Projects and organisations funded by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). Report XIII, Period covered 1 May 2020 - 28 February 2021.
Date: 2022-05-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: EU employment policy, EU financing, distribution of EU funding, entrepreneurship, geographical mobility, innovation, labour mobility, microfinance, private sector, public sector, report, social economy, social security, working conditions

ISSN: 2467-4168 

Projects and organisations 
funded by the European Union 
Programme for 
Employment and Social 
Innovation (EaSI) 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion 
Directorate A - European Pillar of Social Rights, Strategy 
Unit A.3 - Budget and planning cycle 
e-mail: EMPL-EaSI@ec.europa.eu 

European Commission 
B-1049 Brussels 

May 2022 

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Projects and organisations funded 
by the European Union Programme 
for Employment and Social 
Innovation (EaSI) 

May 2022 

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Manuscript completed in May 2022 

This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the 
European Commission is not liable for any consequence stemming from the reuse of this publication. More information on the 
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ISSN 2467-4168  DOI 10.2767/444951 

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Table of Contents 

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. 7 

KURZFASSUNG .................................................................................................................................... 8 

RÉSUMÉ ................................................................................................................................................ 10 

1.  INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 12 

1.1.  KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PRESENTED PROJECTS ............................................................................. 14 
1.2.  KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PRESENTED ORGANISATIONS .................................................................. 16 
1.3.  HOW TO READ THIS REPORT .......................................................................................................... 17 

2.  METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 18 

3.  EASI-FUNDED PROJECTS ..................................................................................................... 21 

3.1. WORKING CONDITIONS .................................................................................................................... 21 

3.1.a. Posting of workers: enhancing administrative cooperation and 
access to information ...................................................................................................................... 21 
3.1.1. Action ‘Promoting fair treatment of posted workers via increasing 
transnational cooperation’ ............................................................................................................. 21 
3.1.2. ECMIN 3.0 – Workers' information and portal website on applicable 
working conditions ........................................................................................................................... 24 
3.1.3. CAREurope – Enhancing transnational administrative cooperation 
among social partners from EU and candidate countries and securing 
better information prospects for all posted workers in the care sector ....................... 27 
3.1.4. FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS – Access to fair working conditions 
for posted workers through sector-specific information and cooperation .................. 30 
3.1.5. Con3Post -Posting of third country nationals: Mapping the trend in 
the construction sector ................................................................................................................... 34 

34 

3.1.b. Activities in the field of undeclared work ................................................................... 38 
3.1.6. Tackling undeclared work in the construction sector (TUWIC) .......................... 38 
3.2. EMPLOYMENT ..................................................................................................................................... 41 

3.2.a. Fast-track integration into the labour market for third country 
nationals targeting exclusively asylum seekers, refugees and their family 
members .............................................................................................................................................. 41 
3.2.1. RIAC - Regional Integration Accelerators .................................................................. 42 
3.2.2. ALMIT project - Acceleration of labour market integration of 
immigrants through mapping of skills and training ............................................................. 49 
3.2.b. Awareness-raising activities on “Upskilling Pathways: New 
Opportunities for Adults” ............................................................................................................... 56 
3.2.3. The development of an adaptive, web-based assessment tool for 
evaluating the literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels of low-skilled / 
low-qualified adults in Turkey ...................................................................................................... 56 
3.2.4. BASIC - Building Alternative Skills Innovative sChemes ..................................... 61 
3.2.5. Support for upskilling pathways in the Netherlands .............................................. 67 
3.3.  EURES: PROJECTS PROMOTING GEOGRAPHICAL LABOUR MOBILITY ......................................... 72 

3.3.1.  A Data-driven bridge towards ESCO using AI algorithms – 
AI4ESCO ............................................................................................................................................... 73 
3.3.2.  EURES: ESCO under Regulation (EU) 2016/568, Article 19 ............................. 75 

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3.4.  MICROFINANCE AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: PROJECTS SUPPORTING SOCIAL 
ENTERPRISES .............................................................................................................................................. 77 
3.4.1.  SEFEA IMPACT ................................................................................................................... 77 
3.4.2.  Building an open, pan-European pipeline of early-stage, 
investment-ready social enterprises with customised deal-by-deal support ............. 80 
3.4.3.  SEED CAPITAL – FEIS ..................................................................................................... 86 
3.4.4.  Increasing the number of quality impact investments into 
investment-ready early-stage social enterprises in Spain and Portugal ..................... 88 
3.4.5.  FSSE - Financing Small Social Enterprises .............................................................. 92 
3.4.6.  EaSI Transaction Cost Support Project .................................................................... 96 

4.  EASI-FUNDED ORGANISATIONS .................................................................................... 101 

4.1. THE EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS WORKING WITH THE HOMELESS 
(FEANTSA) – 2019 WORK PLAN: LEAVING NO-ONE BEHIND .......................................................... 102 
4.2. EUCLID NETWORK – EMPOWERING SOCIAL ENTERPRISES FOR A VIBRANT SOCIAL ENTERPRISE 
FINANCE MARKET 2021 ........................................................................................................................... 107 
4.3. CARITAS – CARES II ACTIONS REINFORCE THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL DIMENSION ................. 111 
4.4. COFACE – FAMILIES ONLINE AND OFFLINE – PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE DIGITAL 
AGE ............................................................................................................................................................ 115 
4.5. PICUM NETWORK – STRATEGIC ADVOCACY, COLLABORATION AND ACTIVATION TO ADDRESS 
THE SOCIAL EXCLUSION OF UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS....................................................................... 120 
4.6. EUROCARERS – TOWARDS CARE(R)-FRIENDLY SOCIETIES IN EUROPE ................................. 129 
4.7. EUROPEAN MICROFINANCE NETWORK – MICROFINANCE FOR SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL INCLUSION 
IN EUROPE................................................................................................................................................. 137 
4.8. EUROCITIES – EASI PROGRAMME – ‘INCLUSIVE CITIES FOR ALL: SOCIAL RIGHTS IN MY 
CITY’ .......................................................................................................................................................... 142 
4.9. FUNDACJA MICROFINANCE CENTRE – FINANCIAL INCLUSION FOR INCLUSIVE GROWTH IN 
EUROPE II ................................................................................................................................................. 148 
4.10. EUROPEAN SOCIAL NETWORK – 2020 EUROPEAN SOCIAL NETWORK ANNUAL WORK 
PROGRAMME.............................................................................................................................................. 152 
4.11. EUROPEAN VENTURE PHILANTHROPY ASSOCIATION – STRENGTHENING AND SUPPORTING A 
EUROPEAN ECOSYSTEM FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISE FINANCE .................................................................. 156 

5. AFTERWORD ............................................................................................................................... 161 

6. ANNEX I – LIST OF PROJECTS AND ORGANISATIONS IN THIS REPORT ..... 162 

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Abstract 

The European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (‘EaSI’) 2014-20201 
is  a financing  instrument  managed  directly  by  the  European  Commission  (EC) to 
promote  high-quality  and  sustainable  employment,  adequate  and  decent  social 
protection,  social  inclusion  and  poverty  reduction  and  prevention,  and  fair  working 
conditions.  Following  the  proclamation  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights2,  which 
sets  out  guidelines  for  the  support  of  fair  and  well-functioning  labour  markets  and 
welfare systems, the EaSI programme is an essential tool in assisting the Commission 
to reinforce the EU’s social dimension. 

Making the European Pillar of Social Rights a reality for citizens is a joint responsibility. 
While most of the tools to deliver on the pillar are in the hands of Member States, as 
well  as  social  partners  and  civil  society,  the  European  Union  institutions  –  and  the 
European Commission in particular – can help by setting the framework and giving the 
direction,  using  instruments  such  as  EaSI.  Among  other  initiatives,  EaSI  co-finances 
actions of public, private and civil society organisations enabling them to deliver new 
services, assess existing policies or develop new ones, and exchange good practices in 
the  fields  of  employment,  social  protection,  working  conditions,  geographical  labour 
mobility, microfinance and social entrepreneurship. 

To facilitate the dissemination of the achieved results, this report presents examples of 
19 projects supported by the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). 
The aims of the presented projects ranged from supporting reforms of national social 
protection systems, enhancing administrative cooperation on posting of workers, raising 
awareness on how young people can benefit from the Youth Guarantee3 to boosting the 
social finance market and promoting intra-EU geographical mobility. 

Another main part of the report presents the results of 11 EaSI-supported organisations 
active in the promotion of social inclusion, poverty reduction and access to finance. The 
presented organisations aimed to support the implementation of the European Pillar of 
Social Rights, as well as Commission initiatives carried out towards policy objectives of 
the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Social Investment Package and the Political Guidelines 
of the Commission at both national and local level. In addition, they contributed to the 
main  EU  governance  processes  such  as  the  Open  Method  of  Coordination  (OMC)  on 
social protection and social inclusion and the European Semester. 

The  report  also  includes  a  description  of  the  methodology  that  was  applied  to  collect 
information on the presented actions and to analyse their results. The report also seeks 
to  emphasise  the  European  added  value  of  the  described  actions  and  to  single  out 
potential good practices. 

We believe that this report will be beneficial in two major ways. First, it will serve as 
guidance  for  public  and  private  institutions  and  civil  society  organisations  wishing  to 
apply for EU funding. Second, it will provide policymakers with innovative ideas to design 
and  implement  new  policy  interventions  to  boost  employment  and  ensure  adequate 
social protection across the EU. 

1 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081 
2 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-
pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_en 
3 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1079 

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Kurzfassung 

Das  Programm  für  Beschäftigung  und  soziale  Innovation  (EaSI)  2014-20204  ist  ein 
unmittelbar  von  der  Europäischen  Kommission  verwaltetes  Finanzierungsinstrument, 
mit  dem  die  Kommission  hochwertige  und  nachhaltige  Beschäftigung,  einen 
soziale  Eingliederung, 
angemessenen  und  menschenwürdigen  Sozialschutz, 
Armutsbekämpfung und -prävention und faire Arbeitsbedingungen fördert. Als Teil der 
Europäischen Säule der sozialen Rechte5, die unter anderem Leitlinien für die Förderung 
gerechter und gut funktionierender Arbeitsmärkte und Sozialsysteme enthält, dient das 
Programm EaSI der Kommission als wirksames Instrument, um die soziale Dimension 
der EU zu stärken. 

Damit  die  Europäische  Säule  der  sozialen  Rechte  für  die  Bürger  Europas  zur  Realität 
wird,  müssen  alle  Ebenen  zusammenarbeiten.  Zwar  liegen  die  meisten  politischen 
Instrumente,  die  für  die  Säule  relevant  sind,  in  den  Händen  der  Mitgliedstaaten,  der 
Sozialpartner und der Zivilgesellschaft, dennoch können die Organe der Europäischen 
Union,  und  insbesondere  die  Europäische  Kommission,  unter  anderem  mit  Hilfe  des 
Programms EaSI günstige Rahmenbedingungen schaffen und Ziele vorgeben. So stellt 
das  Programm  EaSI  unter  anderem  eine  Kofinanzierung  für  Maßnahmen  staatlicher, 
privater  und  zivilgesellschaftlicher  Organisationen  bereit,  mit  denen  diese  in  den 
Politikfeldern Beschäftigung, Sozialschutz, Arbeitsbedingungen, räumliche Mobilität von 
Arbeitnehmern, Mikrofinanzierung und soziales Unternehmertum neue Dienstleistungen 
erbringen, politische Strategien auswerten oder neue politische Ideen entwickeln sowie 
bewährte Verfahren austauschen können. 

Um  die  Verbreitung  der  erzielten  Ergebnisse  zu  verbessern,  stellt  dieser  Bericht 
beispielhaft  19  Projekte  vor,  die  im  Rahmen  des  Programms  für  Beschäftigung  und 
soziale  Innovation  (EaSI)  gefördert  wurden.  Die  vorgestellten  Projekte  dienten  unter 
anderem dazu, Reformen der Sozialsysteme in den Mitgliedstaaten zu unterstützen, die 
Kooperation von Behörden bei der Vermittlung von Arbeitnehmern zu verbessern, junge 
Menschen über die Vorteile und Möglichkeiten der Jugendgarantie6 zu informieren, den 
Finanzmarkt  für  Sozialunternehmen  zu  verbessern  und  die  geografische  Mobilität 
innerhalb der EU zu erleichtern. 

In  einem  weiteren  Hauptteil  des  Berichts  werden  die  Ergebnisse  von  11  EaSI-
unterstützten  Organisationen  vorgestellt,  die  sich  für  die  Förderung  der  sozialen 
Eingliederung, die Armutsbekämpfung und den Zugang zu Finanzmitteln einsetzen. Die 
Maßnahmen  der  vorgestellten  Organisationen  hatten  das  Ziel,  die  Umsetzung  der 
Europäischen  Säule  der  sozialen  Rechte  und  anderer  Initiative  der  Kommission,  mit 
deren Hilfe diese die im Rahmen der Strategie Europa 2020, des Sozialinvestitionspakets 
und der politischen Leitlinien der Kommission definierten politischen Ziele fördert, auf 
nationaler und lokaler Ebene zu unterstützen. Außerdem tragen sie zu den wichtigsten 
Verfahren  des  Europäischen  Regierens  bei,  das  heißt 
zu  der  offenen 
Koordinierungsmethode  für  Sozialschutz  und  soziale  Eingliederung  (OKM)  und  zum 
Europäischen Semester. 

Ferner enthält der  Bericht eine  Beschreibung der Methoden, die angewendet  wurden, 
um  Daten  über  die  vorgestellten  Maßnahmen  zu  erfassen  und  deren  Ergebnisse  zu 

4 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081&langId=de 
5 https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-
monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-
principles_de 
6 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1079&langId=de 

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analysieren.  Unter  anderem  möchte  der  Bericht  den  europäischen  Mehrwert  der 
untersuchten Maßnahmen betonen und bewährten Verfahren vorstellen. 

Wir hoffen, dass sich dieser Bericht als hilfreich erweist, indem er erstens öffentlichen 
und  privaten  Institutionen  und  zivilgesellschaftlichen  Organisationen,  die  Fördermittel 
der  EU  beantragen  möchten,  als  Leitfaden  dient  und  zweitens  politischen 
Entscheidungsträgern  innovative  Ideen  zur  Entwicklung  und  Umsetzung  neuer 
politischer Maßnahmen vorstellt, mit denen Arbeitsplätze geschaffen und europaweit ein 
angemessener Sozialschutz gewährleistet werden können. 

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Résumé 

Le programme européen pour l’emploi et l'innovation sociale (« EaSI ») 2014-20207 est 
un instrument de financement géré directement par la Commission européenne visant 
à promouvoir des emplois durables et de haute qualité, une protection sociale décente 
et  adaptée,  l’inclusion  sociale,  la  prévention  et  la  réduction  de  la  pauvreté,  et  des 
conditions de travail justes. Après la proclamation du socle européen8 des droits sociaux 
qui  fixe  les  lignes  directrices  pour  soutenir  des  marchés  du  travail  et  systèmes  de 
protection  sociale  équitables  et  performants,  le  programme  EaSI  représente  un  outil 
essentiel pour aider la Commission à renforcer la dimension sociale de l’UE. 

Faire  du  socle  européen  pour  les  droits  sociaux  une  réalité  pour  les  citoyens  est  une 
responsabilité  commune.  La  plupart  des  outils  nécessaires  à  la  mise  en  œuvre  de  ce 
socle sont dans les mains des États membres et dans celles des partenaires sociaux et 
de  la  société  civile ;  néanmoins,  les  institutions  européennes,  et  notamment  la 
Commission  européenne,  peuvent  aider  en  fixant  le  cadre  et  en  donnant  des 
orientations, à l’aide d'instruments comme le programme EaSI. Entre autres initiatives, 
le programme EaSI cofinance les actions des organisations publiques, privées ou de la 
société  civile  pour  leur  permettre  de  proposer  de  nouveaux  services,  d'évaluer  les 
politiques existantes ou d’en proposer de nouvelles et de procéder à des échanges de 
bonnes pratiques dans les domaines de l’emploi, de la protection sociale, des conditions 
de  travail,  de  la  mobilité  professionnelle  géographique,  du  microfinancement  et  de 
l’entrepreneuriat social. 

Afin  de  faciliter  la  diffusion  des  résultats  obtenus,  le  présent  rapport  présente  des 
exemples  de  19  projets  qui  ont  été  financés  par  le  programme  pour  l’emploi  et 
l’innovation sociale (EaSI). Les projets présentés avaient des objectifs variés, comme le 
soutien aux réformes des systèmes nationaux de protection sociale, le renforcement de 
la coopération administrative relative au placement des travailleurs, le renforcement de 
la sensibilisation des jeunes aux avantages de la Garantie pour la jeunesse9 ou encore 
la  dynamisation  du  marché  du  financement  social  ou  la  promotion  de  la  mobilité 
géographique intraeuropéenne. 

Une autre grande partie du rapport présente les résultats de 11 organisations soutenues 
par EaSI et actives dans le domaine de la promotion de l'inclusion sociale, la réduction 
de  la  pauvreté  et  l'accès  au  financement.  Les  organisations  présentées  avaient  pour 
objectifs de soutenir la mise en œuvre du pilier européen des droits sociaux, ainsi que 
les initiatives de la Commission visant à atteindre les objectifs politiques tant au niveau 
national  que  local  de  la  Stratégie  Europe  2020,  du  train  de  mesures  sur  les 
investissements sociaux et des orientations politiques de la Commission. Elles ont par 
ailleurs  contribué  aux  principaux  procédés  de  gouvernance  européens  comme  la 
méthode ouverte de coordination pour la protection et l'inclusion sociales ou le semestre 
européen. 

Le  rapport  comporte  également  une  description  de  la  méthodologie  utilisée  pour 
collecter les informations sur les actions présentées et pour analyser leurs résultats. Le 
rapport cherche en outre à mettre l’accent sur la valeur ajoutée européenne des actions 
décrites, et à faire ressortir d’éventuelles bonnes pratiques. 

7 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081&langId=fr  
8 https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/economy-works-people/jobs-growth-and-
investment/european-pillar-social-rights/european-pillar-social-rights-20-principles_fr  
9 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1079&langId=fr  

May 2022 

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Nous pensons que ce rapport présentera deux grands avantages. Tout d'abord, il pourra 
servir de guide aux institutions privées et publiques et aux organisations de la société 
civile qui souhaitent demander un financement européen. Ensuite, il proposera des idées 
innovantes  aux  responsables  politiques  pour  la  conception  et  la  mise  en  œuvre  de 
nouvelles  interventions  politiques  visant  à  dynamiser  l’emploi  et  à  garantir  une 
protection sociale adaptée dans toute l’UE. 

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1. Introduction 

The EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)10 is one of the four EU 
financing instruments in the area of employment and social affairs for the period 2014-
2020, together with the European Social Fund11 (ESF), the Fund for European Aid for 
the most Deprived12 (FEAD) and the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund13 (EGF). 
EaSI provides support to promote high-quality and sustainable employment, adequate 
and decent social protection, social inclusion and poverty reduction and prevention and 
fair working conditions. It is an essential tool in assisting the European Commission to 
reinforce the EU’s social dimension as affirmed by the European Pillar of Social Rights14. 

