transnationality.

34. The advantage of the partnership mentioned by the Court is to discover how the organisation and the possible scope of application of NOW vary.

35. The Commission was aware of the problems of this type experienced in most Member States during the selection of projects for the first phase of Employment-NOW, and therefore proposed, for the second NOW round (1997-1999), the common timetable and selection procedures detailed in paragraph 31.

36. While transnationality is an essential condition for participation in the programme, it is for each Member State as part of its selection process to ensure that the agreed budget for the project makes sufficient provision for the transnational activities proposed. Each partnership is encouraged to devise a work programme for the transnational cooperation, and to establish the responsibilities of the individual projects for the elements of this work programme. The Commission will step up its efforts to ensure that this becomes standard practice in the Member States. However, it points out that each partner who receives cofunding must give the national selecting authority an account of how the project was completed in physical and financial terms.

37. NOW projects are run by promoters who are, commonly, training institutions or local authorities. As such, they should have a clear organisational structure which provides for clear responsibility for the project.

The working methods of the transnational partnerships between different projects are for the partnership itself to arrange.. Some partnerships have appointed a 'lead` partner, however the Commission believes the fact that such a move must remain the prerogative of the individual partners involved and should not be made compulsory.

38. In a certain number of cases partners are selected on the basis of ensuring smooth communication, it is therefore not wholly surprising to find that projects seek partners in Member States whose language is close to their own, or which are geographically close. Besides, while the technical assistance offers at national and European level attempts to match projects with others working on a similar theme, it is ultimately the individuals themselves who form the partnerships and decide with whom they wish to work.

39. The Commission shares the Court views on the need to define more precisely what expenditure is eligible under transnationality. It is currently considering a new 'form for eligible expenditure` for this purpose.

The Commission has also arrived at the same conclusion as the Court with regard to the need to adopt a new audit method which caters for this type of project. The Commission has thus started, from 1998 onwards, to audit all the partners involved in the projects which it has selected.

40. The Commission endorses this general comment by the Court. The national authorities which are responsible for selecting projects must ensure that such a situation does not occur.

In the example in France mentioned by the Court, the Leonardo project comprised an exchange of two engineers between a French promoter and a Belgian training facility. The French engineer gave courses elsewhere in the NOW project. The experience he acquired in Belgium under the Leonardo programme inevitably benefited the persons he trained in the NOW project. The Commission will look into this case in partnership with the Member States.

41. As projects are adopted at national level, questions of intellectual property and copyright come under national and international legislation.

Technical Assistance (TA)

42. For the first generation of projects, a list of projects and partners was published but, for the second generation (1997-1999) a database which can be updated in real time has had to be set up.

For the second round of projects, the technical assistance agency commissioned a special database into which details of all projects were entered as soon as they were provisionally selected. This database was operational at the time of the provisional selection of projects specified in the common timetable (see paragraph 31), and all Member States were provided with the necessary software in time to input the data on their selected projects immediately when these were known.

43. Numerous systems exist to disseminate the results obtained:1. Each project is obliged to carry out the dissemination of its results, and this normally occurs at local level, though sometimes also at national or even at European level.

2. The national authorities are responsible for devising a national plan for dissemination and mainstreaming. This includes a clear definition of the target groups for such activities, and a timetable. Member States organise thematic activities around the dominant themes in the Initiative, with subsequent publications and other products which are widely disseminated.

3. During 1997, the emerging results of the first round NOW projects were discussed and reinforced through a European level NOW working group on business creation (9). In 1998, the Commission has established nine separate Thematic Focus Groups to elaborate upon and disseminate the results of the Community Initiatives, including NOW. They will provide input into specific and general publications, both those of the Commission and those of Member States, and they will organise or participate in European level dissemination events.

44. The situation mentioned by the Court occurred at some of the promoters audited even though there are national and even regional technical assistance agencies in the Member States. In France, an assessment report highlighted the lack of contact between promoters and the technical assistance agency and this led to a regional network of technical assistance agencies being set up which is now very active.

Audit Findings in the Member States

45. The Italian operational programme provided that, in the initial phase, the necessary groundwork was done to enable beneficiaries to be targeted more precisely. The projects were therefore intended to improve intermediary systems and bodies.

46. As certain services can be privatised with the risk of downsizing staff, this kind of training action may be justified. Even if it remains a communal activity the reduction of staff and employees (the persons concerned are not civil servants) remains a distinct possibility. The skills that the female employees have acquired are important in reducing the risk of unemployment and in offering them better opportunities in finding jobs in the event of them being made redundant.

The Court's observations in the 1996 Annual Report were related to Objective 4 and not to NOW which follows in particular Article 1(d) of the Regulation (EEC) No 2084/93 covering all the Community territory.

