Performance monitoring report of the European Union programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) 2015-2016 : executive summary.
Date: 2017-10-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: EU programme, European social policy, activity report, employment policy, social policy

ISSN 2443-8308

Performance Monitoring Report
of the European Union Programme for Employment 
and Social Innovation (EaSI) 2015-2016

Executive Summary

Social 
Europe

European Commission
Directorate-General for Employement, Social Affairs and Inclusion 
Unit F3 - Programming and Planning
1049 Brussels
BELGIUM

Manuscript completed in  2017

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ISBN 978-92-79-72099-4 

ISSN 2443-8308 

doi:10.2767/139461    KE-EY-17-001-EN-N

EASI PERFORMANCE IN 2015-2016 
Executive summary of the EaSI Performance Monitoring Report 2015-2016 

The  European  Union  Programme  for  Employment  and  Social  Innovation  (EaSI)  provides 
financial  support  to  promote  a  high  level  of  quality  and  sustainable  employment,  guarantee 
adequate  and  decent  social  protection,  combat  social  exclusion  and  poverty  and  improve 
working conditions across the EU. It is structured into three axes: 

• Progress  axis  focuses  on  providing  support  to  the  policy-making  and
implementation  process  through  production  of  policy  evidence,  organisation  of 
information sharing and mutual learning activities, funding social policy experimentation 
projects and providing capacity-building support to EU and national organisations; 
• EURES  axis  aims  to  improve  geographical  labour  mobility  in  the  EU  through
making information on placements more transparent and accessible as well as funding 
the actual services for jobseekers and employers; 

• Microfinance  and  social  entrepreneurship  axis  aims  to  improve  access  to
finance for vulnerable people, micro- and social enterprises by providing funding 
for financial intermediaries and capacity building of relevant actors. 

A  very  important  horizontal  aim  of  the  EaSI  programme  is  to  foster  social  policy 
innovations.  This  aim  is  mainstreamed  through  all  of  its  axes  and  activities.  In  addition,  a 
significant  amount  of  EaSI  funding  is  devoted  to  this  objective  in  particular  through  the  calls 
for proposals to support social policy innovation and experimentation projects. 

This executive summary presents the key takeaways from the second EaSI monitoring report 
covering  the  years  2015  and  2016.  The  report  incorporates  stakeholders’  views  on  the  EaSI 
operations in 2015 and 2016. 

EASI PERFORMANCE IN 2015-2016 

FINANCIAL IMPLEMENTATION 

In  2015  and  2016,  the  Commission  has  committed  more  than  EUR  246  million  for  the 
implementation  of  all  programme’s  activities.  Table  1  shows  the  detailed  distribution  of 
financial commitments per EaSI axes in 2015 and 2016. 

Table 1. Total commitments of EaSI in 2015 and 2016 per axis 

Progress 

EURES 

MF/SE 

Overall 

Total commitments in 2015 

€ 69 580 318 

€ 23 094 474 

€ 31 436 141 

€ 124 110 933 

Total commitments in 2016 

€ 71 598 651 

€ 22 864 342 

€ 27 744 070 

€ 122 207 063 

Total commitments in 2015 and 2016 

€ 141 178 969 

€ 45 958 816 

€ 59 180 211 

€ 246 317 996 

The  implementation  of  EaSI  Work  Programmes  in  2015  and  2016  was  well  in  line 
with  the  EaSI  Regulation.  As  shown  in  Figure  1,  the  Commission  has  generally  respected 
the shares of funding per axis (minimum amounts) established in the EaSI Regulation. In 2015 
and  2016,  a  slightly  higher  share  of  funding  than  initially  foreseen  was  committed  for  the 
Microfinance  and  Social  Entrepreneurship  axis  (23-25%  instead  of  21%),  while  a  somewhat 
lower  share  than  planned  was  committed  for  Progress  (56-57%  instead  of  61%).  However, 
according  to  the  EaSI  Regulation,  the  foreseen  minimum  amounts  can  be  reached  by  the 
Commission  by  the  end  of  the  programme  implementation.  It  is  not  necessary  to  reach  the 
minimum funding targets every year. 

Compared to the EURES and MF/SE axes, there is a slight tendency under the Progress axis to 
commit  somewhat  less  funding  than  planned,  which  might  result  in  the  situation  when  some 
unused  funding  has  to  be  returned  to  the  EU  budget.  However,  this  situation  is  justifiable, 
since  the  Progress  axis  includes  many  smaller  and  diverse  activities  (such  as  studies  and 

1 

events) compared to the other two axes, and therefore it takes more time and effort to commit 
funding to each of the planned items. 