The pillar contains principles promoting well-functioning and fair labour markets as well 
as social protection systems, structured around three dimensions: 

•  ensuring equal opportunities and access to the labour market; 
• 
• 

fair working conditions, and; 
social protection and inclusion. 

Alongside  other  financial  instruments,  EaSI  plays  a  key  supporting  role  in  the 
implementation of the pillar and its follow-up initiatives. With the pillar directly feeding 
into  the  annual  cycle  of  assessing  economic  and  social  challenges  across  the  EU,  the 
EaSI programme remains central to supporting the achievement of the political goals in 
the area of employment and social affairs in the EU. 

EaSI is structured into the following three axes: 
•  Progress  –  focusing  on  providing  support  to  the  policymaking  and 
implementation  process  through  production  of  policy  evidence,  organisation  of 
information  sharing  and  mutual  learning,  funding  social  policy  experimentation 
projects and providing capacity building to EU and national organisations; 

•  EURES –  aiming 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 (MF/SE) axis – supporting access 
to finance for vulnerable people, micro- and social enterprises by providing 
funding for financial intermediaries and capacity building of relevant actors. 

In particular, EaSI aims to act as a catalyst for innovative solutions through social 
policy  experimentation  by  assisting  Member  States  in  improving  their  policies  in 
employment  and  social  affairs  that  respond  to  their  social  needs  and  challenges. 
Furthermore,  it  fosters  transnational  partnerships  and  networking  between 
public, private and third-sector actors. Finally, it supports involvement in designing 
and implementing new approaches to cope with pressing social and economic trends. 

The total budget for 2014-2020 is EUR 919 469 000 (in 2013 prices). On 18 July 2018, 
the  so-called  Omnibus  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  2018/1046  on  the  financial  rules 
applicable to the general budget of the Union provided that the allocation of funding was 
indicative and not binding, thereby allowing EaSI to ‘swiftly provide adequate resources 
to  support  changing  political  priorities.  It  also  updated  the  indicative  percentages 
applicable  on  average  over  the  whole  period  of  the  programme  to  the  axes,  setting 
these at least 55 % for Progress, at least 18 % for EURES and at least 18 % for MF/SE. 

10 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1081 
11 http://ec.europa.eu/esf/home.jsp 
12 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1089 
13 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=326&langId=en 
14 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1310&langId=en 

May 2022 

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Figure 1: EaSI long-term outcomes 

Stronger ownership of 
EU objectives

Facilitation of policy 
reforms

Modernisation and 
effective application of 
EU law

Improved conditions 
for voluntary 
geographic mobility 
whilst enforcing 
workers' rights

Increased access to 
finance for vulnerable 
persons, micro- and 
social enterprises

Source: European Commission. 

The programme pays particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as young people, 
and to promoting equality between women and men. Combating discrimination based 
on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability or sexual orientation is another 
cross-cutting concern. Likewise, EaSI is promoting a high level of quality and sustainable 
employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating long-term 
unemployment and fighting poverty and social exclusion. 

Since EaSI fosters social policy innovation a significant amount of funding is devoted to 
this, notably through calls for proposals for social experimentation projects. 

Concretely, EaSI supports the maintenance and development of the necessary evidence 
base for EU employment and social policies and legislation by financing, for example, 
the  EU  Labour  Force  Survey  (LFS),  European  Skills,  Competences  and  Qualifications 
(ESCO) database, Accidents at work EU statistics (Eurostat), Database on Labour Market 
Policies  (LMP),  EUROMOD  and  the  Social  Situation  Monitor.  Other  analytical  outputs 
financed by EaSI are a  result of  cooperation with international  organisations  carrying 
out  research  in  the  relevant  fields  (e.g.,  Organisation  for  Economic  Cooperation  and 
Development and International Labour Organization) or developed by the networks of 
independent experts like the European Employment Policy Observatory and European 
Social Policy Network. 

In addition, the programme contributes towards the operating costs of key EU-level civil 
society  (CSO)  network  organisations  (such  as  Caritas,  Eurochild  and  Eurocarers)  and 
co-finances  projects  of  Member  States’  public,  private  and  CSOs  that  have  a 
transnational  character  or  are  of  interest  to  the  EU  as  a  whole.  These  contribute  to 
evidence-based policymaking, social innovation and advancement in employment, social 
protection and inclusion as well as working conditions, while promoting an integrated 
EU market for labour mobility, microfinance and social entrepreneurship. 

This is the thirteenth report on projects and organisations funded by EaSI. Previous 
reports  on  projects  and  organisations  can  be  downloaded  from  the  European 
Commission’s website15. 

15 Please see: 
https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?advSearchKey=monitoring+good+practices&mode=advancedSubmit&
catId=22&policyArea=0&policyAreaSub=0&country=0&year=0 

May 2022 

 13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This report focuses on the results of 19 EaSI-funded projects in the areas of social 
protection, working conditions, employment, development of social finance market and 
EURES – geographical labour mobility. It also presents results of 11 EaSI-supported 
organisations – major EU-level civil society organisations promoting social inclusion, 
poverty reduction and access to finance for vulnerable groups and social entrepreneurs. 

The  report  consists  mainly  of  fiches  that  describe  in  concise  and  uniform  format  the 
results and the European added value of a successful project or organisation as well as 
potential  good  practices  among  the  implemented  actions.  In  addition,  the  project  / 
organisation fiches were  developed  with  the aim of making  them easily accessible as 
stand-alone documents and useful to all informed stakeholders (decision-makers, social 
partners, NGOs, academia, media and civil society at large). 

The  purpose  of  this  report  is  to  improve  learning  among  the  national 
authorities, civil society organisations and private actors working in the field of 
employment and social affairs, and to support future policy developments. First, it may 
serve  as  guidance  for  public,  private  and  civil  society  actors  wishing  to  apply  for  EU 
funding in the future. Second, it will provide policymakers with ideas  and suggestions 
that can inform the design and implementation of new policy interventions. 

Along  with  this  introduction,  the  report  has  three  other  parts.  Chapter  2  features  a 
description  of the methodology  that was applied to  collect information on the actions 
and to analyse their  results.  Chapter 3 presents activities  of projects  funded by EaSI 
and implemented between 2018 and 2021 through action grants which finance actions 
with an intention to help achieve objectives of the European Union policy. In Chapter 4, 
the reader will find an overview of the results achieved between 2019 and 2020 by EaSI-
supported major EU-level  organisations through operating  grants.  Operating grants 
finance  work  programme  of  a  body  that  pursues  interests  as  those  of  the  European 
Union or its specific policy. The report concludes with a short afterword explaining the 
next  steps  in  monitoring  EaSI-supported  projects  and  organisations  as  well  as  the 
overall programme. 

The reader should note that the date of finalisation serves as the basis for the selection 
of the projects described in the report. This report lists EaSI-funded action and operating 
grants completed between 1 May 2020 – 28 February 2021. 

1.1.  Key facts about the presented projects 

This report presents 19 finished projects funded by the EaSI programme in the areas 
of  social  protection,  working  conditions,  employment  and  development  of  a  social 
finance market16.  

16 Please note that the projects within different policy areas as well as projects within the same policy area 
that are funded through different calls should not be directly compared with each other. They are different in 
scope, aims, activities, budget and duration. Each project should rather be seen as a distinct action. 

May 2022 

 14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
In the policy area of working conditions17, the report presents six EaSI-funded projects 
that  aimed  to  enhance  administrative  cooperation  and  access  to  information  on  the 
posting of workers and prevent and tackle undeclared work (see Table 1). 

One of the main areas of EU labour law is working conditions setting minimum 
requirements at European level. This includes provisions on working time, part-
time, and fixed-term work, temporary workers, and the posting of workers. All these 
are  key  to  ensuring  high  quality  and  sustainable  employment  and  decent  and 
adequate social protection throughout the EU. 

Table 1. Calls for proposals in the policy area of working conditions (EaSI-PROGRESS) 

Reference 
number 

Title 

VP/2018/011 
VP/2017/003 

Posting of workers: enhancing administrative cooperation 
and access to information 

Number 
reported 
projects 
5 

VP/2018/012 

Activities in the field of undeclared work 

1 

In the policy area of employment, the report analyses five projects (see Table 2). Two 
of the projects were specifically focused on fast-track integration into the labour market 
for third country nationals, another three – on awareness-raising activities and support 
for the deployment  of  skills assessments  on  “Upskilling Pathways: New  Opportunities 
for Adults”.  

Table 2. Calls for proposals in the policy area of employment (EaSI-PROGRESS) 

Reference 
number 

Title 

VP/2016/015  Fast-track integration into the labour market for third country 
nationals targeting exclusively asylum seekers, refugees and 
their family members 

VP/2017/011  Awareness-raising activities on “Upskilling Pathways: New 

Opportunities for Adults” 

VP/2018/008  Support for the deployment of skills assessments in the 
implementation of ‘Upskilling Pathways’  

Number 
reported 
projects 
2 

2 

1 

In  the  policy  area  of  geographical  labour  mobility  (EaSI-EURES18),  the  report 
analyses two projects. All the projects fall under the same call for proposal to provide 
support to national classification inventories and innovative national online services for 
mobile workers.  

17 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=706&langId=en 
18 https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/homepage 

May 2022 

 15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table  3. Calls  for  proposals  in  the  policy  area  of  geographical  labour  mobility  (EaSI-
EURES) 

EURES  is  a  European  job  mobility  network  providing  information,  guidance  and 
recruitment/placement services to employers, jobseekers and any citizen wishing to 
take advantage of freedom of movement for workers within the European Union and 
the European Economic Area (EEA). 

It covers three thematic sections: 
• 

transparency of job vacancies, job applications and any related information for 
applicants and employers; 

•  development of services on recruitment and placing of workers in employment; 
• 

cross-border partnerships. 

Reference 
number 

Title 

VP/2019/010  EaSI -–EURES: support to national classification inventories and 

innovative national online services for mobile workers 

Number 
reported 
projects 
2 

In the policy area of the social finance market, the report presents six projects (see Table 4). 
The  EU  grants  aimed  at  lowering  the  transaction  costs  borne  by  financial  intermediaries 
undertaking long-term risk capital investments in ticket sizes of less than EUR 500 000 to social 
enterprises in the EaSI participating countries.  

Table  4.  Calls  for  proposals  in  the  policy  area  of  social  finance  market  (EaSI- 
Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship) 

Reference 
number 

Title 

VP/2017/013  Transaction cost support for social enterprises finance 

Number 
reported 
projects 
6 

1.2.  Key facts about the presented organisations 

The report also presents the work of 11 EaSI-funded EU-level civil society network 
organisations working on social inclusion, poverty reduction and promotion of access 
to finance for vulnerable persons and social entrepreneurs19. 

19 Funded as a result of the call for proposals for operating grants open to EU-level NGO networks that signed 
a Framework Partnership Agreement with the European Commission (VP/2018/016). 

May 2022 

 16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 5. List of presented EaSI-supported organisations 

Title of an organisation 

Vision and goal 

The European Federation of National 
Organisations Working with the 
Homeless (FEANTSA)  
EUCLID Network 

Tackling homelessness and its effects 

Supporting social entrepreneurs and impact-driven 
leaders 

Caritas Europa 

Fighting poverty and social exclusion 

COFACE 

Promoting the well-being, health and security of 
families and their members  

Platform for International Cooperation 
on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) 
EUROCARERS 

Ensuring social justice and human rights for 
undocumented migrants 
Acting as a vocal voice for informal carers 

European Microfinance Network 
(EMN) 

Advocating for stronger provision of microfinance 
and fighting social and financial exclusion 

EUROCITIES 

Network of major European cities reinforcing the role 
of local and municipal governments 

Fundacja Microfinance Centre 

Empowering individuals and sustaining communities 
through innovative social finance and microfinance 

European Social Network (ESN) 

European Venture Philanthropy 
Association (EVPA) 

Advancing the exchange of knowledge in public 
social services in partnership with health, education, 
housing, employment and social inclusion 
Enabling investors for impact to maximise social 
impact through increased recourses, collaboration  

1.3.  How to read this report 

This  report  consists  mainly  of  fiches  prepared  as  stand-alone  documents.  Therefore, 
please, go to the fiches of interest and relevance to your work or personal interest. To 
learn more on how these fiches were developed refer to Chapter 2 – Methodology. 

May 2022 

 17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Methodology 

The  key  components  of  this  report  are  fiches  presenting  the  results  of  projects  and 
actions delivered by organisations funded by the EaSI programme. These project and 
organisation  fiches  are  structured  according  to  policy  areas,  as  well  as  themes  of 
respective  calls  for  proposals.  The  report  presents  projects  completed  between  2020 
and 2021 through action grants (Chapter 3), and the results delivered in 2019 and 2021 
by the EU-level civil society network organisations supported by EaSI through operating 
grants (Chapter 4). 

In addition to an overview of activities carried out by the grant beneficiaries, the report 
aims to identify and describe potential good practices. To single out such practices, 
we  followed  a  broad  definition  of  the  term  “practice”  encompassing  both  policy 
development  and  implementation.  In  our  view,  a  “good  practice”  is  a  process  or 
methodology  that  has  been  proven  to  work  well  and  produce  good  results  and  is 
therefore  recommended for others as a model  or useful  example. What constitutes a 
“good practice” can thus include initiatives as diverse as legislation (at the national, sub-
national  and  local  levels),  regulation,  policies,  strategies,  institutional  frameworks, 
planning  and  coordination  procedures,  various  interventions  (programmes,  projects, 
campaigns, subsidies, financing mechanisms, tariff structures and similar), among many 
others. When analysing EaSI-funded projects and organisations, the report team aimed 
to include all information instrumental to distinguishing the most successful activities, 
so that only effective calls are continued in the future. 

To ensure that the collected information is as comprehensive as possible, we relied on 
three data collection strategies: 

1.  The main sources of information were the final technical implementation reports 

completed by grant beneficiaries. 

2.  The  report  team  also  used  all  available  additional  information  about  the 
presented  projects  and  organisations  provided  to  them  by  the  European 
Commission. Such information included various reports and briefings, agendas 
of organised events, participant lists, financial information, a detailed description 
of deliverables and external/internal evaluations. 

3.  Finally,  data  collection  was  carried  out  in  openly  accessible  sources,  such  as 

project / organisation websites. 

The report team then analysed the content of the collected material according to a pre-
developed  toolkit  to  produce  fiches  for  each  project  and  organisation.  The  toolkit 
included  a  project  /  organisation  fiche  template  (covering  pre-established  criteria  for 
analysis),  a  list  of  criteria  for  classifying  analysed  projects  and  organisations,  and  a 
reference grid for indicating potential good practices. 

The resulting 30 fiches consist of two parts. The first part (a table) presents the general 
administrative data on a given project or organisation as well as policy areas and sub-
areas as per the pre-established classification. In the second part, we outline the actions’ 
aims  and  results,  effectiveness,  transferability  /  up-scalability,  sustainability, 
innovativeness,  impact  and  EU  added  value.  These  criteria  were  also  used  to  assess 
which  of  the  project  and  organisation  activities  could  be  regarded  as  potential  good 
practices.  As  the  reports  on  EaSI-funded  projects  and  organisations  will  be  inter  alia 
used  by  the  project  and  organisations’  auditors,  the  aspect  of  effectiveness  (i.e.,  the 
extent to which projects and organisations achieved their results) was given particular 
attention. 

Box 1 provides a complete list of criteria applied to analyse projects. 

May 2022 

 18 

 
 
 
 
 
Box 1. List of criteria for analysing projects 

•  Socioeconomic context. This part describes why the action was implemented and the 
policy-related motives behind it. It also describes how the analysed project fits into the 
local / national / EU policy, social and economic context. 

•  Aims of the project/organisation. This summarises what the action aimed to achieve. 
•  Results,  impacts,  lessons  learned.  This  part  discusses  the  results,  medium-to-long-

• 

• 

term impacts of the action (both current and expected) and lessons learned. 
Identification of potential good practices. This identifies processes / methodologies 
employed in a project that could be suggested as good practice examples to others. 
•  Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities  (if  any).  This  discusses  the 
potential  for the  action  or  its  individual  parts  to  be applied  in  other  contexts  /  at  other 
levels. 
Innovativeness of the project/activities (if any). Activities considered novel, in terms 
of standing out comparing similar actions and settings, elaborating the innovativeness. 
•  Policy evidence generated by the project (if any). An overview of studies, reports, 
databases or other evidence produced to inform policy developments in a respective field. 
•  Transnational  dimension  (if  any).  This  section  focuses  on  activities  implemented  in 
more  than  one  country,  at  the  EU  or  international  level.  In  the  fiches  on  transnational 
networks or projects (by design transnational), this section was often not singled out and 
instead the transnational element was emphasised as a horizontal theme in the fiche. 
•  New  partnerships  created  (if  any).  This  heading  elaborates  on  actions  that  led  to 
organisations  finding  new  partners  because  of  their  involvement  in  a  given  project  / 
network. 

•  Dissemination strategy (if any) on how the project communicated the results to their 
members, stakeholders and general public, including intermediary and final target groups. 

•  European added value. In this section, the report comments on whether the action: 

o 

could have been implemented or reached similar results without EU funding (where 
exactly did EU funding mostly contribute to?); 
contributed to implementing EU legislation or ensuring it is correctly applied; 
led to economies of scale, more efficient use of money and better services; 

o 
o 
o  promoted best practice examples learned from the previous EU / national actions; 
o  promoted benchmarking for decision-making (e.g., through peer reviews, mutual 

learning, producing evidence for policymakers, etc.); 

o  due to its transnational character,  allowed cross-border risks to be  reduced and 

their consequences mitigated; 
contributed to the free movement of persons; 
contributed to networking (especially of organisations from different countries). 

o 
o 

•  Sustainability measures. This part explains measures taken to ensure that results and 
impacts are sustainable. Is there any evidence that activities would continue without EU 
support? 

•  Horizontal  objectives.  In  all  its  axes  and  activities,  the  EaSI  Programme  should 
contribute  to  promoting  gender  equality  (including  through  gender  mainstreaming  and 
gender budgeting), paying particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as young people 
and  ensuring  non-discrimination  on  all  grounds,  promoting  fair  working  conditions  and 
sustainable work and combating long-term unemployment, ensuring adequate and decent 
social protection, and fighting social exclusion and poverty20. This section focuses on how 
these  horizontal  objectives  of  the  EaSI  Programme  were  considered  in  the  technical 
implementation and the content of project activities. How did a project team pay attention 
to vulnerable groups? Is there any evidence on the use of non-discrimination and gender 
equality  measures  (including  gender  mainstreaming  and  gender  budgeting)?  Do  the 
projects in any way promote high-quality and sustainable work, adequate and decent social 
protection and tackle long-term unemployment, social exclusion and poverty? 

The reader should note that even though projects  and organisations presented in this 
report were funded under the  same programme and many of them had similar aims, 

20 Regulation EU No 1296/2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation. 

May 2022 

 19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
each implemented a unique set of actions. Therefore, in overviewing them the research 
team focused on the most relevant information for each, instead of including a uniform 
list  of  criteria  in  every  fiche.  This  is  to  say  that  project  /  organisation  fiches  feature 
different combinations of headings, and more emphasis is given to some of the criteria 
over others, with respect to the nature of the actions. 

