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)
Date: 1998-10-15
Institutions: European Court of Auditors
Subjects: EU initiative, European Social Fund, equal treatment, gender equality, labour market, project evaluation

C  393/24

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

16.12.98

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)

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS

Paragraph
reference

Page

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 — 6

The  budgetary  importance  of  EO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3

Women  in  the  labour  market

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 — 6

SCOPE  OF  THE  AUDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

SUMMARY  OF  OBSERVATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

8 — 10

MAINSTREAM  ESF  OPERATIONAL  PROGRAMMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 — 25

Lack  of  strategy  for  equal  opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

11 — 20

Absence  of  overall  evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

21 — 22

Cofinancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

23 — 25

EMPLOYMENT-NOW-INITIATIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26 — 50

Role  of  Employment-Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

26 — 27

Implementation  of  Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

28 — 32

Application  of  transnationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

33 — 41

Technical  assistance  (TA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

42 — 44

Audit  findings  in  the  Member  States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

45 — 50

THE  EQUAL  OPPORTUNITIES  PROGRAMME  1996-2000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

51 — 73

Management  of  the  programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

52 — 53

Provision  of  technical  assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

54 — 65

Transnationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

66 — 67

Management  of  projects  by  the  EU  TA  agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

68 — 73

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

74 — 79

Replies  of  the  Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

25

25

26

26

26

26

28

29

29

29

29

30

31

31

32

32

32

34

34

35

36

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INTRODUCTION

The  budgetary  importance  of  EO

report 

examines 

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
the
equal  opportunities’.  This 
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.

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
(CI)
is  dedicated 
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).

the  Community 

Initiative 

to 

2. There are three main areas of Community activity on
‘equal  opportunities’:

Women  in  the  labour  market

—  The 

through  which 

‘Mainstream  ESF’, 

the
Commission  seeks  to  integrate  promotion  of  equal
opportunities  into  all  co-financed  measures  in  the
realm 
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.

professional 

training. 

of 

—  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.

(1)  Annual  Report  of  the  Court  concerning  the  financial  year

1991,  Chapter  8.

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

(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
‘Employment

interventions  Commission  publication 

ESF 
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.

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16.12.98

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.

the  original  aims 

the  effectiveness  of  evaluation  in  order  to  see  how  the
(see
results  obtained  matched 
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).

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

(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.) 
integration  of  the
‘concerning  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).

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,

(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’.

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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.

in  1994  and  1995  was  about  30 %  below  the  figures
planned  in  the  SPD,  which  is  the  main  vehicule  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.

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

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 
the  Advisory
Committee  on  EO  has  requested  increased  consultation
on  EO  matters.

documents. 

Indeed, 

between 

different 

16. The  Court  has  in  the  past  identified  a  lack  of
monitoring
coordination 
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.

(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.

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

(18) The  Court’s  Annual  Report  concerning  the  financial  year

1995,  paragraphs  6.44-6.49.

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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).

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

(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’.

these 

spent  on 

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 
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

(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.

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the  reintegration  rates.  While 

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
few
and 
indications  of  the  overall  strategy,  the  Bavarian  report
shows  that  it  is  possible  to  produce  meaningful  data  on
EO 
the
reintegration  of  women  had  a  higher  success  rate  than
those  for  men.

implementation 

that  projects 

there  are 

and 

for 

In  Greece,  there  are  limited  statistics  on  women
22.
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

In  several  Member  States (33)  the  greatest  part  of
23.
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.

allowances.  Thus,  this  target  group  poses  additional
problems 
is
available.

that  national  cofinancing 

in  ensuring 

In  some  Member  States (35)  the  accompanying
25.
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.

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

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

(31) Court’s  Annual  Report  concerning  the  financial  year  1991,

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

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.

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.

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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.

In Italy, in 1995, the selection and final approval of
30.
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
CI
approved 
projects 

under 

the 

be 

to 

are 

There 

Employment-NOW (38). 
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
technical  support  agency (39)  has
United  Kingdom 
estimated  that  about  2/3  of  the  approved  British  projects
(1994-1996)  had  lost  at  least  one  of  their  original
partners.

on 

the 

guidance 

implementation 

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
of
issued 
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
of 
transnationality.

otherwise 

success 

the 

or 

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

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

p.  36.).