Figure 1. Share of total commitments of EaSI in 2015 and 2016 compared to EaSI Regulation 

EaSi Regulation

Share of commitments in 2015

Share of commitments in 2016

Share of commitments in 2015 and 2016

61%

56%

59%

57%

18%

19%

19%

19%

21%

25%

23%

24%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% 100%

Progress

EURES

MF/SE

Below  the  executive  summary  continues  with  a  review  of  the  key  achievements  under  each 
axis. 

PROGRESS AXIS 

Figure  2  shows  the  share  of  funding  committed  in  2015-2016  to  achieving  the  specific 
objectives of EaSI related to the Progress axis.  

Figure 2. Share of PROGRESS commitments per specific objective in 2015 and 2016 

31%

18%

32%

28%

30%

26%

40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Analytical knowledge
and comparative
information

Information-sharing
mutual learning and
dialogue

Capacity to develop,
promote and support
EU instruments and
policies

20%

15%

Social policy
experimentation

2015

2016

In  2015-2016,  EaSI  continued  to  support  the  development  and  dissemination  of  high-
quality comparative analytical knowledge in order to ensure that EU policies in the field of 
employment  and  social  affairs  are  based  on  sound  evidence  and  are  relevant  to  the  needs, 
challenges and conditions in individual Member States and other countries participating in the 
programme. 

-  Evidence generated by EaSI contributed to the key EU policy objectives and initiatives 

In  the  area  of  employment,  the  largest  effort  in  2015-2016  was  put  into  improving 
anticipation  of  skills  needs,  analysis  of  skills  supply  and  labour  market  needs.  Under  this 
thematic section, the largest amount of funding was committed to developing the Classification 
of  European  Skills,  Competences,  Qualifications  and  Occupations  (ESCO).  Throughout  the 
period  of  2015-2016,  EaSI  financed  ESCO  hosting,  reimbursement  of  experts  and  technical 
assistance. 

In  the  policy  area  of  social  protection  and  social  inclusion,  notable  supported  analytical 
activities were the EUROMOD model and the Social Situation Monitor. 

EUROMOD  is  a  microsimulation  model  covering  the  tax-benefit  systems  of  all  EU  Member  States  and 
allowing  the  evaluation  of  impacts  of  policy  changes  on  income  distribution  and  poverty  as  well  as  on 
public  finances.  It  is  a  key  tool  to  enhance  the  European  Commission’s  capacity  for  quantitative  policy 

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
evaluation,  notably  in  the  contexts  of  Europe  2020,  the  European  Semester  and  the  work  of  the  Social 
Protection Committee.    

Under the thematic section of working conditions,  EaSI  continued to support, among  other 
things, the development of European Statistics on Occupational Diseases and the monographs 
programme of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection managed by 
the  International  Agency  for  Research  on  Cancer  (IARC).  In  this  way,  EaSI  strengthened  the 
knowledge base in the area of occupational health and safety. 

Much  of  EaSI  funded  evidence  fed  directly  into  the  key  EU  policy  processes  such  as 
the  European  Semester, 
country-specific 
including 
recommendations, employment guidelines and joint employment reports. 

its  Annual  Growth  Survey, 

In the area of social protection and social inclusion, EaSI-funded policy evidence contributed to 
a  proposed  package  of  measures  to  support  Member  States  in  getting  people,  especially  the 
longer-term unemployed and younger people, into work and developing a skilled workforce. It 
also  further  supported  the  implementation  of  the  Social  Investment  Package  and  the  White 
Paper on Pensions. 

In the policy area of working conditions, EaSI-funded evidence has directly contributed to the 
establishment of the European Platform on undeclared work in 2016. 

-  EaSI-funded analytical outputs were deemed relevant (and used) for policy-making and 
advocacy  purposes  by  national,  regional  and  local  policy-makers  as  well  as  other 
stakeholders 

In 2017, as many as 89% of the surveyed EaSI stakeholders saw the EU/Commission 
as  a  source  of  useful  and  reliable  information.  Somewhat  fewer  stakeholders  (78%) 
considered  that  the  EU  employment  and  social  policy  and  legislation  was  actually  based  on 
strong evidence. The major increase in the share of stakeholders, who think that the EU policy 
in their field was grounded in strong evidence, happened in the area of Microfinance and Social 
Entrepreneurship (69% -> 81%). This might be related to the increasing attention that the EU 
is paying to this policy field. 