May 2022 

 20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. EaSI-funded projects 

3.1. Working conditions 

3.1.a. Posting of workers: enhancing administrative cooperation and access to 
information 

This  section  presents  five  projects  that  aimed  to  further  improve  transnational 
administrative  cooperation  between  national  competent  bodies  and  social  partners 
involved in the monitoring and correct application of the Posting of Workers Directive 
and its Enforcement  Directive. The projects under this call also worked on increasing 
the  mutual  trust  among  stakeholders,  including  promoting  common  actions  between 
social  partners  at  different  levels,  exchanges  of  relevant  officials  and  training.  The 
actions also enhanced the evidence basis, both of qualitative and quantitative nature, 
and evaluation of original information and data concerning various dimensions of posting 
of workers.  

3.1.1.  Action  ‘Promoting  fair  treatment  of  posted  workers  via  increasing 
transnational cooperation’  

‘The Project aimed at defining obstacles in the access to information on the rights of 
posted workers and developing solutions to eliminate defined barriers. It made 
participants aware of the role of trade union organisations in the posting process.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2017/003 

VS/2017/0350 
Employment 
Mobility 
• 

Employees and representatives of trade unions from metal 
and mining sector; 
Posted workers aged 50+; 
Social partners; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment. 
one inaugural meeting  
one international seminar 
seven national events (training sessions) 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

May 2022 

 21 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 
• 
• 

• 

six national workshops 
consultations with trade unions  
final publication on posted workers covering all the partner 
countries 
production  of  written  materials  to  raise  awareness  and 
provide information on the rights and obligations of posted 
workers 

Republic of North Macedonia 
North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, Turkey, Romania 
and Bulgaria. 
Workers' Union of Energy of Mining and Industry of the Republic 
of North Macedonia  

Trade Unions of participating countries 
(initial) 122 166.87 
15 January 2018-14 January 2020 
https://promotingfairtreatment.eu  

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

Socioeconomic context: The action “Promoting fair treatment of posted workers via 
increasing  transnational  cooperation”  was  initiated  as  a  result  of  number  of  unfair 
treatment  and  abuses  of  posted  workers  from  the  metal  and  mining  sector.  The 
project  is  fuelled  by  the  market  and  policy  gaps  identified  in  the  participating 
countries. Given the fact that posted workers comprise a significant share of workers 
in the metal and mining sector, there is a clear need to protect posted workers’ rights 
and improve the application of the rules of the Directive 96/71/EC regarding the terms 
and conditions of employment.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The project aimed to raise workers’ awareness 
about their rights and obligations regarding the terms and conditions of employment. 
It specifically focused on topics related to older employees’ active participation in the 
posting and enhanced the mechanisms of delivery of proper information. In addition, 
the  project  team  explored  effective  ways  to  avoid  social  dumping,  fraud  and 
circumvention  of  rules  by  strengthening  trade  unions’  influence  in  the  national 
transposition of EU directives.  

Other specific objectives of the project were to: 

•  promote the use of single market information system effectively to increase 

the delivery of information and access to consultations; 

•  explore difficulties in implementing EU directives and enforcement directives 
at national level and finding new ways to eradicate shortcomings considering 
country-specific conditions of posted workers; 

•  promote the creation of an international network among trade unions from 

EU Member States and candidate countries to effectively monitor the 
provision of the Posting of Workers Directive and its enforcement directive;  
conduct country comparative analysis and elaborate joint initiatives and 
recommendations.  

• 

Project  results,  measured  impacts  and  achievements:  the  objectives  of  the 
project were met mainly through the organisation of large-scale events, consultations 
and dissemination of information in various formats.  

The project team organised one inaugural meeting attended by 14 participants from 
each  partner  country;  one  international  seminar  attended  by  15  participants  and  7 
national  events  (national  trainings)  attended  by  141  participants  and  6  national 
workshops attended by 117. 

May 2022 

 22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A  dedicated  website  was  developed  and  translated  into  each  partner  language.  In 
addition,  mini-manuals  useful  for  posted  workers  representing  various  sectors  in 
English and in the languages of all the partners were produced. The awareness-raising 
objective was also met through the production and delivery of leaflets; promotional 
materials such as banners and posters and a video production.  

To summarise the project and its activities, a final publication was created. It included 
an analysis of the dilemmas, shortcomings and weaknesses related to posted workers 
and a reflection of the current situation of posted workers representing the metal and 
mining sector. 

Lessons learned: In the context of the proposal regarding the  Posting of Workers 
Directive, project partners indicated a strong need for a coordinated intervention and 
a  real  EU  cooperation.  Throughout  consultations,  trade  unions  stressed  the 
importance of the autonomy of the social partners in terms of paying for the work of 
posted  workers.  The  social  partners  indicated  the  lack  of  respect  in  terms  of  their 
autonomy  to  negotiate  wages.  Nonetheless,  the  plurality  of  national  industrial 
relations systems is  raising further questions about the equal and fair treatment of 
posted workers. 

The events highlighted the importance of working conditions of posted workers which 
need  to  be  further  improved.  Furthermore,  the  inequalities  of  posted  workers 
compared to local employees that is mostly related to remuneration during the posting 
period  was  raised.  It  was  also  indicated  that  there  is  a  clear  need  to  boost  and 
strengthen  cooperation  between  representatives  of  the  state,  trade  unions  and 
employers in the receiving as well as the sending country.  

Transnational  dimension:  the  scope  of  the  project  was  transnational  towards  a 
common  identification,  learning,  sharing  of  experiences  by  seven  countries.  The 
project aimed at uniting trade unions from EU Member States and candidate countries 
in collaborating regulating the posting of workers.  

European  added  value:  The  project  activities  contributed  to  the  achievement  of 
policy objectives promoted and improved by the application of the rules of Directive 
96/71/EC.  The  results  of  the  project  supported  the  EU  policies  through  raised 
awareness on the EU legal framework and its national transposition.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  project  team  conducted  an  analysis  about  posted 
workers using questionnaires in all partner countries. The research on the legal, social 
and  economic  situation  of  posted  workers  and  the  problems  faced  by  persons 
providing work as part of posting were shared with all members. The outputs produced 
as a result of the activities carried out were disseminated through final publication on 
social networks and the project website.  

Sustainability measures: Social partners and relevant national authorities agreed 
upon  common  ground  and  highlighted  the  improvements  that  could  be  made  with 
respect  to  monitoring  the  Enforcement  Directive  and  revising  of  the  Directive  on 
Posted Workers. Social partners pledged to continue to share information on posted 
workers among other participants after the project implementation.  

Horizontal objectives: The project has addressed the following issues:  
•  Promotion of a high level of quality and sustainable employment; 
•  Guarantee adequate and decent social protection. 

May 2022 

 23 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1.2.  ECMIN  3.0  –  Workers'  information  and  portal  website  on  applicable 
working conditions 

‘The ECMIN 3.0 project responds to the ambition of the European 
legislators to increase the accessibility, transparency and quality of 
information concerning the terms and conditions of employment and 
the existing practices in the Member States to monitor and enforce 
the provisions of the Posting of Workers Directive.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2017/003 

VS/2017/0354 
Employment  
Mobility 
• 
• 
• 
•  Media; 
• 
• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Specialised bodies provided for under Union law; 

Posted workers; 
National construction trade unions;  
European  specialised  bodies,  such  as  the  European  Platform 
tackling  undeclared  work,  European  expert  group  on  Posting, 
European Labour Authority; 
National  specialised  bodies  such  as  consulting  organisations, 
labour authorities, experts / academia. 
Information on terms of condition of employment of candidate 
countries  (Albania,  North  Macedonia,  Montenegro,  Serbia, 
Turkey) and EEA countries (Iceland and Norway) was added to 
the website; 
Seven additional languages were added to cater for the workers 
of the new countries; 
Information on the website was adapted to the new provisions 
foreseen  by  the  European  Court  of  Justice  and  the  revision  of 
the Posting of Workers Directive. 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 
Partners 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

Belgium 
27 EU Member States and United Kingdom.  
European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW)  
EFBWW affiliates and DG EMPL 
(initial) 293 043.00 
1 January 2018-21 December 2019 
https://www.constructionworkers.eu/en  

Socioeconomic context: The construction sector is by its nature characterised by a 
highly mobile workforce. Therefore, temporary migration and in particular posting of 
workers is of vital importance to the sector. A lack of accessibility to and transparency 
of the applicable working conditions lead to resistance of workers to  work in an EU 

May 2022 

 24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Member  State  other  than  their  home  country.  Often  posted  workers  end  up  being 
trapped  in  jobs  where  they  face  sub-standard  conditions  which  are  below  the  legal 
minimum. These cases highlight the violation of the rule of ‘same wage for the same 
work at the same workplace’.  

In this context, the ECMIN 3.0 project acknowledges the need to raise awareness and 
provide proper information about the rights of posted workers to be protected against 
possible exploitation. The project is a follow-up of a European Federation of Building 
and  Woodworkers  (EFBWW)  action  which  included  the  creation  of  a  website  where 
posted construction workers can find practical information on minimum rates of pay, 
working  time,  premiums,  holidays,  wage  deduction  and  sickness  and  injuries 
applicable in all 28 EU Member States in all 24 official languages of the EU.  

Aims of the project/organisation: as a follow-up of an EFBWW action, the project 
aimed: 
• 

to include in the existing website information on terms and conditions of 
employment of candidate countries (Albania, Republic of North Macedonia, 
Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and European Economic Area (EEA) 
countries (Iceland and Norway); 
to add seven additional languages to cater for the workers of the new 
countries; 
to adapt the information provided on the website to the new provisions 
foreseen by the European Court of Justice and the revision of the Posting of 
Workers Directive; 
to improve the reachability of the website in all the languages; 
to further develop and improve structural synergies and cooperation with 
existing networks working with / for the protection of posted workers and 
respect of workers‘ rights; 
to further disseminate the website among workers and public authorities. 

• 

• 

• 
• 

• 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: the project team carried out three steering 
group  committee  meetings,  a  dissemination  event,  an  evaluation  meeting  and  a 
training  seminar.  In  addition,  transnational  administrative  cooperation  and  trust 
between national competent bodies, stakeholders and social partners were achieved 
through a continuous open dialogue between all parties. As a result, the accessibility, 
transparency and quality of the information of ECMIN were improved. As planned, the 
number  of  countries  on  the  website  was  increased  by  seven  additional  countries 
(Albania,  North  Macedonia,  Montenegro,  Serbia,  Turkey,  Iceland  and  Norway).  The 
same number of languages were added to cater for the workers of the new countries 
involved.  

The  project  team  successfully  modified 
accommodation to align it with the adapted European legislative framework.  

information  on  travel,  board  and 

The  evaluation  of  the  activities  implemented  highlighted  several  important  aspects 
that  need  to  be  continuously  and  simultaneously  considered.  Providing  proper 
information on wages and working conditions to posted construction workers in all the 
official languages proved to be very important. In addition, the project team found 
that  a  reasonable  balance  needs  to  be  reached  between  the  accessible  information 
and the formal information, which is a continuous, difficult methodological exercise. 
The evaluation also emphasised the need for more structural cooperation with other 
organisations  and  the  further  development  of  a  clear  targeted  communication 
strategy.  

May 2022 

 25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transnational dimension: The ECMIN website / database contains information on 
30  countries  in  total.  The  transnational  dimension  was  even  extended  outside  the 
scope of EU Member States and included candidate countries and EEA countries. 

Dissemination strategy: The ECMIN website has been disseminated through many 
different platforms such as social media, European Platform for Undeclared Labour, 
European Labour Authority, national websites and EFBWW website. 

For  each  target  group  specific  actions  and  tools  were  developed  and  promoted. 
National trade unions received the information through various internal meetings and 
project-related  events.  The  EFBWW  organised  a  dissemination  event  in  December 
2019  which  took  place  in  Vienna.  National  trade  unions  were  also  informed  via 
promotional posters, publication in the EFBWW newsletter and through a permanent 
link on the EFBWW website. European specialised bodies were mainly informed of the 
ECMIN tool by the national trade unions.  

Information  about  the  ECMIN  tool  for  posted  workers  was  disseminated  through 
hardboard cards which were designed to be distributed on a wide scale.  

The project team has also maximised the use of its social media tools such as Twitter, 
Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. For this, a practice of a weekly post on different 
social media platforms was introduced.  

European added value: The activities implemented by the project team contributed 
to the Enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC and the new Posting of Workers Directive 
2018/957 by making the information on conditions and terms of employment in the 
posted  worker’s  country  easily  accessible  in  a  transparent  way.  Specifically,  the 
increase in the number of languages and countries already available on the website 
will cater for an important number of construction workers on the European continent.  

Horizontal objectives: the objectives of the project derived from the overall aim of 
the Posting of Workers Directive 2018/957 to ensure equal treatment to all workers. 
Through this, the project directly contributed to the fight against poverty and social 
exclusion. Nonetheless, ECMIN operationalised their activities in line with the overall 
objective to promote high-quality employment.  

May 2022 

 26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1.3.  CAREurope  –  Enhancing  transnational  administrative  cooperation 
among  social  partners  from  EU  and  candidate  countries  and  securing  better 
information prospects for all posted workers in the care sector 

‘Joint visits, national panel discussions, short training courses and a 
transnational round table gathered together 350 participants who 
learned, shared, raised awareness, and were directly involved in 
generating change at the national level.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 

VP/2018/011 

VS/2018/0461 
Employment 
Mobility 
• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities 
Social partners from five EU Member States (Germany, Poland, 
Spain,  Bulgaria  and  Romania)  and  three  candidate  countries 
(Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) 
Trade unions  
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment 

• 
• 
•  Organised  international  and  national  events,  training  courses, 

• 

national press conferences; 
Produced printed material on guidelines for posted workers and 
companies as well as leaflets; 

•  Developed  a  dedicated  website  and  translated  it  into  each 

partner language; 

Serbia; 
North Macedonia; 

Evaluated the outcomes and impact of the project. 

•  Delivered a final publication in all partner languages; 
•  Disseminated results to stakeholders and the wider public; 
• 
Serbia 
• 
• 
•  Montenegro; 
Spain; 
• 
Bulgaria; 
• 
Romania; 
• 
Poland; 
• 
•  Germany. 
Sindikat Zaposlenih u Zdravstvu i socijalnoj Zaštiti Srbije 
• 

Verband  für  häusliche  Betreuung  und  Pflege  (VHBP)  e.V.  / 
Association for Home Care and Nursing (VHBP) e.V.- Germany 

•  Ministry of Health of Republic of Serbia- Serbia 
• 
• 

Federația Solidaritatea Sanitaria din Romania- Romania 
Trade  Union  of  Public  and  State  administration  of  North 
Macedonia- North Macedonia 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

•  Medical Federation – Podkrepa- Bulgaria 
(initial) 165 424.90 
1 January 2019-30 November 2020 
www.careuropeworkers.com  

May 2022 

 27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Socioeconomic context: For every person over the age 65 in the European Union, 
there are four people of working age but, by 2050, there will only be two. Demand 
for long-term healthcare, of which home care forms a significant part, will inevitably 
increase  in  the  decades  to  come.  Therefore,  there  is  a  clear  need  to  strengthen 
transnational  administrative  cooperation  among  social  partners  from  EU  and 
candidate countries to secure better access to information for all posted workers in 
the care sector.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The project “CAREurope” aimed to strengthen 
discussion on the revision of Posted Workers Directive which  is supposed to ensure 
better  protection  and  reduce  inequality  between  posted  and  local  workers.  Trade 
union  organisations  and  employers’  organisations  from  participating  countries  were 
invited to take part in a broad-based dialogue through sharing of best information and 
awareness-raising activities for posted workers so as to be more informed about their 
rights and obligations.  

The project team set the following specific objectives: 

•  To  improve  transnational  administrative  cooperation  between  national 
competent  authorities  and  social  partner  countries  in  order  to  detect 
irregularities in the posting of workers in the healthcare sector and to exchange 
best practices; 

•  To  raise  awareness  of  social  partners,  stakeholders  and  workers  at  national 
and  EU  level  about  the  regulatory  frameworks  on  posting  of  workers  within 
joint transnational actions undertaken by social partners; 

•  To  support  posted  workers  and  posted  temporary  agency  workers  from  the 
healthcare sector with relevant information and guidance to prepare them for 
the labour market before and after departure.  

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The project organised three meetings on 
an international level attended by 474 participants; two categories of national events 
with  a  total  number  of  303  participants  and  one  national  press  conference  to 
disseminate the results of the project to a wider audience; 7 panel discussions and 6 
national trainings with 143 attendees. Furthermore, 700 hard copies of Guidelines for 
posted  workers  and  companies  were  produced  and  translated  into  each  partner’s 
language so that posted workers  could learn about their rights and obligations and 
further communicate them with relevant bodies. In addition, promotional leaflets with 
information about the project were produced and distributed and a dedicated website 
in all partner language was developed.  

The  project  team  also  delivered  a  final  publication  in  all  partner  languages  which 
included an analysis  of  the dilemmas,  shortcomings and weaknesses  related to the 
regulatory frameworks, types of abuses, best practices and cooperation initiatives that 
were discussed at the transnational events.  

The  CAREurope  project  helped  to  increase  mutual  trust  among  stakeholders  and 
increased  the  overall  accessibility,  transparency  and  quality  of  information  on 
employment conditions of the posted workers.  

The project team recommends reviewing the current regulations on posted workers 
in the health and care sectors and extend equal employment conditions to all workers 
in  these  sectors  regardless  of  whether  they  are  posted  or  hired  based  on  the  free 
movement  of  people.  The  prohibition  of  replacement  among  posted  workers  in  the 
specific field of care services should also be revised, understanding that this type of 

May 2022 

 28 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
social service cannot be subject to the maximum period of 18 months established by 
the  new  Directive.  The  implemented  activities  highlighted  the  importance  of 
transnational  cooperation  of  labour  inspections  on  control  measures  and  on  the 
surveillance  of  irregular  hiring  procedures.  The  project  stressed  the  importance  of 
translating  documents  related  to  posting  of  workers  as  this  is  essential  to  further 
reach a wider audience.  

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  The  project  team  developed  a 
dedicated  website  to  provide  user-friendly,  sufficient  and  coherent  information  for 
employers, posted workers, trade unions and other stakeholders who are responsible 
for  conducting  procedures  related  to  posting.  Users  can  find  specific  manuals  for 
posted  workers  which  are  translated  into  seven  partner  country  languages.  The 
dedicated website also has the final publication which contains a review of the rules 
on posted workers; the challenges faced by posted workers and proposed solutions 
and recommendations for the European Commission.  

Transnational dimension: Transnational events allowed for partners of the project 
to learn from each other and share best practices. Through the implemented activities 
the project was successful in engaging national stakeholders from different countries 
and different European regions into a broad-based dialogue on posted workers’ rights 
and the issues they face.  