(39) ECOTEC  Research  and  Consulting  Ltd.

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and  training  was  not  completed  as  planned.  Thus  the
expected  results  were  not  achieved.

Technical  assistance  (TA)

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
the  Member  States  and  best  practice
between 
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.

the 

large  part  of 

expenditure  on 

39. A 
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 
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).

the  same  expenditure. 

In  addition, 

for 

(promoters)  sometimes, 

40. Work  carried  out  in  preparing  a  project  proposal
prior  to  its  submission  is  ineligible  for  reimbursement.
Project  managers 
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 
the
uncertainty  hampers  efficient  dissemination  of  the  results
of  cooperation.

these  aspects,  as 

should  clarify 

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
i.e.  wider
should  be  considered  for  mainstreaming, 
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 questionnable as

(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.

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it  was  not  in  an  objective  1  region.  Furthermore,  as  the
trainees  were  neither  unemployed  nor  threatened  by
unemployment 
ineligible.  The
they  would  appear 
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.

for 

the  delays 

in  some  measure 

on  technical  assistance  (which  were  completed  on  time)
compensated 
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

that 

found 

51. The  Court’s  audit 
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.

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.

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.

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

Provision  of  technical  assistance

54. The  Commission  has  contracted  out  the  day-to-day
operational management of the EO programme including

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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 
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.).

is 

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.

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 
general
these 
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.

actions  or 

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
experts,
weaknesses 
sub-contracts 
flat-rate
non-transparent 
remuneration,  remain.

selection  procedures  and 

with 

in 

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
the
value  of  ECU  16,8  million.  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. 
the
Commission  had  not  determined  the  amount  due  for  the
first  year’s  contract,  which  ended  on  18  July  1997.

In  March  1998 

terms  of 

58. The  management  of  the  programme  was  partly
subcontracted  by  the  EU  TA  agency  itself.  A  subcontract

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

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.

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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

a 

to 

Indeed, 

between 

promote 

partnership 

fifteenth  recital  of 

66. The 
the  Council  Decision
instituting  the  EO  programme  states  that  ‘it  is  important
. . . 
. . .
the  main
non-governmental  organisations’. 
justification  for  an  EU  programme  managed  by  the
Commission  is  the  transnational  aspect,  as  it  is  the  only
distinguishing 
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.

feature  between  projects  under 

67. The transnational dissemination of information is an
important  aim  of  the  programme;  this  is  confirmed  by

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

the  1996-2000 

setting  up 

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

9.

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.

intended 

(1988-1992),  was 

71. There  has  been  a  lack  of  long-term  planning.  The
European  network  IRIS,  created  by  the  Commission’s
second  Programme 
to
facilitate links between vocational training bodies and the
training.  The
exchange  of  expertise  on  women’s 
Commission  ceased  supporting 
in  mid-1995.
IRIS 
Similarly the Commission’s second and third programmes
had  co-financed  a  network  listing  children’s  nursery
(1996-2000)  EO
schools,  which  ceased  with 
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;

the 

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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)
the
to 
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.

enter  2 300  addresses  and 

to  prepare 

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

that 

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

(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.

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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.

administrative  measures 

—  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
(e.g.
Commission), 
Inter-service  Group  on  equal  opportunities,  Group  of
gender  mainstreaming  officials,  both  with 
the
participation 
services),
all 
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),

Commission 

of 

—  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
is  the  ESF  mid-term
only  evaluation  completed 
in  March  1998.  The
evaluation 
Commission  has  compiled  an  overview  of  the  results
on  equal  opportunity  issues (2),

completed 

(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:
in  ESF

Equal  opportunities  between  men  and  women 
interventions.

—  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 
implementing
programmes  rather  than  projects,  so  the  funds  are
channelled  through  the  Member  States,  drawing  out
the  payment  process  and  possibly  causing  delays

is  responsible  for 

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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).

on 

‘mainstreaming’ 

equal
Communication 
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.

—  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 
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.

the  Community 

programme 

for 

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  1996,  which 

—  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
is  made  up  of
Opportunities) 
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
the  Commission’s
into  practice 
services  putting 

the  majority  confined 

—  118  of  the  120  mid-term  assessment  reports  were
the  end  of  1997.  These  reports
available  by 
the  question  of  equal  opportunities,
considered 
though 
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.

themselves 

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

the 

the 

As  far  as  the  implementation  of  Priority  4  is  concerned,
the Commission was aware of the difficulties in this area.
It  had  raised 
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

(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.

