WRITTEN QUESTION E-2857/96 by Jesús Cabezón Alonso (PSE) to the Commission (25 October 1996)

Subject: Social exclusion programmes

Can the Commission state what European networks and supranational programmes related to social exclusion, poverty and the problems of senior citizens it intends to cofinance in the immediate future?

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission (21 January 1997)

The Commission is currently selecting the best projects for funding in these fields in 1996. Selection will be on the basis of the specifications and comments attached to the relevant budget headings. The terms of the Court of Justice order of 24 September 1996 ((Cases C 239/96 R and 240/96 R. )) will apply to financial commitments under budget headings B3-4103 and B3-4104, and the Commission must wait for the Court's judgment before making payments.

Within the three strands of the Community Employment initiative, during the first wave of projects (1994-99), one (Horizon-disadvantaged) focused on the problems of those excluded from the labour market. The projects for the first round were selected by the national authorities.

The selection phase of projects for the second round (1997-99) takes place between 1 January 1997 and 30 March 1997 under a new strand of the Employment initiative called Employment-Integra. Further information is available from the national support structures in each Member State, the addresses of which are being sent to the Honourable Member and to the Secretariat of Parliament.

The third objective set out in the White Paper on 'Teaching and learning: towards the learning society' ((Doc. COM(95) 590. )) is to 'combat exclusion'. In this connection, it is proposed that support be given for experimental schemes geared to the social and economic integration of young people who leave school with no qualifications or training. The Commission will take a decision at the end of the year regarding the launch of the pilot projects.

Under action III.3.1 of the Socrates programme, two studies were undertaken towards the end of 1995, firstly addressing the question of how to prevent school failure and the problem of transition to working life and, secondly, analysing the measures taken within education systems to help young people who have already left school without adequate qualifications. Early in 1997, the Commission is to launch two further studies focusing more specifically on the profiles of young people at risk and analysing the basic skills which are necessary for getting a job.

The Leonardo da Vinci programme gives prioroty to combating exclusion by fostering the integration of those in greatest difficulty, through vocational guidance and qualifications.

A number of projects selected in 1995 and 1996 are concerned with young unemployed persons, the long-term unemployed, and those on the outer fringes of society. Projects assisted in this context are designed, on the basis of transnational partnerships involving a large number of participants (training providers, the social partners, regional authorities, voluntary associations), to develop new approaches and new methods of training better suited to the specific needs of the target groups.

As far as the Youth for Europe programme is concerned, a significant number of projects aimed at promoting social integration amongst young people are supported every year.