New  partnerships  created: The  project  activities  were  implemented  through  the 
creation  of  a  partnership  between  three  candidate  countries  and  five  EU  Member 
States. Trade unions in the health and social care sector and employers’ organisations 
took part in this project to support the introduction and harmonisation of a mandatory 
directive  in  their  respective  countries  as  well  as  to  provide  the  best  models  for 
disseminating  information  to  posted  workers  and  casual  workers  working  through 
temporary  employment agencies. The project  has built synergies between different 
national,  regional  and  local  authorities,  employment  service  agencies  and  non-
governmental organisations.  

Dissemination strategy: All the stakeholders involved in the project had direct and 
immediate  access  to  the  material  developed  such  as  Guidelines  and  the  final 
publication available in hardcopy (700 copies of the Guidelines and 800 copies of the 
final publication) and in downloadable format on the project website.  

Evaluation  surveys  were  also  disseminated  to  all  the  participants  who  attended 
specific events giving them an opportunity to indicate their level of satisfaction with 
the  meetings,  the  materials  received,  lessons  learned,  accommodation  and  overall 
organisation  matters.  The  project  team  also  contracted  an  external  evaluator  to 
provide an interim, and final evaluation of the project. The assessment concluded with 
corresponding  observations  and  recommendations  aimed  at  improving  the  possible 
future initiatives of project partners. 

European  added  value:  The  delivered  project  activities  supported  EU  policies 
through raised awareness on the EU legal framework and their national transpositions. 
The  actions  implemented  also  complements  the  national  policies  in  the  partner 
countries with regards to posted workers.  

Horizontal  objectives: The  project  team  aimed  to  improve  the  protection  of 
workers’ rights through the correct application of the directive on posting employees 
(1996) which supposed to ensure a better protection of posted workers by reducing 
inequality  between  posted  and  local  workers.  Therefore,  CAREurope  supported  the 

May 2022 

 29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
aim  of  the  promotion  of  fair  and  equal  treatment  of  workers,  for  a  quality  job;  an 
overall sustainability of the labour market; and just and fair social protection.  

3.1.4.  FAIR  WORKING  CONDITIONS  –  Access  to  fair  working  conditions  for 
posted workers through sector-specific information and cooperation 

‘The sector-specific information centres provided individual support 
and transferred the information which they gained through individual 
cases to trade unions, public authorities, stakeholders and 
policymakers. With this, we improved the working conditions of the 
posted workers and contributed to the discussion on posting.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2018/011 

National, regional and local authorities 
Employment services; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

VS/2018/0453 
Employment 
Mobility 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
•  Media; 
• 
• 
• 

Posted workers. 
five sector-specific information centres were set up; 
six  national  expert  meetings  of  trade  unions  and  relevant 
stakeholders in the field of posting workers organised; 
12 transnational expert traineeships organised; 
Transnational information campaign carried out; 

• 
• 
•  Dedicated project website developed. 

May 2022 

 30 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

Project/organisation website 

Germany 
•  Germany; 
Poland; 
• 
Romania; 
• 
•  Hungary; 
Slovenia; 
• 
Croatia. 
• 
Non-profit  educational  organisation  of  the  German  Federation  of 
Trade Unions (DGB) 
• 
• 

The National Trade Union Bloc (BNS); 
Non-profit educational organisation of the German Federation of 
Trade Unions (DGB); 
All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ); 
Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia; 
Iron Trade Union (VSS); 
The Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia (ZSSS) 

• 
• 
• 
• 
(initial) 433 789.93 
1 January 2019-31 December 2020 

- 

Socioeconomic context: Posted workers are forced to work in a shadow world of the 
labour market in which labour law is circumvented and occupational safety and health 
requirements are undermined. Due to the transnational character of posting, posted 
workers work in a particularly vulnerable environment. They work in a country, where 
they do not live; they work in cities, in which they are not integrated. Due to the short 
term  of  their  stay,  most  posted  workers  are  not  aware  of  the  labour  rights  in  the 
respective  country,  nor  do  they  speak  the  same  language.  Wage  fraud,  salary 
discrimination,  incorrect  dismissals,  unpaid  overtime,  violation  of  health  and  safety 
regulations,  incorrect  social  security  contributions,  and  the  loss  of  accommodation 
after  dismissal  are  part  of  the  day-to-day  dealings  for  posted  workers.  As  the 
construction sector is one of the main employment sectors for posted workers, it is 
crucial to strengthen transnational cooperation, increase accessibility to information 
and promote the evidence basis regarding the situation of posted workers. 

Aims of the project/organisation: The “FAIR working conditions“ project aimed to 
implement a twofold approach towards counselling posted workers and transferring 
the gained information to trade unions, public authorities and policymakers. 

The  project  established  transnational  cooperation  among  the  above-mentioned 
stakeholders  through  the  creation  of  five  sector-specific  information  centres  in 
sending  countries  (Poland,  Romania,  Hungary,  Slovenia  and  Croatia)  and 
strengthened cooperation with already existing counselling centres in Germany, which 
is the largest receiving country of posted workers. It also aimed to boost information-
sharing practices on posted workers with trade unions in France.  

Results, impacts and lessons learned: As planned, five sector-specific information 
centres were set up and began operations at the beginning of 2019. Every information 
centre  specialised  in  one  specific  sector  (care,  construction,  transport  and  metal 
sector). During the project, the information centres worked on 1 800 cases involving 
1 958 workers; 180 cases were related to the COVID-19 pandemic. To further improve 
the quality of counselling and gain better knowledge on the legislation of the specific 
sectors  and  exchange  know-how,  the  counsellors  participated  in  four  transnational 
workshops which took place in Germany, Croatia and Slovenia. 

In addition, six national expert meetings of trade unions and relevant stakeholders in 
the  field  of  posting  workers  were  organised  by  five  partners  individually  and  the 
leading  applicant.  The  meetings  informed  the  relevant  stakeholders  about  the 

May 2022 

 31 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
activities of the project and the information centres, and established cooperation with 
local authorities involved in the administration and monitoring of posted workers.  

The  project  team  successfully  organised  12  transnational  expert  traineeships  to 
further exchange experience, know-how and best practices on an international level. 
It  also  ran  a  simultaneous  transnational  information  campaign  which  included 
explanatory films, posters and the creation of a dedicated website (https://www.fair-
labour-mobility.eu/). 

Throughout the project, several key areas of concern were highlighted. According to 
the project team, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinated prevention 
measures for posted workers are essential. In addition, social security protection and 
regulation of placement agencies must be ensured. The project also concluded that 
further improvements on accommodation conditions, a legal right to labour law advice 
and support for posted workers need to be considered.  

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  project  team  carried  out  an 
extensive  information-sharing  campaign  to  raise  awareness  on  the  rights  and 
obligations  of  posted  workers.  The  activities  implemented  provided  an  avenue  for 
posted  workers  to  receive  and  gain  access  to  comprehensible  information  on  their 
labour rights in their mother tongue. The free of charge, multilingual counselling and 
support proved to be successful. 

Transnational  dimension:  The  scope  of  the  project  was  transnational  towards  a 
common identification, learning, sharing of experiences by six countries. The project 
aimed  at  uniting  trade  unions  from  EU  Member  States  and  candidate  countries  in 
collaborating on enhanced access to information on posting.  

New partnerships created: To implement the activities foreseen, the project team 
successfully  created  a  partnership  between  six  trade  union  organisations  of  the 
participating countries.  

In turn, trade unions mobilised resources to further create specific partnerships with 
national, regional and local authorities. For example, in Romania, BNS invested a lot 
of time in developing reliable cooperation with the respective organisations and policy 
officials.  During  the  inauguration  of  the  BNS  sector-specific  information  centre  for 
Romanian  posted  workers  in  Germany,  BNS  signed  a  partnership  framework 
agreement  with  the  Ministry  of  Labour  and  Social  Justice  and  a  Cooperation 
Agreement with the Labour Inspection.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  project  team  generated  a  quantitative  collection  of 
cases to retrace the problems  of posted workers. Additionally, activities, cases  and 
media reports were collected and stored in different qualitative databases. From this 
data, findings and recommendations have been drawn up to inform different national 
and EU bodies. The reports  were disseminated to all the stakeholders involved and 
not  only  informed  the  status  quo  of  posted  workers  but  also  gave  insight  on  the 
implementation  of  Union  law,  especially  the  Posting  of  Workers  Directive  and  the 
Enforcement Directive.  

The information about the activities of the project  was also disseminated through a 
dedicated website, leaflets, posters 

European added value: The action focused on the main policy areas of employment, 
social  affairs  and  inclusion,  moving  and  working  in  Europe  and  contributed  to  the 
better  implementation  of  the  Posting  of  Workers  Directive  and  the  Enforcement 

May 2022 

 32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Directive.  By  helping  to  identify  bogus  companies  and  working  closely  with  control 
bodies, the action contributed to lower costs for taxpayers. Through the counselling 
activities,  evidence  was  provided  to  the  authorities  for  further  investigations.  The 
action  has  also  significantly  contributed  to  better  networking  among  stakeholder 
organisations on the EU level through national expert meetings and workshops. As a 
result  of  intensive  cooperation  and  a  high  level  of  benchmarking  within  the 
international consortium members, the mitigation of cross-border risks has been also 
ensured through direct contacts on the local level. 

Continuing  the  action  without  EU  support  would  have  been  impossible  since  all 
consortium  members  have  very  limited  financial  capabilities  and  rely  on  external 
funding.  Furthermore,  trade  union  organisations  are  in  most  cases  limited  by  their 
statutes  from  providing  support  and  counselling  to  posted  workers  who  are  not 
members of their organisations.  

Sustainability  measures:  The  sustainability  of  the  networking  impacts  will  be 
ensured  by  the  follow-on  project  “Network  fair  posting“.  It  is  also  ensured  by  the 
lasting  online  accessibility  of  the  project’s  materials  and  the  care  for  the  network 
through activities by “Faire Mobilitaet“. 

Horizontal  objectives:  The  sector-specific  information  centres  offered  posted 
workers  information  and  supported  them  in  claiming  their  rights.  With  this,  the 
dedicated centres helped to fight poverty and social exclusion, to combat long-term 
unemployment,  to  guarantee  adequate  and  decent  social  protection  and  to  combat 
discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin.  

May 2022 

 33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1.5. Con3Post -Posting of third country nationals: Mapping the trend in the 
construction sector  

‘The Con3Post project provided new knowledge on intra-EU posting, 
especially the trend of recruiting and posting of third country 
nationals from the EU neighbourhood to work in the construction 
sector.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

VP/2018/011 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

VS/2018/0459 
Employment 
Mobility 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes 
• 
• 
• 
• 

nine joint visits in six Member States were organised; 
three research seminars took place in Ljubljana; 
three case study reports and three policy briefs published; 
final 
report 
comparative 
recommendations published. 

with 

multi-stakeholder 

Slovenia; 
Poland; 
Italy; 
Austria; 
Finland; 
Belgium; 
Estonia. 

Slovenia 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts 
European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research; 
• 
The University of Jyvaskyla; 
• 
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice; 
• 
University of Warsaw. 
• 
(initial) 419 018.55 
1 January 2019-31 December 2020 
https://www.zrc-sazu.si/en 

May 2022 

 34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Socioeconomic  context:  Con3Post  explored  the  growing  and  under-researched 
trend of recruiting and posting of third country nationals (TCNs) in order to produce 
new  evidence-based  knowledge,  provide  space  for  multi-stakeholder  transnational 
cooperation  and  exchange  of  information  within  and  beyond  the  EU,  contribute  to 
nourishing  social  dialogue  at  the  sectoral  level  and  promote  fair  and  safe  working 
conditions  for  workers.  The  main  objective  of  the  project  was  to  establish 
transnational cooperation, share information and conduct empirical research to outline 
current  challenges,  future  scenarios  and  possible  strategic  responses  to  the  far-
reaching yet largely unexplored implications of this trend.  

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  the  project  team  has  set  out  these  specific 
objectives: 

• 

• 

• 

to establish and facilitate cooperation between key stakeholders in the EU-
sending, EU-receiving and third countries through the lens of regional posting 
flows; 
to produce new information and increase access to information through the 
organisation of transnational events, publications, and by providing 
information to be uploaded to the existing websites and relevant online 
platforms; 
to strengthen the evidence base by collecting and analysing primary data.  

The  project  team  addressed  existing  and  new  challenges  across  different  thematic 
areas and EU regions: 1) regional and EU labour market dynamics and shortages, 2) 
labour migration and mobility trends, 3) labour rights, violations and representation 
of  posted  workers  who  are  third  country  nationals,  4)  social  welfare,  occupational 
safety  and  health  and  vulnerabilities  of  posted  workers  who  are  third  country 
nationals, and 5) managing transnational workplaces. The project also put a special 
focus on exploring the plausible futures in the countries covered by the report in order 
to provide different scenarios of what could happen in 2035.  

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  in  the  first  year,  the  project  focused  on 
transnational  networking,  information  sharing  and  data  collection.  As  a  result,  nine 
joint  visits  in  six  Member  States  were  organised.  During  these  events,  nine  focus 
group discussions (attended by 66 experts), nine foresight workshops (attended by 
48  stakeholders)  and  nine  seminars  (with  45  presenters)  for  stakeholders  and  the 
wider public were conducted.  

In addition, three research seminars took place in Ljubljana in December 2019. Each 
seminar discussed one migration / posting flow.  

In the second year the project team focused on analysing the collected data and wrote 
three case study reports, three policy briefs (translated into 10 languages) and the 
final comparative report with multi-stakeholder recommendations.  

Finally,  a  transnational  conference  took  place  online,  on  10 December 2020.  The 
conference brought together researchers and stakeholders from different MSs to share 
information, know-how, best practices, research findings, build capacities and explore 
possibilities 
collaboration. 
https://www.euro.centre.org/events/detail/38959. 

further 

for 

During the evaluation of the project, the project team indicated that the immigration 
of  TCN  workers  is  driven  largely  by  economic  discrepancies  and  wage  disparities 

May 2022 

 35 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
between  the  third  countries  and  EU  countries,  as  well  as  political  and  economic 
instabilities in the third countries. The activities implemented during the project have 
led to the following conclusions: 

• 

• 

some  companies  have  become  quite  active  in  the  wider  European  markets 
providing services through posting of TCNs, which has in many cases become 
a business model for profit maximisation; 
the intersection of the migration and employment regimes may enhance the 
vulnerabilities  of  posted  TCN  workers,  who  tend  not  to  defy  or  report  their 
employers  on  whom  they  depend  not  only  for  employment  but  also  for  the 
renewal of their work and residence permits in the sending country; 

•  despite  the  mechanisms  for  control  and  enforcement  of  national  /  EU 
standards, the vulnerability of TCN posted workers persists due to the cloaking 
effect of posting employment characterised by sub-contracting, cross-border 
mobility and temporary service provision. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: Three regional case study reports were 
produced, each identifying a specific migration / posting flow. These reports included 
a  comprehensive  literature  review,  analysis  of  national  databases  relating  to  the 
posting of workers and results of the empirical research (qualitative research – focus 
groups and foresight workshops).  

Three regional policy briefs with multi-stakeholder recommendations in 11 languages: 
-  Here, not to stay – The posting of third country nationals between Bosnia 

and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Austria: https://isim.zrc-
sazu.si/sites/default/files/con3post_policybrief_0.pdf 

-  From Morocco and Tunisia to Belgium via Italy: migration and posting of third 

country nationals: 
https://www.unive.it/pag/fileadmin/user_upload/dipartimenti/filosofia/doc/la
boratori/laris/Con3Post__POLICY_BRIEF_IT_EN_FR.pdf 

-  The posting of third country nationals from Ukraine through Poland to Estonia 

and Finland: http://www.migracje.uw.edu.pl/wp-
content/uploads/2019/05/Con3Post-policy-brief_UK.pdf 

in  nine 
It  also  produced 
sazu.si/sites/default/files/newsletter_translations.pdf 

four  newsletters 

languages:  https://isim.zrc-

Finally, the final comparative report21 was produced and contains the findings from 
empirical research and recommendations for national and EU-level competent 
authorities. Due to the immense data collected during fieldwork, the report is longer 
than was initially anticipated.  

The  project  provided  important  new  data  for  evidence-based  policymaking  in  all 
involved  states  and  beyond.  It  opens  up  space  for  further  research  in  the  field  of 
posting of workers by including the overlapping concepts of migration and mobility, 
which is undoubtedly an important new research venture.  

The project’s findings indicate that immigration of TCN workers is driven largely by 
economic  discrepancies  and  wage  disparities  between  the  third  countries  and  EU 
countries,  as  well  as  political  and  economic  instabilities  in  the  third  countries.  The 
project found that some companies have become quite active on the wider European 

21 https://isim.zrc-sazu.si/sites/default/files/con3post_final_comparative_study_0.pdf 

May 2022 

 36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
markets providing services through posting of TCNs, which has in many cases become 
a business model for profit maximisation. The project also found that the intersection 
of the migration and employment regimes may enhance the vulnerabilities of posted 
TCN workers, who tend not to defy or report their employers, on whom they depend 
not only for employment but also for the renewal of their work and residence permits 
in  the  sending  country.  Despite  the  mechanisms  for  control  and  enforcement  of 
national/EU  standards,  the  vulnerability  of  TCN  posted  workers  persists  due  to  the 
cloaking  effect  of  the  posting  employment  characterised  by  subcontracting,  cross-
border mobility and temporary service provision.  

Transnational dimension: The project team was successful in building collaborative 
efforts  with  several  EU  Member  States  and  candidate  countries,  as  well  as  third 
countries. All the activities implemented had a transnational dimension and involved 
stakeholders  from  national,  regional  and  local  authorities;  non-governmental 
organisations and higher education institutions coming not only from European Union 
but neighbouring countries as well.  

Dissemination strategy: Con3Post provided three regional case study reports, three 
policy briefs and a final comparative report. These reports were published on partners’ 
websites, promoted at partners’ events, shared on social media and presented at the 
final transnational Con3Post conference. The target audiences were primarily national, 
regional and EU-level policymakers, government officials, trade union representatives 
and researchers.  

European added value: The EU funding has enabled the project team to work with 
colleagues  and  stakeholders  from  different  Member  States,  exchange  and  discuss 
research  findings  and  develop  new  networks  that  have  resulted  in  research 
partnerships.  The  EU  support  has  also  opened  up  a  space  for  discussion  between 
stakeholders  from  different  countries,  including  third  countries,  by  inviting  them  to 
the joint visit events and to present their work at the seminars.  

of 

national 

Sustainability measures: Research on posting of third country nationals will resume 
within a follow-up EaSi-Progress project Posting.Stat – Enhancing the collection and 
posting 
data 
analysis 
(https://hiva.kuleuven.be/en/news/newsitems/posting-stat-enhancing-collection-
and-analysis-national-data-on-intra-eu-posting).  The  project  brings  together  a 
consortium of universities and research centres from 10 different Member States to 
promote the evidence basis through the collection and analysis of national micro-data. 
One of the specific objectives for ZRC SAZU will be to collect more data on posting of 
third country nationals from Slovenia. 

intra-EU 

on 

Horizontal  objectives:  Con3Post  regional  and  comparative  studies  provided 
evidence-based argumentation on the extent and nature of vulnerabilities experienced 
by posted workers who are third country nationals. The empirical research focused on 
exploring the issues related to their occupational safety and health, social protection 
and working conditions. The activities implemented contributed to the promotion of a 
high level of quality and sustainable employment; aimed to guarantee adequate and 
decent  social  protection  and  combat  discrimination  based  on  sex,  racial  or  ethnic 
origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation; paid particular attention 
to vulnerable groups, such as young people. 