The  most  useful  outputs  were  those  that  were  publicly  available,  allowed  cross-
country  comparison,  and  provided  examples  of  real-life  situations.  The  following  are 
examples of outputs that were indicated as the most useful by the stakeholders: 

•  EURES Job Mobility Portal (92% stakeholders deemed as useful); 
•  Labour Market Policy database (88%); 
•  Reports on projects/organisations (82%); 
•  Labour Force Survey (81%); 
•  ESDE reports (81%);  
•  EUROSTAT accidents at work statistics (79%). 

In  2015-2016,  EaSI  facilitated  effective  and  inclusive  information  sharing,  mutual 
learning and dialogue on EU and national policies 

In  this  area,  EaSI  funded  five  main  types  of  activities:  (1)  exchanges  of  good  practice,  peer 
reviews,  mutual  learning  and  training;  (2)  Council  Presidency  events,  conferences  and 
seminars;  (3)  guides,  reports  and  educational  material;  (4)  information  and  communication 
activities; and (5) information systems to exchange and disseminate information. 

In  the  policy  area  of  employment,  the  major  share  of  funding  was  committed  to  ongoing 
support  for  the  Network  of  European  Public  Employment  Services  (PES).  Its  activities  include 
bench-learning  and  mutual  learning  intended  to  support  PES  modernisation  and  improve  PES 
performance.  A  significant  share  of  funding  in  this  area  was  also  committed  to  continue  the 

3 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
operations  of  the  European  Employment  Policy  Observatory  (EEPO)  and  the  Mutual  Learning 
Programme (MLP). 

In the policy area of social protection and social inclusion, the major share of expenditure 
in  2015-2016  was  committed  to  monitoring,  development  and  deployment  of  Electronic 
Exchange of Social Security Information (EESSI) and its IT project. EESSI is an IT system that 
will help social security bodies across the EU exchange information more rapidly and securely. 
EaSI  also  notably  supported  the  continued  operations  of  the  European  Social  Policy  Network 
(ESPN),  development  of  the  European  Platform  against  Poverty  (EPAP)  and  the  Social  Policy 
Peer Review Programme. 

In the policy area of working conditions, EaSI has funded recurrent information sharing and 
learning  activities,  such  as  thematic  days-plenary  meetings  of  the  Committee  Senior  Labour 
Inspectors  (SLIC),  occupational  safety  and  health  conferences,  meetings  of  the  Group  of 
Directors  General  for  Industrial  Relations,  high-level  meetings  between  the  European 
Commission and the International Labour Organization (ILO) and annual legal seminars. A new 
development in the policy area of working conditions was the European Platform on Undeclared 
Work.  The  platform  is  a  European  centre  of  expertise  in  the  field  of  labour  law,  employment 
and labour market policies. 

- 

The appreciation of EaSI-funded events remained very high among the participants 

More than 87% of surveyed participants in EaSI-funded events in 2015-2017 claimed 
to  have  gained  a  better  understanding  of  EU  policies  and  objectives  as  a  result  of 
participating  in  EaSI-funded  event  (93%  in  2013;  91%  in  2015).  Somewhat  fewer 
stakeholders  said  that  they  intended  to  actually  use  the  results  of  the  events,  which  they 
participated  in.  Same  as  in  2013  and  2015,  around  85%  of  stakeholders  in  2015-2017  said 
that they have used or intended to use the information learned in EaSI-funded events.  

- 

EaSI-supported debate  on EU employment and social policy and law aimed to include 
all relevant stakeholders and to meet other minimum standards for consultation 

The most active groups of participants in EaSI-funded events remained similar to the 
previous years:  

•  Officials from national, regional or local government institutions: around 35% of all 

participants; 

•  Representatives of civil society and social partners: around 24%; 
•  Researchers, university teachers and independent experts: around 16%; 

Officials of EU institutions: around 6%. 

As  shown  in  the  Figure  3,  participants  in  EaSI-funded  events  tended  to  agree  that  all  major 
standards of an effective consultation were adequately met in these events. The assessment 
of dissemination of EaSI outputs keeps improving significantly. While in 2013 only 60% 
of  the  surveyed  EaSI  stakeholders  were  of  the  opinion  that  EaSI  outputs  were  effectively 
disseminated, this share has increased to 79% in 2015 and to 87% in 2017.  