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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 
to
supplement  this  mainstreaming  approach  and  these  are
reserved  for  the  women  who  are  most  difficult  to
integrate  into  the  labour  market.

there  are  specific  measures 

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 
equal
opportunities  for  women  and  men  in  the  European
Union’.  This  publication  provides  a  good  overview  of
recent  data  on 
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

’Annual  Report  on 

the  Commission 

issue.  The 

second 

the 

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
the  competent
statistical 
services  of  the  Member  States.

information  coming 

from 

publishes 

its
19. The  Commission 
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.

each 

year 

in 

flexibility 

level  of  education, 

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, 
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.

88 

final). 

(COM(96) 

Furthermore, 

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 
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

(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

(8)  Spain, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Statistics in

Annex.

Focus  No  15/97.

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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
to  promote  employment.  This  key
active  policy 
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 
include  accompanying
measures  such  as  childcare.  The  Commission,  like  the
Court,  thinks  that  they  should.

training  do  not 

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.

the 

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  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.

following  period, 

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).

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

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.

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.

Application  of  Transnationality

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

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).

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.

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
timetable,  and,  with  minor  exceptions,  all
agreed 
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 
other
provisionally-selected  projects.  Thus  all  second  round
at
projects 
approximately  the  same  time.

partnerships  with 

began  working 

partnerships 

forming 

and 

in 

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

the 

the 

transnational 

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
activities  proposed.  Each
for 
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.

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.

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.

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

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

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European  level  attempts  to  match  projects  with  others
working  on  a  similar  theme, 
is  ultimately  the
individuals  themselves  who  form  the  partnerships  and
decide  with  whom  they  wish  to  work.

it 

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.

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.

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

Audit  Findings  in  the  Member  States

Technical  Assistance  (TA)

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

for 

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.

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

(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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

implementation  of 

The  Management  Committee  is  continuously  updated  on
the
the 
the  projects.  Besides 
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.

THE  EQUAL  OPPORTUNITIES  PROGRAMME  1996-2000

Provision  of  Technical  Assistance

51.

54.

to  objectives  developing 

—  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 
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.

tools 

—  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

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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,

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.

—  activities  (publications,  studies,  seminars,  workshops
etc.) 
the
programme’s  beneficiaries  to  which  the  Court’s
comment  on  the  budget  does  not  apply,

386 526  on  behalf  of 

for  ECU  1

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
contractor,
financial 
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.

submitted  by 

statement 

the 

58.

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

(secretarial  and 

—  One  of  these  contracts  for  services  was  concluded
the  EEIG  and  a  parent  body.  The
such  agreements  are

between 
Commission 

thinks 

that 

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
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).

the  Court,  which  came  after 

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.

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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.

It  is  up  to  the  Commission  to  select  contractors  for
64.
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

the  Commission’s  participation 
seminars  and
conferences.  The  programme’s  mailing  list  has  7 000
addresses  to  which  information  on  the  programme  and
the  projects  is  sent.

in 

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

impact  and 

long-term 

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.

implemented 

to  December  1995  and 

the  programme
69. The  Commission 
within  an  extremely  tight  time  frame:  the  Council
decision  dates  back 
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.

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

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.

is 

the  programme 

the  exchange  of
The  aim  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
information,
various  aims  (exchanges  of  experience, 
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

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 
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

the  members 

through 

States 

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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 
the  project’s
activities.

informed  about 

Charter  to  be  disseminated  very  widely  throughout  the
Union.

it 

In 

for 

its  proposal 

71.
the  Community  action
programme  for  equal  opportunities,  the  Commission
indicated  clearly  that 
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).

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).

and 

between 
responsible 

consultations 
people 

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

catering 

and 

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).

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

involvement 

Her 
remunerated.

in 

the 

third  project  was  not

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

the  Community
77. The  mid-term  assessments  of 
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.

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is  a  great  deal  of 

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

priorities  for  existing  appropriations,  the  latter  being  an
equally  effective  and  necessary  course  of  action,  albeit
more  difficult  to  quantify.

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

In June 1997 the Commission carried out a detailed
79.
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).