EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 70/144

(2004/C 70 E/148)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2833/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 September 2003)

Subject: Training programmes for the unemployed organised by the National Organisation for Employment in Greece

Under ministerial decision 4001/3.1.2002, issued by the Greek Ministry for Employment and Social Insurance, measures are to be developed to train unemployed people on large technical projects in Greece which are being funded by the European Social Fund within the framework of third CSF. Since its adoption, the decision has been amended and the budget has risen to EUR 41 million. On 7 April 2003, after seven months of negotiations, the management of the National Organisation for Employment announced the approval of contracts between itself and each technical firm that will be undertaking work on the programmes.

1. What opinion does the Commission have of the legality of using a procedure to award contracts for the programmes directly to technical firms, without any publication of a notice, contrary to the provisions of EU Directive 92/50/EEC (1), which was incorporated into Greek law by presidential decree 346/1998 and amended by presidential decree 18/2000?

2. Since the appropriations for this purpose are not infinite, is the Commission in agreement with the Greek Government's ranking of priorities? Is there a danger that other sectors of the economy may be undervalued or ignored?

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(7 November 2003)

The training programmes that the Honourable Member refers to concern integrated actions in favour of unemployed people in specialisations relating to the construction of large infrastructural investments in Greece. These are co-financed, by the European Social Fund (ESF), among other actions, through the Operational Programme of ‘Employment and Vocational Training’, under the Community Support Framework for 2000-2006, in Greece.

On the basis of the Operational Programme, these actions comprise of theoretical and practical training in certain specialisations. The successful completion of the training part by the trainees is combined with an employment subsidy for a certain period of time. These actions, as part of an active labour market approach, are expected to raise considerably the employment prospects of the unemployed, in specific areas where there is a high demand in the labour market. This is one of the main priorities of the Operational Programme under question. Moreover, these training actions provide for the necessary synergies between ESF and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) co-financed actions.

According to the information provided by the Managing Authority of the programme, which is responsible for the management, monitoring and control of the ESF co-financed actions, a call for proposals, in accordance with the respective Greek legislation (law 1262/1982 and 2601/1998), was launched. The assessment and selection of the training actions was made on pre-specified criteria for the provision of quality theoretical and practical training and the employment prospects of the trainees.

It should be noted that on the basis of the information provided to the Commission, the Greek Court of Auditors issued a positive decision on the legitimacy of the procedures followed. This was done before the Managing Authority and OAED, which is the final beneficiary for this project, proceed with the implementation of the actions foreseen.

(1) OJ L 209, 24.7.1992, p. 1.