Proposal for an amendment to the Commission Proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 - REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006
Date: 2013-03-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU initiative, European Employment Strategy, European Social Fund, fight against unemployment, youth unemployment

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Strasbourg, 12.3.2013  
COM(2013) 145 final 

2011/268 (COD) 

Proposal for an 

amendment to the Commission Proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 - REGULATION OF 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 

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2011/268 (COD) 

Proposal for an 

amendment to the Commission Proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 - REGULATION OF 
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the European Social Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1081/2006 

Commission's proposal COM(2011) 607 final/2 is amended as follows: 

(1) the following recital (6 bis) is added: 

'(6 bis) In light of the persistent need to make an effort to address youth unemployment in the 
Union's  most  affected  regions,  a  Youth  Employment  Initiative  (YEI)  should  be  created.  It 
should  support  in  those  regions  young  people  not  in  employment,  education  or  training 
(NEET),  who  are  unemployed  or  inactive,  by  reinforcing  and  accelerating  the  delivery  of 
activities supported by ESF funding. Additional funds should specifically be attributed to the 
YEI  matched  with  investment  from  the  ESF.  By  targeting  individual  persons  rather  than 
structures, the YEI should aim to complement other ESF and national actions targeting young 
NEET with the objective of implementing the Youth Guarantee1.' 

(2) Article 1 is replaced by the following: 

'Article 1 
Subject matter 

This  Regulation  establishes  the  mission  of  the  European  Social  Fund  (ESF),  including  the 
Youth Employment Initiative, the scope of its assistance, specific provisions and the types of 
expenditure eligible for assistance.' 

(3) In Article 3, paragraph 1(a)(ii) is replaced by the following: 

'(ii)  Sustainable  integration  into  the  labour  market  of  young  people 
(aged 15-24) not in employment, education or training, in particular 
in the context of the Youth Guarantee;' 

(4) Article 5 is replaced by the following: 

'Article 5 
Indicators 

1. 

Common  indicators  as  set  out  in  the  Annex  I  to  this  Regulation  and  programme 
specific indicators shall be used in accordance with Article 24(3) and 87(2)(b)(ii) of 
Regulation (EU) No […]. All indicators shall be expressed in absolute numbers.   

Common  and  programme  specific  output  indicators  relate  to  partially  or  fully 

1 

Council Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee, XXX 

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implemented  operations.  Where  relevant  to  the  nature  of  the  operations  supported, 
cumulative quantified target values shall be fixed for 2022. Baseline indicators shall 
be set at zero. 

Common  and  programme  specific  result  indicators  relate  to  the  priority  axes. 
Baseline  indicators  shall  use  the  latest  available  data.  Cumulative  quantified  target 
values shall be fixed for 2022. 

1 bis. 

In  addition  to  paragraph  1,  indicators  as  set  out  in  the  Annex  II  to  this  Regulation 
shall be used for all operations supported under the investment priority referred to in 
Article 3(1)(a)(ii). All indicators set out in Annex II to this Regulation shall be linked 
with a quantified cumulative target value for 2022 and a baseline. 

2. 

At the same time as the annual implementation reports, the managing authority shall 
transmit  electronically  structured  data  for  each  investment  priority.  The  data  shall 
cover the categorisation and the output and result indicators.' 

(5) the following Chapter III bis is added: 

'Chapter III bis 

Youth Employment Initiative 

Article 15 i 
Objective of the Youth Employment Initiative 

The Youth Employment Initiative shall support the fight against youth unemployment in the 
eligible  regions  of  the  Union,  as  referred  to  in  Annex  IIIter  to  Regulation  (EU)  No  [CPR] 
through  support  to  actions  under  Article  3  (1)  (a)  (ii)  of  this  Regulation.  It  shall  target  all 
young persons (aged 15-24) not in employment, education or training, residing in the eligible 
regions, who are inactive or unemployed (including long-term unemployed), and registered or 
not as seeking work. 

In  agreement  with  the  Commission,  the  Member  State  may  decide  to  allocate  a  limited 
amount  not  exceeding  10%  of  the  funds  under  the  YEI  for  young  persons  residing  in  sub-
regions which experience high youth unemployment levels and which are outside the eligible 
NUTS 2 regions.  

Article 15ii 
 Thematic concentration 

The specific allocation for YEI shall not be taken into account for the purpose of calculating 
the thematic concentration referred to in Article 4. 

Article 15 iii 
Programming 

The Youth Employment Initiative is integrated in the programming of the ESF under Article 
87  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  [CPR].  Where  appropriate,  Member  States  shall  set  out  the 

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programming arrangements for the YEI in the partnership agreement and in the Operational 
programme. 