Figure 3. Share of participants in events acknowledging that the following principles 
were followed during an event 

4 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Discussed policy issues were clear

Relevant stakeholders (social partners, networks,
NGOs, independent experts, etc.) were involved
Results of the event were adequately
disseminated

Relevant EU and national policy- and decision-
makers were involved

91%

89%

87%

85%

Source: Survey of participants in EaSI-funded events in 2015-2016. 

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%100%

EaSI  provided  financial  support  to  test  social  and  labour  market  policy  innovations 
and contributed to building up the main actors’ capacity to design and implement social policy 
experimentations, and to make the relevant knowledge and expertise available. 

In this area, a call for proposals was launched to fund social policy innovations supporting 
reforms  in  social  services.  It  aimed  to  foster  policy  innovation  in  the  organisation  and 
delivery of social services aiming at the integration of service users in the labour market. 

While EaSI stakeholders were found to be generally aware of the Commission’s goal to support 
social policy innovations (SPI) (82% of stakeholders reported this), they were much less aware 
of  the  specific  social  policy  innovations  supported  by  the  European  Union  (56.5%). 
Furthermore, only 49% of stakeholders said that they have personally used or intend 
to  use  EU-funded  SPI  for  policy  development  or  implementation.  Stakeholders  in  the 
area  of  working  conditions  were  found  to  be  significantly  least  familiar  (only  31%)  and 
planning to use the SPI (34%). 

In  2015-2016,  EaSI  provided  EU  and  national  organisations  with  financial  support  to 
increase  their  capacity  to  develop,  promote  and  support  the  implementation  of  EU  policies 
and law in the area of employment and social affairs 

In  2015-2016,  EaSI  continued  to  fund  the  operating  costs  of  the  key  EU-level  NGO  networks 
active in the promotion of social inclusion, poverty reduction and access to finance. The most 
well-known  of  these  networks  were  Caritas  Europa  (55%  of  stakeholders  were  aware  of  this 
network),  European  Social  Network  (53%),  Eurocities  (42%),  Eurochild  and  European  Anti-
Poverty Network (both 31%). 

The appreciation of the work done by these organisations remained stable. The share 
of stakeholders acknowledging the key EU-level NGO networks supported via operating grants 
as a useful source of information on EU employment and social policy was 68% (68% in 2015; 
84% in 2013 – the latter data from PROGRESS). The decrease from 2013 might be related to 
the  fact  that  gender  equality  and  non-discrimination  NGOs  supported  by  the  predecessor 
programme PROGRESS were very much appreciated, while the new NGOs in the area of MF/SE 
are still gaining trust among the stakeholders. 

EURES AXIS 

As  shown  in  the  Figure  4,  the  distribution  of  EURES  commitments  per  specific  objective  was 
very similar in 2015 and 2016. 

5 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 4. Share of EURES axis commitments per specific objective in 2015 and 2016 

68%

74%

100%

50%

0%

32%

26%

2015

2016

Services for the recruitment and placing of
workers

Transparent information on job vacancies
and applications

In  2015-2016,  EaSI  aimed  to  ensure  that  job  vacancies  and  applications  and 
corresponding  information  and  advice,  as  well  as  any  related  information  such  as 
concerning living and working conditions, are made transparent for potential applicants 
and employers. 

The following key actions were funded by EaSI in this area: 

•  A new multilingual digital EURES Job Mobility Platform for the clearance of job vacancies 
and  applications  has  been  launched  in  late  2014  featuring  new  and  improved  search 
engine and key-word based skills database; 
Information  and  communication  activities  to  raise  awareness  of  the  benefits  of 
geographical  and  occupational  mobility  in  general  and  of  the  activities  and  services 
provided by EURES; 

• 

•  Mutual learning among EURES actors and training of EURES advisors, including EURES 

cross-border partnerships advisors. 

The use of the main EURES on-line tool – the Job Mobility Portal – kept expanding in 
2015-2016. According to the latest data, the EURES on-line platform attracts 1.76 million of 
users each month. This has increased from 0.85 million monthly users in 2013 and 1.2 million 
users  in  2014.  The  structure  of  the  registered  jobseekers  remained  largely  unchanged  with 
most  of  the  jobseekers  coming  from  Italy  and  Spain,  while  the  highest  number  of  potential 
employers  resided  in  Germany.  Currently,  around  58.6%  of  all  national  vacancies  are 
being shared on EURES Job Mobility Platform. 