47. The training in question here was carried out in the form of individual counselling sessions which were given according to the needs of the participants and their level of qualification. It was therefore not necessary for each trainee to do all the modules.

The participants were selected on the basis of their business plan. It was natural for training to be organised abroad to learn about commercial regulations and methods of negotiation with suppliers or partners outside France.

48. At the next meeting of the Monitoring Committee, the Commission will encourage contacts between promoters of NOW projects and those of mainstream projects with similar fields of activities.

49. The errors discovered by the Court in Spain and France have been corrected.

50. Although some assessment reports were late, this did not stop the Commission from improving the way transnationality was handled in the second round of projects.

THE EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAMME 1996-2000

51.

- As outlined in the reply to paragraph 1, the aims of the EO programme are well defined and distinguished from the areas of activity in the framework of the ESF. The scope of the equal opportunities programme is much wider than ESF one's. It covers activities relating to objectives developing tools and mechanisms for a mainstreaming approach to equal opportunities, it also promotes gender balance in decision-making and conditions that are conducive to exercising equality rights. While the Programme aims primarily at the exchange, development and transfer of information and experience on good practice in all areas, the funding in the framework of the ESF aims at testing and implementing measures in connection with employment and labour market.

- The projects are generally of good quality as regards their content, the quality of the project promoter and the achieved results.

As to the alleged weaknesses of transnationality the Commission refers to its comments on paragraph 9. For the cost of management of the programme, point 54 should be considered.

Management of the Programme

52. Established in 1981, the Advisory Committee is composed of representatives of each Member State, national EO bodies and the social partners. It allows regular exchange between the Commission, Member States and other key actors on developments in the area of equal opportunities, both on European and on national level.

Some national officials have seats on both Committees. The Commission is aware of the costs that their activities involve and has made an effort to convene meetings during the same week, thus reducing the costs as far as possible.

53. As a rule, documents prepared for meetings are sent out one week before the meeting is scheduled.

The Management Committee is continuously updated on the implementation of the projects. Besides the information given during committee meetings, the members of the Committee are sent a copy of each project proposal originating from their country for information. In addition, the members are on the mailing list for all publications. Furthermore, the directory of projects and the yearbook were sent to them immediately after publication allowing them to have an overview of all the projects involved in the programme.

Provision of Technical Assistance

54.

- The Technical Assistance Agency is a European Economic Interest Group (EEIG) created by two partners to tender for Commission contracts. Its activities are quite naturally confined to what is agreed in its contract with the Commission and this helps expenditure to be monitored,

- Moreover, the staff and administration costs in 1997 were ECU 1 010 337 (the ECU 1,2 million mentioned by the Court was the amount of the commitment). It is the actual cost of managing the programme in 1997, i.e. ECU 1 million, which should be compared with the payments made under the Community action programme for one year, i.e. some ECU 6,5 million. 15,4 % of expenditure in 1997 under the programme was hence allocated for management, which is a reasonable proportion. The ratio is more favourable if the total amount of project budgets is taken as a point of reference because the EU grant covers only 60 % of the total project budget.

55.

A distinction should be made between:

- support activities for ECU 1 509 396, i.e. below the ceiling of ECU 1,75 million, which mainly benefit the Commission,

- activities (publications, studies, seminars, workshops etc.) for ECU 1 386 526 on behalf of the programme's beneficiaries to which the Court's comment on the budget does not apply,

56. The Commission is continuing its efforts to remedy the shortcomings of the contracts concluded with experts (transparency of the selection procedure, justification of expenditure, etc.).

57. Following the Commission's audit, the provisions of the contract were amended for the period between July 1997 and July 1998. Henceforth the contract stipulates explicitly that payments are made in accordance with expenditure actually incurred by the contractor. The Commission paid the balance for the first contractual period in April 1998 after carefully analysing the financial statement submitted by the contractor, recording actual expenditure incurred for the period, the final version of which was submitted to the Commission in mid-February 1998. The statement was certified by an accountant.

58.

- The EEIG uses subcontractors mainly in four areas: to organise workshops and conferences, carry out studies, publish documents and perform certain other duties (secretarial and recruitment duties and administrative monitoring of some of the contracts concluded with promoters) for which it concludes contracts for services,

- One of these contracts for services was concluded between the EEIG and a parent body. The Commission thinks that such agreements are acceptable if the services provided are good value for money and the rules of good financial management are complied with, but the Commission also needs to monitor contracts properly. In the case mentioned by the Court these conditions were met because the cost for subcontracting was the same as if the EEIG had provided equivalent services itself,

- Of the ECU 55 000 provided for by the contract for the first year, only half was disbursed. The figure for the second year is not yet known as the contract has not ended,

- According to the Commission's audit in June 1997, the two persons mentioned by the Court rendered their services in compliance with the provisions of the contract and payments were made under the terms of that contract.