May 2022 

 37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.1.b. Activities in the field of undeclared work 

The main objective of this call for proposals was to complement and add value to the 
activities indicated in the work programme of the European Platform tackling undeclared 
work22.  Hence,  projects  funded  under  this  call  are  designed  to  develop  and  fund 
initiatives that will contribute to enhancing the implementation, application, knowledge 
and better enforcement of EU and national law in the area of undeclared work.  

This contributes to the reduction of undeclared work and the emergence of formal jobs. 
The knowledge gained from these projects helps to build up evidence-based knowledge 
for better policy design.  

The project presented in this section well-reflects the objectives of the call. It fosters 
joint  cross-border  activities  to  improving  partner  countries’  technical  capacity  to 
implement preventative measures in the fight against undeclared work. 

3.1.6. Tackling undeclared work in the construction sector (TUWIC) 

‘We believe that an 
effective and efficient 
policy based on zero 
tolerance with regard 
to undeclared work 
will promote and value 
equal treatment of 
workers, while at the 
same time ensure a 
fair level playing field 
for all law-abiding 
companies’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

VP/2018/012 

VS/2018/0370 
Employment 
Undeclared work 
• 
• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners 

•  Organised five steering group meetings;  
•  Organised  11  national  meetings  to  discuss  various  actions  to 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

tackle undeclared work in the construction industry  
Produced promotional posters and seven films; 

• 
•  Held two-day European e-conference  
Belgium 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

France; 
Belgium; 
Bulgaria; 
Austria; 
Romania; 

22 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1299&intPageId=4875&langId=en 

May 2022 

 38 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coordinator 
Partners 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

Italy; 
Spain.  

• 
• 
European Federation of Building and Woodworkers (EFBWW) 
Fédération de l‘Industrie Européenne de la Construction (FIEC)  
(initial) 243 296.67 
1 January 2019-31 October 2020 
https://www.cfdt-construction-bois.fr/  

Socioeconomic context: National policy measures to tackle undeclared work range 
from direct controls that seek to alter the costs of undeclared work (UDW) and / or 
benefits of operating on a declared basis, to indirect controls that seek to encourage 
voluntary compliance of suppliers and purchasers of construction services.  

At  present,  most  emphasis  is  put  on  altering  the  costs  of  undeclared  work  by 
increasing the perceived or actual probability of detection, such as by using identity 
cards, supply-chain responsibility, joint inspections and so forth. The social partners 
have played an active role in developing initiatives to tackle undeclared work both at 
national and EU level.  

Less  emphasis is currently put on direct incentive measures that make it beneficial 
and easier to operate on a declared basis, and indirect policy measures that seek to 
encourage  voluntary  compliance  using  awareness  campaigns  and  addressing  the 
structural conditions that cause undeclared work in the construction sector.  

In order to ensure that the work done at EU-level, and in particular by the “European 
Platform  tackling  undeclared  work”,  has  a  concrete  follow-up  at  national  level,  the 
European  Federation  of  Building  and  Woodworkers  (EFBWW)  and  Fédération  de 
l‘Industrie  Européenne  de  la  Construction  (FIEC),  European  social  partners  of  the 
construction  industry,  proposed  the  project  “Tackling  undeclared  work  in  the 
construction industry”.  

In order to ensure the highest possible effectiveness, the project activities are focused 
on a limited number of countries (Belgium, France, Austria, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, 
Spain), from which the national social partners of the construction industry and the 
national authorities have committed themselves explicitly.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The project team ambitions were threefold:  

• 

• 

• 

to implement a European campaign on prevention / awareness of UDW in the 
construction industry, including providing appropriate promotional material to 
all EU national members (in their own language) on the prevention / awareness 
of undeclared work (UDW) in the construction industry. The activities aimed to 
target all the EU Member States; 
to foster national initiatives by developing national toolkits and / or organising 
national  tripartite  UDW  meetings  for  seven  countries.  The  existing  EU  tools 
and approaches are the basis for tackling undeclared work in the construction 
industry; 
to organise a two-day European congress in Croatia.  

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  The  project  team  were  successful  in 
implementing the activities foreseen. Eleven national discussions between the social 
partners and labour inspectorates were held with the aim to develop joint actions to 
tackle  UDW  in  the  construction  industry  in  seven  countries  (Austria,  Belgium, 
Bulgaria, France, Italy, Romania, and Spain).  

May 2022 

 39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In  addition,  the  project  facilitated  the  production  of  European  promotional  films  in 
English,  French,  German,  Dutch,  Italian,  Spanish,  Romanian,  and  Bulgarian  and 
disseminated promotional posters in the same languages. As a result of the action, 
six  testimonial  films  of  the  national  social  partners  and  labour  inspectorates  were 
created  to  share  the  outcomes  of  the  discussions  on  national  measures  on  how  to 
tackle UDW in the construction industry at national level.  

Due  to  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  a  European  Conference  was  held  online  on 
24 September 2020 to discuss the challenges of UDW in the construction sector.  

In addition, the project team produced a European toolkit which was translated into 
19  languages  to  foster  discussions  between  the  national  social  partners  and  labour 
inspectorates in all the Member States.  

The action concluded that UDW is a challenge that should be tackled at both EU and 
national  level,  with  consideration  given  to  the  different  national  challenges,  policy 
frameworks  and competences / practices.  Tackling UDW  requires a huge  variety of 
actions, based on a partnership between social partners and the national authorities, 
using  a  long-term  policy  approach  and  with  a  focus  on  the  practical  (enforcement) 
level.  

Innovativeness of the project/activities: The innovative aspect of the project lies 
in the fact that the national social partners and the labour inspectorates committed 
themselves explicitly before the start of the project to work in close collaboration. The 
project provided sufficient flexibility for implementation of the action.  

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  A  practical  toolkit  was  produced 
containing  a  short  overview  of  the  best  practices  to  tackle  UDW  at  national  level 
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Romania, Spain). 

Transnational  dimension:  The  project  involved  all  the  affiliated  members  of  the 
EFBWW  and  FIEC.  EFBWW  and  FIEC  have  member  organisations  in  almost  all  EU 
Member  States.  The  transnational  dimension  was  also  ensured  by  the  close 
cooperation with the European Platform tackling undeclared work.  

Dissemination strategy: The EFBWW and FIEC created a dedicated website page to 
disseminate  the  activities  of  the  project.  Other  outputs  were  also  disseminated 
through various EU and national platforms, bodies and social media platforms such as 
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.  

European  added  value:  The  biggest  added  value  of  the  action  was  giving  to  the 
national  labour  inspectorates  and  social  partners  an  opportunity  to  develop  joint 
actions to tackle UDW in the construction industry.  

Sustainability measures: The project will continue to work on the set objectives at 
European  and  national  level.  As  part  of  the  EFBWW-FIEC  project  on  “Tackling 
undeclared work in the construction industry”, the EFBWW and FIEC agreed on a “Joint 
statement  by  the  European  social  partners  in  the  construction  sector  –  Concrete 
recommendations  for  tackling  undeclared  work  and  social  fraud  in  the  construction 
sector”. It is important to underline that the joint statement also covers social fraud, 
which is a substantially broader concept than UDW.  

The  joint  statement  is  particularly  relevant  for  the  EFBWW  and  FIEX  affiliated 
members because it refers to several commitments at national and European level.  

May 2022 

 40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Currently, a discussion is evolving as to whether the project should have a follow-up 
as  a  TUWIC  2  project  and  how  the  already  developed  tools  and  outcomes  can  be 
integrated in a common capacity building project to strengthen industrial relations in 
Central and East-European countries.  

The  project  also  put  the  issue  of  undeclared  work  high  on  the  EU  agenda  which  is 
seen as a major lasting impact of the actions implemented.  

Horizontal  objectives:  By  organising  actions  at  EU  and  national  level  to  tackle 
undeclared  work  in  the  construction  sector,  a  high  level  of  quality  and  sustainable 
employment  was  promoted.  For  this,  the  social  partners  agreed  to  work  in  close 
cooperation  with  the  national  authorities.  By  doing  so  adequate  and  decent  social 
protection to the vulnerable workers were also guaranteed.  

3.2. Employment 

3.2.a. Fast-track integration into the labour market for third country nationals 
targeting exclusively asylum seekers, refugees and their family members 

Two projects funded under this call  for proposals aimed to  promote the development 
and testing of innovative and effective mechanisms to ensure fast-track integration into 
the labour market. They also worked on developing sustainable multi-level partnership 
models for the integration of the targeted groups into the labour market. And  finally, 
they  foster  knowledge  and  experience  sharing  between  different  Member  States  of 
already functioning swift and successful insertion mechanisms into the labour market of 
the targeted groups, with a strong emphasis on the challenges faced by women.  
The funded actions resulted in effective integration of the targeted groups into the labour 
market. The success of the actions was ensured by the following activities:  

•  The activities took job market needs into account; 
•  Activities targeted groups matching job market needs; 
•  Activities covered the different dimensions of a fast integration of the target 

groups; 

•  They demonstrated a long-term vision; 
•  The activities challenged stereotypes as to gender roles among migrant 

communities and ensure that work practices promote gender equality and do 
not reinforce gender stereotypes, segregation and inequalities ; 

•  They proved to be sustainable and included mechanisms for transfer and 

replication.  

May 2022 

 41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.2.1. RIAC - Regional Integration Accelerators 

‘RIACs are focusing on the actual 
need of the respective participating 
(“cooperating”) employers. By 
operating on a regional or local 
level, RIACs are able to map the 
structures of the respective 
employers.’  

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2016/015 

VS/2017/0469 
Employment, social protection and social inclusion 
Social  protection,  social  inclusion,  poverty  reduction,  gender 
equality,  youth  unemployment,  improvement  of  the  working 
opportunities and sustainability 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes 
• 
•  Media 

National, regional and local authorities 
Employment services 
Social partners 
Non-governmental organisations 

Volunteer associations  

• 

• 

• 

• 
• 
• 
• 

Implementing 21 RIAC Units (4 in Germany, 7 in Turkey, 4 in 
Denmark, 6 in Italy); 
Involving 1 078 participants of which 224 were integrated into 
the labour market; 
Creating two cooperatives (1 in Italy and one in Turkey); 
Establishing more than 25 start-ups (Turkey / Germany); 
Activating 21 speed managers, one for each RIAC unit; 
Activating 24/7 integration measures in relation to the learning 
of the language of the host country; 
Creating  opportunities  for  refugees  to  volunteer  and  socialise 
with the locals; 
Establishing  5  RIAC  units  dedicated  to  female  refugees  and 
asylum seekers (implemented by Alisei in Italy, KIZ in Germany 
and Esbjerg in Denmark); 
Establishing  dedicated  RIAC  self-employment  programmes  to 
enhance  the  entrepreneurship  (self-employment)  skills  and 
employability of the target group (KIZ in Germany, Habitat and 
IGAM in Turkey and Alisei in Italy); 
Implementing  three  cycles  of  optimisation  –  e.g.,  pilot, 
adjustment of concept, proof of adjusted concept, final concept; 
•  Designing  a  handbook,  a  toolkit  “How  to  RIAC”  and  a 

• 

• 

• 

• 

sustainability plan; 
Creating teaching materials (CIDIS and ALISEI) for teaching the 
local language as L2 and for awareness-raising on the topic of 
workers' and women's rights; 

•  Disseminating  project  achievements  through  newsletters, 

• 

• 

website, films, and brochures in several languages; 
Implementing at least one conference in each partner country, 
and  implementing  a  European  conference  in  cooperation  with 
ESN European Social Network; 
Being present on media, social medias conferences and events 
at local, national and international level in all project countries. 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 

Germany  
Germany, Denmark, Italy and Turkey.  

May 2022 

 42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Coordinator 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

• 

• 
• 

Stadtverwaltung  Offenbach  (Germany)  changed  to  Pro  Arbeit-
Kreis Offenbach-AöR (Germany) 
Alisei Societa Cooperativa Sociale (Italy) 
Centro  Informazione  Documentazione  E  Iniziativa  Per  Lo 
Sviluppo - C.I.D.I.S. – Onlus (Italy) 
Esbjerg Kommune (Denmark) 

Iltica Ve Goc Arastirmalari Merkezidernegi (Turkey) 
Kiz  Sinnova  Gesellschaft  Fur  Soziale  Innovationen  Ggmbh 
(Germany) 
Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (Germany) 

• 
•  Habitat Dernegi (Turkey) 
• 
• 

• 
(initial) 2 027 203.14  
1 January 2018-30 June 2020 
http://riac-project.eu  

Socioeconomic  context:  In  recent  years,  the  policy  landscape  has  become 
favourable  toward  refugees  and  asylum  seekers.  Nevertheless,  they  still  face 
significant  obstacles  in  accessing  the  labour  market.  They  remain  among  the  most 
vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion. The challenges such as long waiting times 
for asylum applications, the lack of local networks to help with the job search process, 
poor knowledge of the local language, and persistent discrimination inhibit the ability 
of refugees and asylum seekers to access dignified and sustainable forms of work.  

Since  refugees  frequently  lack  legal  clarity  on  their  status  and  have  poor  language 
skills, they seek a faster and more tailored support. The uncertainty and length of this 
process can make refugees feel impatient, helpless, and become dependent. Hence, 
it is important to help them gain socioeconomic autonomy, to activate their personal 
resources and sense of responsibility in a timely manner.  

When it comes to female refugees and asylum seekers, the challenge to employability 
is even more complex and goes beyond their role as caregivers in families as mothers, 
wives, daughters or daughters-in-law. Therefore, simple provision of family services 
will not be sufficient.  

The  Regional  Integration  Accelerators  (RIAC‘s)  aim  to  address  these  chalenges  by 
reducing the initial inequalities and making the integration process more effective.  

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  Regional  Integration  Accelerators  (RIAC) 
project  promoted  high-quality  and  sustainable  jobs,  greater  social  protection  and 
inclusion  of  refugees  and  asylum  seekers  in  Germany,  Denmark,  Italy  and  Turkey. 
The project aimed to develop tools, expertise and a common strategy for fast-track 
and sustainable labour market integration of refugees through parallel processes and 
intensive support.  

RIACs  are  decentralised  units  responsible  for  quick  placement  (“integration”)  of 
migrants  and  refugees  into  the  labour  market.  They  are  established  through 
cooperation with employers. Given that RIAC units operate locally, they are able to 
map the structures of the participating (“cooperating”) employers and focus on their 
actual needs.  

The sub-goals of the project include: 

•  21 RIAC units in 4 countries, 756 participants, 225 labour market integrations of 

which 138 men and 87 women.  

•  Reduction of integration time for participants from a long time like 24 months to 

12 months or less. 
Inclusion of 50 employers. 

• 
•  Establishment of at least 4 Speed Managers. 

May 2022 

 43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Integration of 200 mentors. 

• 
•  Development of 3 special 24/7 offers. 
•  Operating at least five mother-child RIAC units in three countries. 
• 

Implementation of at least five self-employment RIAC units in 2 countries. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: Activities under this project helped bring 
indirect and immediate changes in the local landscape. This was brought about by the 
commitment  of  partners  to  link  the  RIAC  actions  to  other  projects  and  initiatives 
promoting  social  cohesion  and  democratic  values.  This  promoted  a  new  way  of 
thinking  about  “integration”.  Instead  of  focusing  solely  on  placement  in  the  labour 
market, the project had a broader focus, ranging from employability to social justice, 
inclusion  of  vulnerable  groups,  and  the  inclusion  of  gender  and  ethical  values  of  a 
society in general. While partners followed this broad objective, they also established 
their own individual goals and actions taking into account specific conditions in their 
own countries. Each country set its own priorities and designed the best strategy that 
helped them address local challenges, common to their context. 

RIACs helped design personalised pathways for refugees which took into account their 
personal  ambitions  as  well  as  the  needs  of  the  marketplace.  They  operated  on  a 
regional or local level and were co-designed and launched in specific economic sectors 
in close collaboration with employers. This helped to tailor professional training to the 
needs  of  specific  employment  and  to  minimise  imbalances  between  employers  and 
workforce.  

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  RIAC's  methodology  for  integration 
respects  the  individual  characteristics  of  participants,  supports  the  development  of 
learning  and  interpersonal  strategies  and  their  personal  and  professional  growth. 
Small  numbers,  targeted  measures,  and  the  processing  of  emotional  experiences 
ensure  greater  effectiveness  of  integration  strategies.  RIAC's  approach  can  be 
particularly  useful  when  implementing  personalised  activities  aimed  at  vulnerable 
groups.  

RIAC’s  approach  is  also  beneficial  for  the  host  country.  It  takes  place  in  specific 
economic sectors which are carefully selected based on the needs of the territory, the 
driving sectors of the local economy, the skills and professional roles required by the 
market.  The  RIAC's  methodology  allows  the  supply  and  demand  for  work  to  be 
matched much faster and more effectively.  

The project focused on securing sustainable work positions for a very fragile target 
group by tapping into the locally available resources, opportunities and partnerships. 
For  instance,  in  northern  Europe  local  institutions  supported  the  placement  by 
financially contributing to the vocational training of participants. In countries with a 
fragmented  labour  market  characterised  by  small  and  medium-sized  enterprises, 
especially artisans and family-run businesses, the placement was made possible by 
the capillary acquisition of small businesses and the continuous accompaniment and 
tutoring of employers and refugees. 

Another good practice that can be learned from the RIAC project relates to engaging 
diverse stakeholders both from public life (politics) and society – who play a major 
role in integrating the refugees, such as voluntary associations, employees in  a job 
centre or advice centres. The project has dedicated every stakeholder a role in labour 
market integration because it was obvious that for successful and sustainable labour 
market integration not only were the employer and employee relevant, so too were 
politics, the economy, one's own community or institutions. 

May 2022 

 44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Similarly,  successful  local  implementation  of  the  project  and  involvement  of  local 
communities  was  possible  through  formal  and  informal  involvement  of  diverse 
stakeholders.  The  consortium  maintained  active  networking,  respected  roles  and 
functions,  and  adapted  to  the  characteristics  of  social  dialogue  in  the  individual 
countries.  Moreover,  continuous  exchange  with  the  regions,  between  partners  and 
with  European  players  enabled  ideas,  practices  and  innovations  to  be  shared  and 
adapted to the regional contexts of partners. 

Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities:  RIAC  units  were  able  to 
develop,  test  and  outline  a  scalable  and  transferable  model  for  the  accelerated 
integration of refugees in the labour market on  a regional scale. Because RIACs are 
able  to  use  local  conditions  as  a  starting  point  and  to  provide  an  individually 
coordinated solution, they  can be modified to  adapt to local, regional, and national 
particularities.  This  makes  the  concept  easily  transferable  to  different  contexts 
because  it  does  not  contain  abstract  or  rigid  definitions  which  have  to  be  strictly 
followed.  