In 2015-2016, EaSI continued to support the provision of services for recruitment and 
placing  of  workers  in  quality  and  sustainable  employment  through  the  clearance  of  job 
vacancies and applications. 

EURES has already established itself as a tool not only for dissemination, but also for 
recruitment  and  placing  of  workers.  Since  2012,  the  EURES  advisers’  network 
implemented quite a stable number of personal contacts with jobseekers and employers each 
year  (around  900  thousand  –  1  million  contacts  per  year).  There  were  902 529  of  personal 
contacts  implemented  in  2016.  The  average  EURES  adviser  had  847  individual  personal 
contacts with jobseekers and 130 contacts with employers. As a general rule, around 90% of 
all contacts were with job-seekers and around 10% with employers. In 2016, there were 52 
282 placements resulting from the consultations with jobseekers, i.e. around 6 % of 
personal  contacts  resulted  in  an  actual  placement  (increased  twice  compared  to 
2014). 

MICROFINANCE AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP AXIS 

Figure  5  shows  the  share  of  commitments  under  MF/SE  axis  devoted  in  2015  and  2016  to  its 
two main specific objectives.  

6 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Figure 5. Share of MF/SE axis overall funding by specific objectives in 2015 and 2016 

100.00%

50.00%

0.00%

76.18%

49.71%

50.14%

23.80%

2015

2016

Access to micro-finance

Development of social enterprises

2015-2016  marked  a  strong  start  for  the  Microfinance  and  Social  Entrepreneurship 
axis  

By the end of September 2016, 33 contracts were signed with the microfinance intermediaries 
for  50.3  million  EUR,  which  resulted  in  13 021  microloans  for  the  total  of  EUR  152  288 
million (the leverage of 3 times was achieved). 

The majority of funding went to enterprises operating in the area of wholesale and retail trade, 
repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (around 32% of the overall funding).  

The  highest  amounts  of  funding  were  disbursed  to  the  final  beneficiaries  in  France  (27.5%), 
Spain (20.6%) and the Netherlands (15.6%). 

In addition to supporting the microcredit sector, in 2015-2016 EaSI has also released the 
first  funding  for  social  enterprises  (first  7  contracts  with  Financial  Intermediaries  for  9 
million EUR). 

In 2015-2016, EaSI made a strong step forward in building up the institutional capacity 
of Microfinance Intermediaries 

In December 2016, the Commission has launched the EaSI Capacity Building Investments 
Window with an aim to build up the institutional capacity of selected financial intermediaries 
that  have  not  yet  reached  sustainability  or  are  in  need  of  risk  capital  to  sustain  their  growth 
and development. 

Another tool developed to support the capacity of the EaSI-funded Financial Intermediaries is 
the  so-called  fi-compass,  a  scheme  to  implement  EaSI  Technical  Assistance  (provision  of 
advice  and  assessments  regarding  the  European  Code  of  Good  Conduct  for  Microcredit 
Provision). 

EaSI focused on supporting persons who are in a disadvantaged position to access the 
conventional credit market. Such vulnerable persons included women, unemployed, those with 
no or only primary education, young and older people. 

Enterprises, supported by the MF/SE axis of EaSI, employed 22 328 employees: 1 168 of them 
were  employed  in  the  social  enterprises,  while  the  remaining  ones  –  in  micro  enterprises 
supported under the Microfinance Window. Among the natural persons supported through the 
Microfinance Window, 19% (1 121, in total) were unemployed or inactive before receiving the 
microloan. 

MAINSTREAMING HORIZONTAL ISSUES 

The  integration  of  all  EaSI  horizontal  issues  has  increased  since  2014.  Paying  particular 
attention  to  vulnerable  groups,  such  as  young  people  was  seen  as  the  best 
mainstreamed  issue  by  EaSI  stakeholders.  Gender  equality  and  non-discrimination  also 
remained  well-integrated.  The  analysis has  also  indicated  a  strong increase  in  mainstreaming 
disability  and  accessibility  matter.  The  share  of  stakeholders  thinking  that  the  latter  issue  is 
taken into account has increased from 46% in 2015 to 67% in 2017. 

7 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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doi:10.2767/139461