59. The project manager and coordinator were named in the proposal the EEIG submitted at the time of the call for tenders which was subsequently approved by the Commission. The Commission, however, shares the Court's view that the contracts of these two people ought to have been signed by the EEIG as a whole.

60. This happened after the Commission's audit and will be examined in detail and the necessary measures taken.

61. Following the Commission's audit, a better system of attendance sheets was introduced when the contract was revised in 1997, which made it possible to ensure that services had actually been rendered. In the case mentioned by the Court, which came after the Commission's audit, it is true that documentary evidence should have been submitted in support of payment. The Commission undertakes to verify whether this was the case when it follows up its audit (see reply to point 56).

62. As this was the first year that the programme was implemented a large number of financial accounts submitted by the promoters had to be completed and checked in detail by the Technical Assistance Agency and the Commission. The Technical Assistance Agency also had to comply with the recommendations made at the time of the Commission's audit. Payments were thus completed in May 1998. Moreover, in order to reduce any delays in payment, the Commission decided to amend its procedure for closing projects' accounts and organised an information campaign for promoters to improve the quality of the accounts they submit.

63. The Commission put out a tender for external assessment of the programme. However, because none of the proposals met its requirements, the contract has not yet been awarded. The Commission is soon to launch another selection procedure to find an independent assessor.

64. It is up to the Commission to select contractors for studies. The study mentioned by the Court came under a contract between the Technical Assistance Agency and the University. The Commission points out that, at the time the study was carried out, the member of the teaching staff did not hold the position which attracted the Court's comments and that this person had no link with any of the member associations of the EEIG at the time the contract between the Commission and the organisation was signed. It is true that the payment should have been made to the university and not directly to this person. The Commission is in the process of looking into this matter.

65. The experts submitted their reports to the Technical Assistance Agency as proof of their activities but the system for justifying the relevant expenditure needs further improvement. The Commission has examined the situation and found ways to ameliorate it (see reply to point 56). It is true that the payments should have been made to the contractor (see reply to point 64).

Transnationality

66. The Commission refers to its answers to points 9 and 51.

The aim of the programme is the exchange of information and experience on good practice in the field of equal opportunities for men and women. To achieve this aim transnational partnership is a tool but it is not imperative that each partner organisation is allocated part of the budget. Transnationality can exist without sharing of the budget. Exchanges are conducted in various ways: bilateral, multilateral, with or without sharing of the budget between the partners and with various aims (exchanges of experience, information, results or joint action, etc.).

67. The Commission agrees that the dissemination of information is an important aim of the Programme. Consequently, the 1998 work programme for the Programme foresees special initiatives and support to reinforce the dissemination of activities of the project promoters' work.

Information is disseminated not only through the projects but also through a variety of publications, the media and the Commission's participation in seminars and conferences. The programme's mailing list has 7 000 addresses to which information on the programme and the projects is sent.

Furthermore, it should be stressed that the activities of some projects have a long-term impact and that information on the results and outcome can be disseminated in the contractual periods which follow.

Management of projects by EU TA agency

68. There is daily communication between project promoters and the Technical Assistance Agency. Replies are generally sent out within 48 hours.

69. The Commission implemented the programme within an extremely tight time frame: the Council decision dates back to December 1995 and the programme had to start in 1996 with all the relevant financial commitments having to be approved by the end of 1996. To prepare the programme, the management committee had to be set up and had to discuss the programme's aims, awareness of the objectives had to be raised, a call for projects launched, projects selected and the approval of the financial departments and the Member States' representatives for this selection secured, all within the space of nine months.

The timetable and the procedure established for the second contractual year ensured that there would be no repetition of the delays during the starting year of the programme.

70. The contract for the German project mentioned by the court was signed on the 13th of December 1996 and the first payment was made on the 31st of January 1997. The delay of six weeks is within the frame set in the contract concluded by the promoter and the technical assistance office. The promoter completed its work programme. It is important to note that from the start, the project was foreseen as being multiannual and that the further evaluation of mentoring projects and the wider dissemination of the brochure was planned to continue during the second year of the project.

The dissemination of the activities of the project concerned was done through the promoter himself who had partner organisations in the 15 Member States. In addition, information on the activities of the project was brought to the knowledge of public administrations in the Member States through the members the Management Committee of the Programme. Given the dissemination activities described above and the limited budget of the project (less than ECU 90 000) a broad geographical coverage was achieved. It is however unrealistic to expect that 'other Member States`, i.e. all kind of organisations and public bodies in the Member States, are directly informed about the project's activities.