RIAC's  methodology  prioritises  an  integration  process  that  respects  individual 
characteristics of refugees as well as the needs of the local labour market. Instead of 
focusing solely on job placement, it promotes long-term employability of refugees by 
considering their life as a whole with different aspects influencing their life and their 
socioeconomic integration in the host country. As integration pathways aimed at small 
groups,  RIAC's  approach  can  be  particularly  useful  for  carrying  out  personalised 
activities aimed at vulnerable groups. 

The model was constantly adapted to local conditions (political and economic) which 
helped to create innovative solutions and share them with the project partners. This 
repeated transfer of knowledge and adaptation of practices to local contexts ensured 
the transferability and scalability of this model. In particular, tools for the integration 
of  specific  target  groups  (women  and  self-employed  workers)  in  the  labour  market 
were translated and transferred in very different regional contexts. For instance, in 
Italy  female  refugees  who  were  trafficked  and  deprived  of  residence  permits  for 
humanitarian purposes were supported to establish structured cooperatives as a form 
of  self-employment.  This  approach  was  picked  up  by  other  partners  in  Turkey  and 
Germany.  

Innovativeness of the project/activities: RIAC's actions were implemented in an 
innovative, clear and scalable way. During the 3 years of the project, partners have 
experienced local, financial, political and global (COVID-19) challenges which forced 
them to create, transfer and implement innovative solutions on a European scale.  

The  RIAC  project  modified  the  logic,  methodology  and  timing  of  the  standard 
integration process by implementing different pathways simultaneously instead of in 
sequence. By simultaneously promoting the socioeconomic autonomy of refugees and 
activating their personal resources, the project was able to match the motivation that 
migrants bring with them with the needs of the host society. RIAC´s approach focused 
on a constant and gradual evolution by focusing on small but consistent steps taken 
every  day.  It  focused  on  employability  and  not  solely  on  placement.  In  RIAC,  the 
acceleration  of  socio-labour  integration  processes  is  not  intended  as  a  race  for 
employment. Instead, it consists of anticipating and synthesising the various activities 
useful for integration, to prepare participants to face the labour market autonomously 
and in a reduced timeframe. 

May 2022 

 45 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
RIAC´s approach can be impactful when the project focuses on a holistic approach to 
integration  by  taking  into  account  diverse  areas,  including  social,  economic  and 
political areas that affect the whole life of the individual.  

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  The  project  coordinator  (since  early 
2018) Pro Arbeit-Kreis Offenbach-AöR has established a designated website and social 
media  channels  (Facebook,  Instagram  and  Twitter)  where  they  share  information 
about the transnational RIAC project, partner organisations, relevant resources and 
events. The website provides downloadable resources such as teaching materials and 
brochures available in English and other languages as well as the RIAC Handbook and 
RIAC  Sustainability  report  which  are  available  in  English.  It  also  shares  seven 
newsletters running from 2019 to 2020 highlighting the major achievements of the 
project.  Moreover,  the  website  has  a  page  about  the  sub-project  evaluation  - 
“Comprehensive  Monitoring  and  Evaluation  Plan  for  Refugees’  Labour  Market 
Integration”  which  was  conducted  by  Ruhr  University  in  Bochum.  A  pre-post-
measurement-approach  contains  indicators  for  individual  employability,  employers’ 
prerequisites for refugees’ integration into the workforce and other regional conditions 
of the labour market. It also focuses on refugees’ entrepreneurial skills by measuring 
their self-employability. To measure the effectiveness of the RIAC-specific initiatives, 
the evaluation also includes a control-group.  

Transnational  dimension:  The  project  was  transnational  with  partners  from 
Germany,  Denmark,  Italy  and  Turkey.  The  partners  exchanged  experience  across 
national borders. In addition to the local events in each of the partner countries, there 
was also a final a transnational event involving all participating partners  as  well  as 
representatives from the European Commission (DG Employment, Social Affairs and 
Inclusion).  

New partnerships created: Different partnerships have been created at all levels 
of  the  project  ranging  from  local  partnerships  with  employer  organisations,  local 
authorities, RIAC target groups, social partners as well as partnership at consortium 
level and between lead partners and European institutions. For instance, in northern 
European  countries  partnerships  with  the  local  institutions  were  instrumental  in 
successful  placement  as  they  financially  supported  the  vocational  training  of 
participants. In countries with fragmented labour markets characterised by small and 
medium-sized  enterprises,  partnerships  with  family-run  businesses  were  crucial  for 
the  placement  of  refugees.  Moreover,  each  partner  organisation  created  their  own 
network  which  was  instrumental  to  the  local  success  of  the  project.  Some  of  the 
country-specific partnerships include – partnerships with volunteering organisations 
in Turkey, small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy and institutional partners in 
Germany  and  Denmark.  Equally  important  is  the  partnership  created  between  the 
participating organisations, which thanks to this project and funding from the EU were 
able to cooperate, share best practices and learn from each other throughout the 3 
years of the project, but also beyond.  

Dissemination strategy: Activities and project results  have been disseminated to 
national authorities, city councils, national ministries, employers, NGOs, job centres, 
European  networks  and  research  institutions.  Information  dissemination  included: 
presentations, a designated project website and social media  channels, websites of 
the individual partners, meetings with project partners and external stakeholders, job 
centres, and partner networks.  

The dissemination strategy of the project partners was oriented towards the following 
actions: 

•  Recruiting participants; 

May 2022 

 46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
seeking endorsement from public authorities; 

•  Recruiting employers; 
• 
•  dissemination of the model at regional and national level; 
•  dissemination of the model at international level. 

Communication  activities  and  products  were  tailored  to  different  targets  groups  by 
differentiating  the  approach,  language,  communication  media  and  channels.  For 
instance, to recruit participants, project team mainly relied on flyers in local languages 
which  were  distributed  in  places  where  refugees  gather  and  at  the  first  reception 
facilities  as  well  as  social  media  platforms.  Similarly,  teaching  materials  and  event 
documentation  were  shared  on  the  project  website  and  uploaded  to  the  Pro  Arbeit 
cloud platform. Links and log-in details were provided to the relevant stakeholders to 
access  these  resources.  Moreover,  for  meetings  with  employers  and  public 
administrations, the project team relied on brochures in local languages. Partners also 
helped promote national and regional conferences during their events.  

To transfer and scale up the project, a “Blueprint” brochure was produced in all the 
partners' languages and disseminated locally. Given the high volume of dissemination 
products a special QR code was provided to programme participants to access these 
materials  on  the  RIAC  website.  In  addition,  the  toolkits  were  sent  to  relevant 
international  and  national  stakeholders  and  also  to  the  partners  for  their  local 
dissemination. Finally, given the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, most events moved to 
an online format.  

European added value: The project would not have achieved the same impact or 
geographic  scope  without  the  EU  funding.  It  provided  an  opportunity  to  share 
information and knowledge with several European partners and develop a successful 
model for socioeconomic integration of refugees.  

The  RIAC  methodology  encouraged  local  authorities  to  critically  examine  existing 
approaches  to  the  integration  of  refugees  and  to  move  from  a  dogmatic  idea  of 
sequenced actions to a new holistic approach of parallel processes. This helped speed 
up the different actions and keep the motivation of participants high. European added 
value is an objective assessment of the current integration strategy. This is something 
many  institutions  cannot  afford  due  to  lack  off  time  and  financial  resources.  The 
European dimension offered each partner organisation the opportunity to benefit from 
the experiences and know-how of other partners. 

Sustainability  measures:  To  ensure  the  sustainability,  the  scalability  and  the 
transnational relevance of this approach, project partners produced standardisation 
and documentation of the functionality and the results of the RIACs23. This included 
formulation, publication, and implementation of guidelines, rules, and specifications 
for  common  and  repeated  use,  aimed  at  achieving  an  optimum  degree  of  order  or 
uniformity  in  a  given  context,  discipline,  or  field.  The  handbook,  manuals  and 
templates  will  allow  any  third-party  organisation  to  use  and  apply  this  integration 
approach  within  their  country  or  region.  Because  RIACs  are  able  to  use  to  local 
conditions  as  a  starting  point  and  to  provide  an  individually  coordinated  solution, 
RIACs can always be modified to adapt to local, regional, or national particularities. 
This  makes  the  concept  easily  transferable  since  it  does  not  contain  abstract 
definitions  which  can  only  be  implemented  in  certain  regions.  Moreover,  in  the 
Blueprint brochure the project partners have generalised the model by proposing its 
methodologies to potential decision-makers and local stakeholders active in policies 
for  the  integration  in  the  labour  market  of  vulnerable  groups.  In  the  Sustainability 

23 http://riac-project.eu/index.php/results-and-standardization/  

May 2022 

 47 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Plan  they  tried  to  address  possible  scenarios  for  a  long-term  effect  of  the  RIAC 
experience while maintaining its identity, integrity and intrinsic logic. 

Horizontal  objectives:  In  all  its  axes  and  activities,  the  EaSI  Programme  should 
contribute  to  promoting  gender  equality  (including  through  gender  mainstreaming 
and gender budgeting), with particular attention to vulnerable groups, such as young 
people  and  ensuring  non-discrimination  on  all  grounds,  promoting  fair  working 
conditions and sustainable work and combating long-term unemployment, ensuring 
adequate  and  decent  social  protection,  and  fighting  social  exclusion  and  poverty24. 
This section focuses on how these horizontal objectives of the EaSI Programme were 
considered in the technical implementation and content of project activities. How did 
a project team pay attention to vulnerable groups? Is there any evidence on the use 
of non-discrimination and gender equality measures (including gender mainstreaming 
and  gender  budgeting)?  Do  the  projects  in  any  way  promote  high-quality  and 
sustainable  work,  adequate  and  decent  social  protection  and  tackle  long-term 
unemployment, social exclusion and poverty?  

Improving  the  employability  of  refugee  and  asylum  seeker  women  was  one  of  the 
main topics in the RIAC project. Some of the partners, Alisei in Italy, KIZ in Germany 
and Esbjerg in Denmark implemented a total of five RIAC units dedicated to this target 
group.  They  also  transferred  their  knowledge  and  output  to  the  other  partners. 
Esbjerg took the lead in designing the topic and sharing it with the rest of the partners. 
Some  partners  (CIDIS  and  ALISEI)  also  created  teaching  materials  for  the  local 
language as L2 and for awareness-raising on the topic of workers' and women's rights. 

Some migrant women / mothers often give up their  career goals due  to household 
responsibilities and childcare. To address this challenge, RIAC‘s integration approach 
focused  on  individual  needs  and  the  activation  of  strategies  centred  “around  the 
mother and child”. This encouraged young women to invest in their training and their 
autonomy, without giving up their perceived parental and marital obligations. These 
strategies included child support services, self-employment courses, support for the 
intercultural  redefinition  of  gender  roles  and  related  issues,  strengthening  of 
interpersonal  networks,  and  accompanying  steps  to  promote  the  elaboration  of 
emotional experiences. However, the experience from different local contexts showed 
that the target group of the women in the RIAC project is not homogeneous. Due to 
the differences between ethnic groups and the geographical background, the provision 
of family services cannot always resolve the obstacles to improved employability of 
women. Refugee women from Arab countries and  women arriving from Africa show 
very  different  attitudes  towards  their  roles  and  have  different  expectations.  An 
important  lesson  learned  is  that  the  definition  of  roles  is  always  a  question  of 
expectations - what do migrant women expect from the host society and what does 
the host society expect from them? Before planning any activity, one should start by 
understanding these divergences.  

Relationships  with  project  staff  was  crucial  in  providing  confidence  and  security, 
enabling  women  in  particular  to  be  open  about  their  current  situation,  and  their 
challenges.  Good  relationships  and  group  cohesion  have  contributed  particularly 
towards  keeping  women  involved  in  the  process.  Similarly,  the  women  participants 
were informed about the opportunities available for employment and education, which 
helped increase their motivation. Likewise, workshops provided guidance on different 
aspects  of  everyday  life,  combining  working  life  and  leisure,  health  and  disease 
awareness, information on cultural differences in general, e.g. the need to involve the 
husband in domestic duties for the women to be able to join the workforce. 

24 Regulation EU No 1296/2013 on a European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation. 

May 2022 

 48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Moreover,  in  cases  where  job  placement  of  female  refugees  was  not  possible,  the 
project  partners  considered  alternative  solutions  such  as  self-employment.  For 
instance, in Italy, women who were victims of trafficking and deprived of residence 
permits  for  humanitarian  purposes  were  helped  to  establish  a  well-structured 
cooperative as a form of self-employment. The German RIAC also adopted the idea 
of creating a shared business for women for those who were not able to get full-time 
employment.  

3.2.2. ALMIT project - Acceleration of labour market integration of immigrants 
through mapping of skills and training 

 ‘The ALMIT project aims to develop a 
number of steps in order to facilitate 
the integration of immigrants, by 
developing immigrants' skills and 
abilities and to prepare them for 
vocational life.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2016/015 

Language training for refugees, level of learning (A1, A2); 
Adaptation to the labour market requirements; 

VS/2017/0448 
Employment and social protection and social inclusion 
• 
• 
•  Development of social skills for refugees; 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment 
• 

Youth employment 
Combat long-term unemployment 
Fight against poverty and social exclusion 
Promotion of equality between women and men 
Promotion of a high level of quality and sustainable employment 
National, regional and local authorities 
Employment services 
Social partners 
Non-governmental organisations 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Preparing training materials for language courses and induction 
civic and intercultural skills sessions; 
Preparing  a  train-the-trainer  handbook  in  the  Bulgarian, 
Serbian, Turkish and German languages; 
Compiling ICT tools for the courses, incl. e-L platform: Moodle 
which was implemented in all partner languages25 
Piloting  of  the  integration  courses  by  recruiting  piloters  / 
attendees and training facilitators; 
Conducting  assessment  and  collecting  feedback  on  the  impact 
of the pilot integration courses; 

25 ALMIT: Course categories, https://almit-project.eu/elearning/  

May 2022 

 49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

Compiling information on local labour market rules and trends 
and on the rules for social aids per country and embedding them 
in the online tool; 

•  Mapping 

the  educational  background,  skills  and  work 

• 
• 

• 

experiences of refugees; 
Advising refugees on recognition / validation of competences;  
Identifying the needs of the local labour market and matching 
these needs to the identified skills;  
Providing  individual  psychological  consultations  on  jobseeking 
and on settlement issues; 

•  Organising information sessions for people working with target 

groups and information meetings with local business; 

•  Organising joint events linking jobseekers and local enterprises; 
•  Developing  helpful  materials  for  entering  the  local  labour 

• 

• 

market, e.g. pocketbooks;  
Implementing quality control and monitoring activities both for 
internal and external reporting purposes; 
Conducting regular dissemination activities on the local, national 
and international level as well as the final project dissemination 
conference. 

Bulgaria 
Austria, Bulgaria, Serbia and Turkey. 
Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, Bulgaria 
Beogradska otvorena škola (Serbia) 
• 
Council Of Women Refugees in Bulgaria (Bulgaria) 
• 
Covekoljublje, Dobrotvorna Fondacija Srpske Pravoslavne Crkve 
• 
(Serbia) 

•  Düzce Province (Turkey) 
•  Opština Šid (Serbia) 
•  Österreichische Jungarbeiterbewegung, Öjab (Austria) 
• 
• 

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (Turkey) 
Zgura-M Eood (Bulgaria) 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 979 177.50  
1 January 2018-30 June 2020 
https://almit-project.eu  

Socioeconomic context: Europe is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of 
the refugee crisis and this has been challenging for EU Member States to cope with. 
Since many refugees decide to stay and live in European countries, at least for the 
medium  term,  their  entrance  into  the  labour  market  is  key  to  their  successful 
integration  into  European  society.  This  is  important  for  refugees  not  only  to  live 
independently, but also to address other needs that they might have. For instance, it 
can  help  refugees  to  improve  their  language  skills,  to  increase  their  cultural 
awareness, to build local and social networks, to increase social participation and to 
improve  their  physical  and  mental  health.  However,  refugees  face  a  number  of 
obstacles  when  entering  the  labour  market;  these  include:  lack  of  language 
knowledge, documents and credentials, and information about the cultural / religious 
specifics  which  often  provokes  subconscious  fears,  stereotypes  and  prejudices. 
Moreover, the uncertain length of stay makes it challenging for employers to plan and 
make long-term investments in training refugees.  

Moreover,  given  the  realities  and  trends  of  the  labour  market,  employment 
opportunities  for  people  with  little  or  no  education  are  diminishing.  In  relation  to 
refugee integration this means that refugees and migrants have to upgrade their skills 
and  qualification  and  improve  their  knowledge  of  the  local  language  to  meet  the 
requirements  of employers.  In general,  employers are ready and willing to  support 
the refugees in this learning process with the hope that refugees will be motivated to 
invest in and commit to the aims of the company.  

May 2022 

 50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  project  aimed  to  find  a  quick  way  to 
integrate immigrants and refugees with legal residential status into the labour market 
through  revealing  their  abilities,  empowering  them  to  enter  employment  and 
matching their skills to the need of the local labour market. 

Specific objectives included: 

•  To  coordinate  the  actions  of  organisations  from  Balkan  countries  (Bulgaria, 
Serbia and Turkey), as well as Austria to find quick access to the labour market 
for the immigrants and refugees who obtained legal residential status. 

•  To help immigrants and refugees showcase their abilities and match their skills 

to the needs of the local labour market. 

•  To lower the language, civic and intercultural barriers between immigrants and 

the host country society towards facilitating their entry to employment. 

•  To map and profile the skills of immigrants in order to match to the needs and 

shortfalls of the local labour market. 

•  To provide counselling and support on settlement and job-seeking issues. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: To accelerate the labour market integration 
of  immigrants,  the  ALMIT  project  developed  immigrants'  skills  and  abilities  and 
prepared them for vocational life. The general target group of the project consisted of 
immigrants and refugees, organisations working with immigrants, NGOs working for 
immigrants and refugees all over Europe.  

The project produced:  

Induction civic and intercultural course materials; 

•  Multilingual language training courses; 
• 
•  Train-the-trainer handbook; 
•  E-learning platform; 
•  Guidelines on labour market regulations; 
•  Practical tools on settlement; 
•  Case platform in support of matching process.  

The project first designed and piloted initial language courses and induction civic and 
intercultural  skills  sessions.  Partners  also  trained  people  working  with  the  target 
groups.  Following  the  initial  pilot,  the  project  team  conducted  an  assessment  and 
collected  feedback  on  the  impact  of  the  pilot  integration  courses.  Moreover,  the 
project  partners  provided  individualised  support  to  refugees  by  mapping  their 
educational background and work experiences, profiling their skills and advising them 
on the recognition and validation of competences. It also included raising awareness 
of  refugees  to  address  discriminatory  practices  and  violence,  in  particular  against 
women.  