The arrangements may take one or several of the following forms:   

(a) 

a dedicated operational programme;   

(b) 

a dedicated priority axis within an operational programme;   

(c) 

a part of a priority axis. 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

Article 15iv 
Monitoring and evaluation 

In addition to the provisions made in Article 100 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR], at 
least once per year, the monitoring committee shall examine the implementation of 
the  Youth  Employment  Initiative  in  the  context  of  the  programme  and  progress 
towards achieving its objectives. 

The Annual Implementation Report and the final report as referred to in Article 44(1) 
and  (2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  [CPR]  shall  include  additional  information  on  the 
implementation of the Youth Employment Initiative. 

At the same time as the annual implementation report referred to in Article 44(1) and 
(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  [CPR],  the  managing  authority  shall  transmit 
electronically  structured  data  for  each  priority  axis  or  a  part  thereof  supporting  the 
Youth  Employment  Initiative.  Data  transmitted  shall  relate  to  values  for  the 
indicators  set  out  in  annex  1  and  2  of  this  Regulation  and,  where  applicable,  to 
programme  specific  indicators.  They  shall  relate  to  partially  or  fully  implemented 
operations. 

The annual implementation report referred to in Article 44(4) of Regulation (EU) No 
[CPR] and the final report shall present the main findings of evaluations referred to 
in paragraph 6 of this article assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and impact of the 
Youth Employment Initiative. 

The progress reports as referred to in Article 46 of Regulation (EU) No [CPR] shall 
include  additional  information  on  and  assess  the  implementation  of  the  Youth 
Employment Initiative. 

At  least  twice  during  the  programming  period,  an  evaluation  shall  assess  the 
effectiveness, efficiency and impact of support from the European Social Fund and 
the specific allocation for YEI and implementation of the Youth Guarantee. 

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Article 15 v 
Information and publicity measures 

1. 

2. 

The beneficiaries shall ensure that those taking part in an operation are specifically 
informed of the YEI support. 

Any  document,  including  an  attendance  or  other  certificate,  concerning  such  an 
operation  shall  include  a  statement  to  the  effect  that  the  operation  was  supported 
under the YEI. 

Article 15 vi 
Technical assistance 

The  specific  allocation  for  YEI  may  be  taken  into  account  by  the  Member  States  in  the 
calculation of the limit to the total amount of the Funds allocated to technical assistance of the 
Member State. 

Article 15 vii 
Financial support 

1. 

2. 

3. 

The  Commission  decision  adopting  an  operational  programme  shall  fix  the 
maximum amount of support from the ESF and from the specific allocation for YEI 
for  each  priority  axis.  The  ESF  shall  at  least  match  the  support  from  the  specific 
allocation for YEI for each priority axis. 

On  the  basis  of  the  amounts  referred  to  in  paragraph  1,  the  Commission  decision 
shall also fix the ratio between the ESF and the specific allocation for YEI. 

Where  the  YEI  is  implemented  by  a  specific priority axis covering eligible regions 
from more than one category, the highest co-financing rate shall apply with regard to 
the ESF allocation. 

The  specific  allocation  for  YEI  shall  not  be  subject  to  the  national  co-financing 
requirement.   

The overall co-financing rate of the priority axis fixed by the Commission decision 
referred  to  in  paragraph  1  shall  be  calculated  taking  into  account  the  co-financing 
rate of the ESF allocation together with the special allocation for the initiative.' 

Article 15 viii 
Financial management 

In  addition  to  the  provisions  of  Article  120  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  [CPR],  when  the 
Commission  reimburses  interim  payments  and  pays  the  final  balance  for  the  Youth 
Employment  Intiative  by  priority  axis,  it  shall  allocate  the  reimbursement  from  the  Union 
budget between the ESF and the specific allocation for YEI according to the ratio laid down 
in Article 15 vii (2).' 

(6) the following Annex II is added: 

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'Annex II 
Indicators for the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI)  

The  data  for  all  indicators  set  out  in  this  annex  are  to  be  provided  in  the  annual 
implementation reports as referred to in Article 44(1) and (2) of Regulation (EU) No [CPR]. 
All data are to be broken down by gender. 

The following immediate result indicators shall apply: 

• 

• 

• 

Unemployed participants who receive an offer of employment, continued education, 
apprenticeship or traineeship within 4 months after joining the YEI operation*; 

Long-term unemployed participants who receive an offer of employment, continued 
education,  apprenticeship  or  traineeship  within  4  months  after  joining  the  YEI 
operation*; 

Inactive  participants  not  in  education  or  training  who  receive  an  offer  of 
employment,  continued  education,  apprenticeship  or  traineeship  within  4  months 
after joining the YEI operation*. 

The following longer-term result indicator shall apply 

• 

Participants in continued education, training programmes leading to a qualification, 
an apprenticeship or a traineeship 6 months after leaving*.  

By derogation to Annex I, data for the following common longer-term result indicators are to 
be reported in the annual implementation reports as specified in Article 44 (1) and (2) 

• 

• 

Participants in employment 6 months after leaving*;  

Participants in self-employment 6 months after leaving*.' 

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