71. In its proposal for the Community action programme for equal opportunities, the Commission indicated clearly that it intended to build on the achievements of previous programmes but also to adopt a new approach. Its desire for continuity is reflected in the choice of spheres of action and forms of cooperation, but it cannot continue to support the same organisations and the same activities from year to year. Furthermore, as one of an action programme's aims is to support innovation, is logical for an activity subsidised under one programme because it is innovative to become eligible subsequently for support under other Community policies. This is, for example, true of the training activities mentioned by the Court which could be supported under the European Social Fund and DG XXII's programmes.

During the second and third action programmes, the Commission set up and supported nine networks of experts. In view of the aims it has set itself for the new programme, it thought that it could build upon the achievements of these networks in various ways without creating carbon copies of them and has asked the members of existing networks to present projects under the new programme or under other Community policies and action.

72. The person in question is highly qualified and has acted as a consultant with very limited assignments, costing a total of ECU 9 500. Her main involvement in the programme is her work as scientific researcher for the first project (ECU 5 000).

Her involvement in the second project was only for preparing a report which formed part of a series of national reports on women in decision-making (ECU 4 500).

Her involvement in the third project was not remunerated.

The Commission is attentive to involve key actors but at the same time assures that no privileged position for any person active in the area of EO arises.

73. The experts who cooperated on this project took part in this conference and made a valuable contribution to developing a partnership and forming a network for raising awareness. The use of the database enabled the Charter to be disseminated very widely throughout the Union.

CONCLUSION

74. The Commission has taken note of the Court of Auditors' observations and will continue its efforts to extend and intensify the impact of Community action in the field of equal opportunities.

75. All the legislative instruments mentioned by the Court form a clear and coherent whole which reflects a genuine political will. The practical action they have inspired has done much to enhance equal opportunities, but there is, admittedly, still a long way to go.

Since projects are adopted at national level, questions relating to intellectual property and copyright are subject to national legislation and there is no legal uncertainty. The Commission has also taken clear and constructive action with respect to positive discrimination (see reply to point 20).

76. Regular consultations between Community departments and people responsible for equal opportunities in the Member States (especially through the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunities and the Management Committee of the Community equal opportunities programme), the setting up of Community, national and even regional technical assistance agencies, preparation of documentation and catering for promoters' needs are all part of a system which is capable of sustaining the programme's measures to promote equal opportunities.

The Commission's replies to this report show that its priorities are transnationality and dissemination of good practice.

77. The mid-term assessments of the Community Initiative NOW have been carried out and were taken into account when the second round of projects was selected.

As regards the Community action programme, although the Commission's annual report on equal opportunities should not be regarded as an assessment report, it does serve to prompt debate on the subject, to define more precisely what policies should be developed and to serve as a point of reference for the Commission and the Member States. An independent assessor is also in the process of being selected.

Finally, as the above-mentioned annual report shows, there is a great deal of information on equal opportunities which has been supplied by the Member States.

78. Community policy to promote equal opportunities is far from being the finished article but is improving steadily at the moment. The Commission is certainly aware of the need to pursue its efforts in this area.

Equal opportunities policy will be reinforced not only by increasing the budgetary envelope for specific measures on behalf of women but also by redefining mainstream priorities for existing appropriations, the latter being an equally effective and necessary course of action, albeit more difficult to quantify.

79. In June 1997 the Commission carried out a detailed audit of the Community action programme's Technical Assistance Agency before deciding to renew its contract. On the whole, the audit's conclusions were positive and were taken into account by the Technical Assistance Agency when the contract was amended (see point 56).

(1) I.e. the incorporation of equal opportunities for women and men into all Community policies and activities.

(2) Conclusions of the ESF mid-term evaluations - Part VI: Equal opportunities between men and women in ESF interventions.

(3) Its preparation formed part of the implementation of the Strategy Paper on mainstreaming, which was agreed by the Inter-service group on equal opportunities on 12 February 1997.

(4) COM(96) 67 of 21 February 1996.

(5) Commission Decision of 19 July 1995, OJ L 249, 17.10.1995.

(6) See Article 9 of the Council Decision 95/593/EC, OJ L 335, 30.12.1995, p. 37.

(7) It contains statistical information in the text as well as in the Annex.

(8) Spain, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Statistics in Focus No 15/97.

(9) This working group led to a European seminar entitled 'Female Entrepreneurship in Europe`. The results of this thematic work, including a proposed European Model of Good Practice, are contained in a detailed report to be published in the summer of 1998.