The main impact achieved by the project included addressing the following issues: 

•  Youth employment by job skills’ matching, profiling and settlement support;  
•  Long-term  unemployment  by  focusing  on  refugees’  language  and  civic  skills 
which  helped  minimise  barriers  and  promoted  easier  integration  in  the  job 
market and in the society; 

•  Poverty  and  social  exclusion  by  improving  refugees’  employability  and  helping 

them access jobs; 

•  Gender  equality  by  providing  civic  and  intercultural  courses  specifically 
addressing equality among genders and highlighting the need for integration; 
•  Quality  and  sustainable  employment  by  helping  refugees  obtain  recognition  of 

their qualifications and matching their skills with jobs. 

May 2022 

 51 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Moreover, through relevant trainings provided by partner organisations, participants 
gained  more  confidence  in  moving  freely  and  communicating  with  the  local 
population; they received information on how to behave in the post office, bank, on 
the  street,  when  talking  to  an  employer  and  in  presenting  their  personal 
characteristics and abilities. All this influenced the local population to accept migrants 
without any prejudice. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  One  of  the  good  practices  from  the 
ALMIT  project  is  related  to  using  digital  tools  (e.g.,  e-learning  platform  developed 
within the ALMIT project) for mapping the competencies of immigrants and refugees 
in participating countries. It can be used to share relevant resources with the target 
group and ensure access to essential information and training materials.  

The training modules for the language course and civic and intercultural sessions can 
be identified as good practice that can support the first step in the integration process. 
Those modules could be implemented in similar initiatives on the national or EU level 
by  adjusting  them  to  the  local  contexts.  However,  as  identified  by  the  partner 
organisations,  it  would  be  more  effective  if  language  courses  could  be  longer  and 
include a certificate at the end. Similarly, the project had an online tool “Matching the 
needs to the identified skills” where they shared a couple of job profiles for common 
occupations  in  participating  countries  to  provide  a  broad  overview  of  the  different 
jobs.  The  ALMIT  joint  events  for  immigrants  and  employers  can  be  highlighted  as 
another  good  practice  as  it  provided  a  great  opportunity  to  get  more  relevant 
information  about  immigrant  employment  issues  and  possibilities  and  opportunities 
of the local job market. 

Moreover, collecting peer feedback was a beneficial practice and was a positive side 
effect  as  older  participants  encouraged  youngsters  to  focus  on  their  (vocational) 
training and further education. 

Involving relevant local stakeholders is another good practice that organisations can 
adopt to increase the success of refugee integration projects. For instance, the Turkish 
Employment Agency became very interested in using the online tool for competence 
checking.  Likewise,  the  Government  Directorate  of  Düzce  (Turkey)  worked  on  the 
ALMIT project in close  cooperation with the Düzce  General  Directorate  of Migration 
Management as they are one of the important stakeholders of the action. 

The  ALMIT  programme  distinguished  between  economic  and  social  objectives  of 
vocational  training  programmes  which  are  not  always  easy  to  combine.  Hence,  the 
ALMIT programme consisted of two main parts: 

•  Language,  civic  and  intercultural  training,  aimed  at  the  provision  of  skills  for 

(self)employment focused on the economic objective; 

•  Non-vocational  activities,  aimed  at  occupying  immigrants  not  interested  in 
language, civic and intercultural training with positive activities for working in a 
group with people with a similar destiny for the social objective. 

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities:  Within the ALMIT project, 
project partners developed useful resources that can be easily transferred and used 
in different countries by adjusting to the local contexts. For instance, training modules 
for  language  courses  and  civic  and  intercultural  sessions  as  a  support  in  the 
integration process as well as the handbook for trainers with detailed training content 
and recommended methodology.  

Based  on  the  experience  from  this  project  and  challenges  faced  during  its 
implementation,  the  project  partners  shared  the  following  recommendations  to  be 

May 2022 

 52 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
applied  to  other  organisations  when  developing  similar  projects.  First,  the  need  for 
cooperation between all relevant stakeholders including local, national, government, 
and non-governmental. Second, the need to develop digital skills of refugees in the 
context of learning and future  employment. Third, to make  such projects last for  a 
longer period of time in order to train as many project beneficiaries as possible and 
accept,  improve  and  apply  the  applied  knowledge  and  skills.  In  particular,  it  is 
important to include more vocational training modules in order to improve the skills 
of  immigrants  and  to  increase  their  employability,  as  well  as  to  focus  on  practical 
knowledge  (e.g.,  create  how-to  kits  to  on  how  to  perform  daily  activities  such  as 
buying groceries, paying bills, etc.). Similarly, it might be useful to create a support 
mechanism on the national level for refugees who decide to stay in a given country 
and to use different career opportunities. Furthermore, organising awareness-raising 
events  to  discuss  important  topics  such  as  discrimination  in  society  with  the  local 
communities can be beneficial in supporting the integration process. 

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  There  are  several  components  of  the 
project that could be highlighted as innovative. First, is the use of digital tools and 
setting  up  of  an  e-learning  platform  for  mapping  competencies  of  immigrants  and 
refugees,  sharing  the  relevant  resources,  showcasing  available  job  vacancies, 
providing  training  and  so  on.  Similarly,  project  partners  also  developed  training 
modules for language courses and civic and intercultural sessions as a support in the 
integration  process.  The  Handbook  for  trainers  with  detailed  training  content  and 
recommended  methodology  was  developed  as  an  innovative  tool  created  with  the 
experts' support and adjusted to the local context of participating countries. Moreover, 
the ALMIT online tool for competence check is also very innovative and useful for, e.g. 
Turkish stakeholders as the Turkish Employment Agency plans to use it in the future.  

Second, ALMIT joint events, linking jobseekers and local enterprises, were innovative 
and  worked  well  for  both  parties:  the  immigrants  and  the  local  enterprises. 
Participants had the opportunity to exchange their experiences and expectations with 
each other. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: As part of the ALMIT project, partners 
have  developed  and  made  available  resources  such  as  a  dedicated  website,  an  e-
learning platform26 in all partner languages, train-the-trainer handbook, documents 
such as a strategy and plan, cooperation agreement and exploitation plan which were 
uploaded  to  the  Dropbox  platform  as  well  as  the  final  online  conference27  and  the 
project presentations28 from the final conference. Similarly, the outcomes produced 
through  the  project  activities,  which  are  spread  over  seven  Work  Packages  (WPs) 
were also made available on the project website.  

Moreover,  project  partners  conducted  assessments  and  collected  feedback  on  the 
impact of the pilot integration courses and shared it as consolidated report on their 
Dropbox platform. Following the mapping and profiling of immigrants’ education, skills 
and experiences and matching them with the needs of the local labour market, project 
partners produced a report describing the conclusions and recommendations on the 
matching  process,  which  they  also  shared  on  their  Dropbox  platform.  They  also 
developed  and  shared  helpful  materials  for  entering  the  local  labour  market  in  the 
form of pocketbooks in all partner countries. Quality control and monitoring activities 
were implemented both for internal and external reporting purposes. This included a 

26 ALMIT: Course categories, https://almit-project.eu/elearning/  
27 ALMIT Final Conference 26 November 2020, 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDuXpPnk18&feature=youtu.be 
28 Final conference of the ALMIT project – presentations, https://almit-project.eu/2020/11/30/final-
conference-of-the-almit-project-presentations/  

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 53 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
quality monitoring and evaluation plan and quality management internal reports, as 
well as reporting to the European Commission which included monitoring reports, such 
final  technical 
as  two 
implementation report.  

implementation  reports  and  one 

interim  technical 

Transnational dimension: The ALMIT project was transnational with partners from 
Austria,  Bulgaria,  Serbia  and  Turkey.  The  partners  exchanged  experience  across 
national  borders.  During  the  project,  joint  meetings  of  all  partners  were  organised 
where they exchanged experiences, country-specific examples and good practices. In 
addition  to  the  transnational  project  partner  meetings,  the  project  team  also 
organised a visit to Brussels and met with EU officials. The project was also presented 
at  events  outside  the  Republic  of  Serbia,  Turkey,  Bulgaria  and  Austria,  whose 
institutions are under the auspices of the EU. 

New partnerships created:  During the ALMIT project different partnerships were 
created  including  with  academic  institutions  as  conceptual  leaders  and  project 
supervisors,  public  authorities,  business  sector,  refugee  organisation,  national 
agencies  for  VET  training,  organisations  working  with  immigrants,  educational 
authority,  organisations  supporting  intercultural  dialogue,  employment  and  youth 
empowerment, and others. For instance, the National Advisory Board, a body formed 
through the ALMIT project included representatives of several national organisations 
that were directly or indirectly involved in resolving the migrant issue.  

Moreover, the ALMIT project had a unique composition of project partner countries. 
Austria is a major target country for Third Country Nationals while Serbia and Bulgaria 
are  mainly  considered  as  transit  countries.  Meanwhile,  Turkey  mainly  deals  with 
refugees from neighbouring countries who consider returning when local conflicts are 
settled. These different circumstances provided different approaches in the work with 
immigrants  on  a  political  level  but  also  in  terms  of  the  activities  that  NGOs  /  VET 
centres  carry  out  to  serve  the  target  group.  This  partnership  through  the  ALMIT 
project provided a diverse overview of how migration and integration are perceived 
within different European countries. 

Similarly,  important  new  partnerships  were  created  with  diverse  local  stakeholders 
who played an instrumental role in the success of the project. For instance, in Turkey 
the Government Directorate of Düzce and the Düzce General Directorate of Migration 
Management worked closely on the ALMIT project. Likewise, the Turkish Employment 
Agency, which was closely involved in the project, will be using the online tool created 
by the ALMIT project for competence check.  

Dissemination  strategy:  Project  outputs,  relevant  resources,  learning  platform, 
information on the partner organisations, and national and translational events were 
disseminated using the project website, Dropbox platform and social media channels.  

The dissemination activities were divided into regular dissemination activities on the 
local, national and international level and the final project dissemination conference. 
Documents  such  as  the  strategy  and  plan,  cooperation  agreement  and  exploitation 
plan were uploaded to the Dropbox platform as were the dissemination materials. The 
final online conference was made available on the YouTube channel and accompanying 
presentations shared on the project website.  

Target  organisations  that  benefited  from  ALMIT  project  results  included  higher 
education bodies, national agencies for VET training, representatives of ministries of 
education  and  science,  ministries  of  labour  and  social  affairs,  general  immigration 
offices,  Bulgarian  Council  on  Refugees  and  Migrants,  representatives  of  state 

May 2022 

 54 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
institutions  involved  in  immigrant  policy,  employer  organisations,  employment 
agencies, NGOs and others.  

Through national and EU-wide web promotion (via the interactive portal, social media 
channels and the project website) project partners promoted the ALMIT concept to 
the relevant stakeholders and authorities as well as social forums and groups all over 
Europe. There was also a final project dissemination conference which attracted 100+ 
participants  and  external  experts  from  across  Europe.  Some  of  the  project  events 
were  conducted  online  given  the  travel  restrictions  because  of  the  COVID-19 
pandemic. 

European  added  value:  The  ALMIT  project  and  relevant  activities  would  not  be 
possible without the EU funding primarily due to the limited funds that participating 
organisations  have.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  this  project  was  co-financed  by  the  EU 
helped with the promotion of the project among the local population. In particular, it 
showcased that the EU not only sympathises with the problems of refugees, but also 
contributes to  overcoming the animosity caused by the situation. Similarly, without 
the financial support from the EU it would not be possible to hire local experts who 
provided  trainings  throughout  the  project.  EU  funding  has  also  contributed  to 
organising specific meetings and trainings, creating a practical website and e-learning 
platform with helpful information and resources. Lastly, the funding also helped cover 
other  costs  such  as  work  materials,  renting  training  space  and  providing  food  and 
drinks, which was a motivating factor for the participants. 

Sustainability  measures:  During  the  ALMIT  project  activities,  partners  have 
developed a network of organisations and individuals that will continue to follow-up 
and contribute to improving the situation of immigrants in Serbia, Bulgaria, Turkey 
and  Austria.  Throughout  the  project,  partners  matched  representatives  of  other 
organisations  and  employers  with  immigrants  in  joint  events  in  which  they  could 
discuss all the challenges and possibilities regarding employment. These relationships 
are also expected to last even after the project is over.  

The  learnings  and  experiences  gained  from  the  project  will  remain  and  benefit 
stakeholders  in  the  long-term.  For  instance,  the  ALMIT  team  and  facilitators  who 
provided job orientation sessions became familiar with the necessary competences for 
various occupations and learned about job profiles and companies that will be useful 
for  long-term  integration  purposes.  Similarly,  the  partner  organisations  in  Serbia, 
Bulgaria,  Austria  and  Turkey  will  apply  ALMIT  examples  of  good  practice  and 
strengthen the same or similar project activities in the future. 

The ALMIT project was a very good example for NGOs, educational institutions and 
policy  organisations  working  on  refugee  issues,  who  can  use  ALMIT  results  and 
outputs in their future programmes. To illustrate, the online tool for competence check 
developed during ALMIT project was useful for Turkish stakeholders and the Turkish 
Employment Agency plans to use it in the future.  

In  addition,  all  the  resources,  learning  materials,  reports  and  lessons  learned  from 
the  ALMIT  project  can  serve  as  distinctive  good  practices  for  the  organisations  in 
different countries. As the project results and materials continue  to be available on 
the project website and e-learning platforms, interested organisations can use these 
resources by adjusting them to their local reality. Another sustainability factor is that 
all  project  partners  agreed  to  continue  cooperating  with  each  other  and  with  other 
organisations involved in the project in order to serve refugees and immigrants.  

May 2022 

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Finally, another important impact of the project is the fact that a representative of 
project  partner  Zgura-M  delivered  a  training  in  a  summer  school  in  Medellin, 
Cartagena, Colombia using the outcomes of  the ALMIT project. During a discussion 
with the local organiser of the training and the representatives of regional authorities, 
potential transfer of the project concepts, methodology and approaches was agreed. 
According to the feedback the approach applied in ALMIT could be used to contribute 
to overcoming Venezuela's refugee wave. Hence the strategy described in the ALMIT 
project  could  be  a  useful  tool  to  reduce  labour  market  tensions  in  Latin  America. 
Through transferring our European experience to a Latin America country, the project 
team ensured that ALMIT innovation would be sustainable and transferable to other 
countries on other continents. 

Horizontal  objectives:  The  activities  implemented  within  the  ALMIT  project  also 
focused on issues such as gender equality and youth employment. For instance, the 
civic  and  intercultural  courses  specifically  addressed  equality  among  genders  and 
highlighted  the  need  for  integration.  Similarly,  through  job-skills’  matching  and 
profiling and settlement, the project supported the employability of young people with 
a refugee background. 

3.2.b.  Awareness-raising  activities  on 
Opportunities for Adults” 

“Upskilling  Pathways:  New 

This section presents three projects that fall under two calls for proposals with an overall 
objective to support the implementation of the Council Recommendation on “Upskilling 
Pathways: New Opportunities for Adults”.29 

Two projects presented in this section specifically focused on facilitating the access of 
low-skilled and / or low-qualified adults to flexible pathways for enhancing their literacy, 
numeracy and digital skills.  

The  third  project  implemented  actions  in  line  with  a  specific  objective  to  support  the 
deployment  by  national  and  /  or  regional  authorities,  as  an  integral  element  in  their 
implementation of the Council recommendation. 

3.2.3.  The  development  of  an  adaptive,  web-based  assessment  tool  for 
evaluating the literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels of low-skilled / low-
qualified adults in Turkey 

'The Online Skill Assessment Project is a successful project 
implemented by DOKA since its outputs will be used at national 
level.’ 

29 https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1224 

May 2022 

 56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

VP/2018/008 

VS/2019/0127 
Unemployment  
• 
• 
• 

level  of  quality  and  sustainable 

Lifelong Learning; 
Combating long-term unemployment; 
Promotion  of  a  high 
employment; 
Active Labour Market Programmes; 
Upskilling and reskilling of adults. 
National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
•  Media; 
• 
• 
• 

Local Public Education Centre part of LLLP in Turkey; 
Local Trabzon İŞKUR (Employment Agency). 
Setting  up  a  technical  evaluation  team  at  Trabzon  University 
Faculty of Education; 
Preparing skill-level assessment tool questions; 
Revising assessment tool questions based on expert feedback;  
Creating visuals for the assessment tool questions; 
Running three pilots to test the web-based assessment tool for 
evaluating the literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels of low-
skilled / low-qualified adults; 

• 
• 
• 
• 

•  Designing a web-based assessment environment; 
•  Hiring  a  software  company  to  create  a  web-based  adaptive 

• 

• 

system; 
Running the web-based skill and skill level assessment system 
with the target group; 
Conducting  a  statistical  analysis  of  the  skill  assessment  tool 
application results; 

•  Writing and presenting two papers at the ‘Teaching & Education 
Virtual Conference’ held at the University of Economics, Prague, 
Czechia; 
Visiting  the  OECD  office  in  France  to  learn  from  their 
experiences; 

• 

•  Organising a staff training for the Turkish Employment Agency 
and National Education ministry General Directorate of Lifelong 
Learning 

•  Organising  a  closing  meeting  with  project  partners,  domestic 
and  foreign  partners,  politicians,  academicians,  participant 
institutions, and corporate companies, local and national press 
to present project results. 

Turkey  
Turkey  
Dogu Karadeniz Kalkinma Ajansi Baskanligi 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi  
Trabzon Chamber of Commerce and Industry 
Trabzon Public Education Centre 
Trabzon Employment Agency (İŞKUR) 

 57 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Partners 

May 2022 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 260 665.00 
1 April 2019-31 December 2020 
https://onlinebeceri.com  

Socioeconomic context:  The  labour  market  analysis  in  Turkey  shows  that  one  of 
the  main  reasons  for  long-term  unemployment  is  the  lack  of  21st  century 
competencies among adults and mismatch between their skills and the needs of the 
labour  market.  Similarly,  assessing  and  tracking  adults’  skills  levels  is  another 
important  challenge.  The  existing  methods  to  assess  skills  levels  among  adults  are 
not effective as they rely on a manual approach and use the Likert scale. Hence, the 
project aims to design a reliable and objective web-based adaptive skill assessment 
tool. The project focused on adults aged 18-40 with low qualification / low-skilled at 
secondary  school  level  education  as  the  main  target  group.  To  support  low-skilled 
adults to prepare a career plan and to participate in the labour market, it is essential 
to first determine their level of qualifications / skills.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The project aimed to develop an adaptive, web-
based  assessment  tool  for  assessing  the  literacy,  numeracy  and  digital  skills  of 
secondary school graduates aged 18-40 who represent the low-skilled / low-qualified 
adults in Turkey.  

The  project  aims  to  contribute  to  Lifelong  Learning,  Active  Labour  Market 
Programmes,  and  upskilling  and  reskilling  policies  in  Turkey.  Moreover,  the  Web-
Based feature of the Skill Assessment Tool will help to reach wide target groups as 
anyone  will  be  able  to  assess  their  skills  in  Turkish  Literacy,  Numeracy  and  Digital 
field up to EQF level 4. This will allow a database with skills levels of relevant target 
groups  to  be  built,  help  measure  the  outputs  of  the  current  education  and  training 
system and serve as a support for further upskilling and reskilling programmes. It will 
be possible to observe, track and evaluate the yearly changes in the skills levels of 
adults  and  contribute  to  planning  the  Lifelong  Learning  and  Active  Labour  Market 
Programmes. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The major impact of this project is the fact 
that  this  adaptive,  web-based  assessment  tool  will  be  used  on  a  national  level  in 
Turkey to evaluate the literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels of low-skilled / low-
qualified adults. One of the main users of the tool is the Turkish Employment Agency 
(İŞKUR). The project strengthened İŞKUR's technical infrastructure by providing them 
with a digital tool to measure the competencies of unemployed people. The project 
team also provided training for the Turkish Employment agencies where 300 job and 
vocational  counsellors  participated.  This  tool  can  contribute  to  İŞKUR's  efforts  to 
combat  long-term  unemployment  in  Turkey.  Moreover,  the  Regional  Development 
Agencies  of  Turkey  (26)  have  the  option  to  use  this  skills  assessment  tool  in  their 
regional and local initiatives targeting unemployed and low-skilled people. 

The  insights  gathered  in  the  database  will  help  to  design  advanced  adult  learning 
programmes that match the current needs of the labour market. It can also be used 
as an impact analysis tool to evaluate the current adult learning training programmes. 
In the long term, the project will contribute toward making the employment services 
in Turkey more efficient and effective. 

Identification of potential good practices: The important good practice from this 
project is to have an end user who will use and sustain the project outcomes. One of 
the  main  users  of  the  skills  assessment  tool  is  the  Turkish  Employment  Agency 
(İŞKUR)  and  potentially  the  Regional  Development  Agencies  of  Turkey  (26).  The 
project  team  helped  strengthen  İŞKUR's  technical  infrastructure  by  providing  them 

May 2022 

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with a digital tool to measure unemployed people's competencies, and trained their 
staff (over 300 people). Thus, the project impact will continue even after the project 
is  over  and  hopefully,  contribute  to  İŞKUR’s  goals  of  combating  the  long-term 
unemployment in Turkey.  

Another good practice from the project is having the right partners who can help. For 
instance, in order to reach the proper target group, the project team partnered with 
the  Trabzon  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Industry,  Trabzon  Public  Education  Center 
and Trabzon Employment Agencies who had databases with target group information 
as well as the experience in organising meetings with target groups.  

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities: One of the most important 
lessons  learned  from  this  project,  which  can  be  applied  in  other  contexts,  is  the 
importance of integrating the final user outputs to the design process. Furthermore, 
while the project implementation was initially done on a local level, its impact area 
was on the national level. Therefore, the project team also established national level 
partnerships  to  widen  the  scope  and  coverage  of  the  project.  Similarly,  having  a 
specific  end  user  from  the  start  of  the  project  and  involving  them  throughout  the 
project cycle helped increase the buy-in and ownership of the final skills assessment 
tool.  

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  The  project  developed  an  adaptive, 
web-based  assessment  tool  for  evaluating  the  literacy,  numeracy  and  digital  skills 
levels  of  low-skilled  /  low-qualified  adults  which  will  be  used  on  a  national  level  in 
Turkey.  Previously,  such  assessments  were  done  manually.  Thus,  having  a  digital 
solution  to  assessment  can  help  improve  efficiency,  effectiveness  and  scale  of 
coverage.  It  can  help  a  realistic  picture  of  the  skills  levels  and  design  appropriate 
training programmes that help to develop market relevant skills and competencies. 

The assessment system will be online and adaptive. It will feature a mouse tracking 
utility.  This  will  enable  researchers  to  obtain  quantitative  data  about  the  individual 
qualities  of  participants  which  affect  their  level  of  skills,  and  which  are  difficult  to 
assess,  such  as  whether  the  decisions  of  the  participants  are  conscious  or  not,  the 
time spent for thinking and whether they follow the texts using the mouse or not.  

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  As  part  of  the  project  the  team  has 
produced  several  reports,  handouts,  training  materials  and  organised  local  and 
national-level events. The team has produced ‘A Conceptual Framework of Adaptive 
Web-Based Skill Assessment Tool Designed for Low-Qualified Adults in Turkey’, and 
‘Assessment of Basic Skills of Low-Qualified Adults in Turkey for Labour Market: Needs 
Analysis’  reports  which  they  presented  at  the  9th  Teaching  &  Education  Virtual 
Conference in Prague on 23 June 2020. Similarly, an evaluation study named ‘Usability 
Evaluation of the Online Skill Assessment Tool’ was submitted to an academic journal 
for publication. It is expected to be published in June-July of 2021. A reliability and 
validation  analysis  of  the  skill  assessment  question  pool  and  CAT  system  has  been 
performed. Statistical analysis has been shared with the end user of the web-based 
adaptive skill assessment tool – the Turkish Employment Agency. 

The  project  team  also  organised  several  events  and  workshops.  For  instance,  they 
provided training to the Turkish Employment Agency and National Education Ministry 
General Directorate of Lifelong Learning. The training focused on sharing the purpose, 
application and interpretation of the results of the web-based skill assessment tool. 
Likewise, the project team organised a closing meeting with the participation of the 
project partners, domestic and foreign partners, politicians, academicians, participant 
institutions,  and  corporate  companies,  local  and  national  press.  Information  on  the 

May 2022 

 59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
project  activities,  relevant  events,  workshops,  dissemination  activities,  project 
implementation and international visits can be accessed on the project website.  

Transnational  dimension:  A  team  of  four  people  from  the  project  team  (project 
administrators  and  the  representatives  of  each  participant  institutions)  visited  the 
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in France and the 
European Commission institutions and European Parliament in Belgium. The project 
team  benefited  tremendously  from  the  know-how  of  the  European  partners  and 
meetings  with  the  OECD  and  European  Training  Foundation  (ETF).  OECD  PIACC 
experience was beneficial when designing the skill assessment tool. The project has 
been promoted beyond the national level and gained international visibility.  

New partnerships created: The project team established new partnerships both on 
local and national levels. On a local level, partnerships included Trabzon Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry, Trabzon Public Education Centre and Trabzon Employment 
Agency (İŞKUR). At a national level, Industry and Technology Ministry – Development 
Agencies General Directorate and the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and the 
Industry  and  Technology  Ministry  –  Development  Agencies  General  Directorate 
(DAGD).  

This cooperation accelerated the design of the web-based adaptive skill assessment 
tool.  All  stakeholders  combined  their  resources  toward  a  common  goal  to  create  a 
fully  functional  result-based  tool.  Moreover,  the  local  partners  also  shared  their 
database to reach target groups – adults aged 18-40 with secondary school education. 
This  allowed  the  project  team  to  run  pilot  applications  with  target  groups  to  check 
demographical effects, level of difficulty and validity of the question pool and usability 
of  the  system.  Another  positive  outcome  of  these  partnerships  is  that  the  Turkish 
Employment Agency will be using the assessment tool in the future.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  project  team  relied  on  several  different  means  to 
disseminate project-related activities. First, a designated project website was set up. 
Promotional brochures (1 000 units), posters and roll ups were prepared, distributed 
and used at promotional events and meetings. Moreover, social media accounts were 
created  and  used  effectively  during  all  project  activities.  Similarly,  partner 
organisation websites (DOKA and KTU) were also used to promote the project. The 
project  team  also  produced  press  releases  which  were  shared  with  relevant  media 
outlets.  In  additional,  local  and  national  partners  helped  with  disseminating  the 
project activities and in reaching the target group.  

European added value: The project would not have been possible without the EU 
funding. It not only helped implement the project successfully and bring an innovative 
digital  tool  to  national  actors,  but  also  positively  contributed  to  addressing  skills 
assessment and unemployment challenges in Turkey. The project’s main goals were 
achieved successfully by providing an online assessment tool to actors operating at 
local, regional and national levels and ensuring both national and local utilisation via 
delivery of software training to İŞKUR and regional development agencies.  

Sustainability measures: The major achievement of this project is the fact that the 
team managed to ensure its sustainability by securing the final user for the web-based 
assessment tool. The Turkish Employment Agency will be using this tool for evaluating 
the literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels of low-skilled / low-qualified adults in 
Turkey. It is also a web-based adaptive skill assessment tool that everyone can reach 
at any time to assess their skill level on digital, numeracy and literacy up to EQF level 
4. 

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 60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  collaboration  between  DOKA-KTU  and  the  Turkish  Employment  Agency  is 
expected  to  continue  even  after  the  project  is  over.  The  results  of  the  web-based 
adaptive skill assessment tool will be monitored to ensure any defects or errors are 
detected and fixed. The partners also plan to upgrade the system by adding artificial 
intelligence  tools  that  would  suggest  a  particular  training  programme  to  users 
depending on their skills gap.  

Horizontal  objectives:  The  project  addresses  long-term  unemployment  of  low-
skilled  adults  including  youth.  The  project  target  includes  people  aged  18-40  with 
secondary school education. This can help support and improve the employability of 
vulnerable groups such as youth and low-skilled workers.  

3.2.4. BASIC - Building Alternative Skills Innovative sChemes 

‘The future of work is expected to entail lower job security, and more changes 
throughout a career. Skills management will be needed to anticipate and prepare for 
change and career development, thus skills audits are and will be useful in that 
regard.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

VP/2017/011 

VS/2018/0022 
Employment  
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment 
• 

Upskilling for adults 
Combating long-term unemployment 
Promoting a high level of quality and sustainable employment 
Employment services 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law 
Social partners 

May 2022 

 61 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Partners 

•  Mapping, identifying, and prioritising potential target groups 

• 

in need of upskilling interventions: National Report 
Identifying and mapping of the available upskilling pathways 
and opportunities in Greece: National Report 

•  Mapping of skills' assessment tools: Three reports on 

mapping, recommendations and the digital platform 
standards of the assessment tool 

•  Mapping and reviewing of adult upskilling learning/teaching 
theories and effective methodologies: National Report 

•  Developing the Pilot Learning Action: four training manuals in 
three fields of basic skills development, addressed to adult 
learners, basic literacy-numeracy science and respectively 
three Guides for Trainers, E-learning platform 

Greece 
Greece  
Organismos Apascholisis Ergatikou Dynamikou (OAED) 
• 

Elliniki Dimokratia (Ypourgeio Paideias & Thriskevmaton - 
Geniki Grammateia Epaggelmatikis Ekpaidefsis, Katartisis & 
Dia Viou Mathesis – GSLLL) 
Institouto Mikron Epichiriseon Genikis Synomospondias 
Epaggelmation Biotechnon Emporon Ellados Imegsebee (IME 
GSEVEE) 
Kentro Anaptyxis Ekpaideytikis Politikis G.S.E.E. (Kanep/Gsee) 
Astiki Etaireia (KANEP GSEE) 

• 

• 

EU contribution in euro 

Project duration 

(initial) 353 567.10 
2 May 2018-2 January 2021  

Project/organisation website 

https://www.easibasic.gr/en/home/  

Socioeconomic context: In Greece, there is no framework to define adult learning 
and basic skills. While there are many programmes developing and reinforcing skills 
and competences, the programmes for upskilling actions in favour of low or very low-
qualified  adults  have  only  been  ad  hoc.  Due  to  the  difficult  connection  of  formal 
education to work, many people, even those with upper secondary education, have 
not participated in any kind of vocational training or skills enhancement programmes 
(basic  and  social).  In  Greece,  one  of  the  key  priorities  for  employment  and  social 
policies is the development of human capital. The percentage of Greeks who are rated 
as  proficient  in  language  literacy  and  in  solving  mathematical  and  technological 
problems  is  significantly  lower  than  the  average  of  OECD  countries.  For  example, 
about  one  in  four  adults  in  Greece  (26.0%)  ranks  at  level  3  in  literacy,  below  the 
OECD average of 35.4%. The Greek vocational education and training system fails to 
successfully attract learners and employers and to respond to labour market needs.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The BASIC project has set as a National Policy 
Objective to recommend that certain actions and policies be adopted to ensure easy 
access to upskilling. This includes  credible  skills, assessment tools, customised and 
learning  and  recognised  /  validated  educational  outcomes 
flexible  quality 
(qualifications). The main objective  of the project was to reinforce the upskilling of 
adults  with  low  levels  of  basic  skills  or  low  qualifications,  to  adjustable  pathways, 
improve  their  literacy,  numeracy,  and  digital  skills  and/or  progressing  towards  a 
higher  qualification  and  re-engaging  of  learning,  according  to  the  Council 
Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways. 

Project partners attempted to capture the need to upgrade skills of low-skilled adults 
in Greece on a more systematic level, to contribute in detail in the relevant dialogue 
and  propose,  at  pilot  level,  specific  actions  regarding  low-skilled  adult  education  / 
adult training. This was particularly critical since the data show that unemployment, 

May 2022 

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and in fact long-term unemployment, mainly concerns people with low qualifications 
and skills. 

The BASIC project aimed at: 

formulating national policy proposals for upgrading skills; 

• 
•  enhancing  the  elaboration  of  actions  and  policies,  to  ensure  easy  access  to 

upskilling pathways of low-skilled adults; 

•  promoting customised and flexible quality learning, which in combination with 
reliable skills assessment tools, seeks to lead to recognised / certified learning 
results. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The project partners successfully mapped 
and prioritised the target groups in need of upskilling in Greece. They also developed 
an innovative “package” of vocational training for basic skills, in four fields of literacy 
(linguistic,  numerical,  scientific  and  digital).  While  designing  the  coursework  the 
developments and modern approaches in modules and pedagogical methodology were 
taken  into  account  to  ensure  relevance  to  the  current  trends.  The  training  was 
implemented at pilot level to be tested and optimised. Moreover, the project partners 
mapped upskilling pathways, learning methodologies and skills  assessment tools in 
order to identify the most appropriate methods and tools of vocational training and 
skills assessment.  

The BASIC project successfully achieved its initial goals by:  
• 

contributing  to  the  national  policy  by  presenting  the  results  of  the  project  to 
policymakers  as  an  “opportunity”  to  further  implement  and  influence  relevant 
policy measures; 
contributing to the creation of level 3 of the EQF / NQF index – Basic Skills through 
the provision of specialised methodological and assessments tools, which did not 
exist until recently in the country.  

• 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  There  are  several  good  practices 
generated from this project that can be applied in other contexts. Firstly, the project 
team’s  decision  to  narrowly  define  their  target  audience  and  focus  on  the  most 
vulnerable  group  was  a  great  idea.  It  can  help  address  long-term  unemployment 
trends  in  a  given  country.  Second,  the  BASIC  project  has  set  as  a  National  Policy 
Objective to recommend that certain actions and policies be adopted to ensure easy 
access to upskilling. This includes  credible  skills, assessment tools, customised and 
flexible  quality 
learning  and  recognised  /  validated  educational  outcomes 
(qualifications).  The  project  partners  were  able  to  raise  awareness  of  diverse 
stakeholders  and  get  buy-in  from  key  decision-makers.  This  allowed  adoption  and 
implementation of BASIC project activities and resources on a local and national level 
even after the completion of the project.  

Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities:  The  project  developed 
innovative adult learning approaches, methods and tools as well as qualitative training 
materials which are flexible and transferable in the field of low-skilled / qualified adults 
in different contexts. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities: The innovative component of the project 
was the creation of a “package” of vocational training for basic skills, in four fields of 
literacy (linguistic, numerical, scientific and digital) based on the mapping and need 
assessment for upskilling among the target group. The coursework was designed with 
reference  to  recent  developments,  modern  teaching  approaches  and  pedagogical 
methodology  to  ensure  relevance  to  the  current  trends.  As  part  of  this  innovative 

May 2022 

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adult learning approaches, project partners have set up a qualitative training material, 
flexible and transferable, in the field of low-skilled / qualified adults. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: As part of the BASIC project several 
reports were produced including a national report on the existing groups in need of 
upskilling  pathways,  a  report  presenting  and  reviewing  the  existing  upskilling 
pathways for low-skilled adults, recommendations report for designing and deploying 
a  sound  assessment  framework  and  a  final  evaluation  of  the  BASIC  project  report. 
Work Packages30 developed during the project are published on the project website.  

The  external  evaluation  focused  on  the  assessment  of  the  project's  efficiency  and 
effectiveness, according to the call objectives. It also included an interim report and 
final  report  submitted  by  the  external  evaluator.  The  main  objective  of  these  two 
reports  was  to  identify  and  explore  the  key  issues,  the  critical  requirements  for 
success and the major constraints and significant lessons which had been exported 
during the lifetime of the project, in the field of upskilling pathways for low-skilled / 
qualified adults. 

Transnational  dimension:  Although  the  partnership  had  a  purely  national 
composition, the transnational dimension was introduced by organising study trips to: 

• 

Ireland [(15-17/04/2019)] in order to gain relevant European know-how. A study 
team,  comprised  of  representatives  from  all  partners  visited  the  following 
organisations: City of Dublin Education & Training Board, Quality & Qualifications 
Ireland,  Further  Education  &  Training  Authority  (SOLAS)  and  Education  and 
Training Boards Ireland (ETBI). The visit helped partners to exchange ideas and 
practices related to the methodological approaches for upskilling pathways. 

•  Paris,  France  (23-26/09/2019),  in  order  to  integrate  relevant  European  best 
practices.  Representatives  from  partners  visited  the  following  organisations: 
GRETA-  AC-VERSAILLES,  Centre  Info  –  Department  of  Local  European  and 
International affairs, Certif'Pro, AFPA, APP and Ministere d' Education Nationale 

While the working languages of the project were Greek and English, the final outcomes 
of  the  project  also  included  a  European  dimension.  The  project  also  contributes  to 
transnational  efforts  to  certify  basic  skills  by  raising  awareness  on  validating  non-
formal learning outcomes, as a tool to further improve the career prospects of adults 
as well as to stimulate their interest in further education and training. 

New partnerships created: The BASIC project brought together four strong national 
actors  in  Greece  who  are  involved  in  planning,  organising  and  promoting  adult 
learning. All partners were committed to creating a sustainable network, in order to 
effectively  act  towards  facilitating  the  access  of  low-skilled  and  /  or  low-qualified 
adults to flexible pathways for enhancing their literacy, numeracy and digital skills. 
Thanks to this partnership, for the first time in Greece an integrated intervention and 
comprehensive proposal on upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults was built.  

Partnerships  between  the  national  PES,  the  Ministry  of  Education  and  the  Social 
Partners  were  crucial  for  reinforcing  the  added  value  of  the  BASIC  project  and  for 
strengthening national policy in this field. As part of this partnership α large debate 
was opened among the partner organisations and an ad hoc partners' meeting took 
place at the Ministry of Education (21.10.2020), to  exchange views about  the next 

30 BASIC: Work Packages, https://www.easibasic.gr/en/work-packages/  

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 64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
steps needed to promote BASIC Action results as the keystone to build further, in the 
relevant policy field, the basic skills of low-skilled / low-qualified adults. 

Dissemination  strategy:  The  main  stakeholders  addressed  and  targeted  by  the 
communication  and  dissemination  activities  of  the  project  include  the  authorities 
working on VET and youth issues, policymakers, potential users and supporters, the 
Ministry of Education-EOPPEP (National Organisation for Certification of Qualifications 
&  Vocational  Guidance),  the  Ministry  of  Labour,  Youth  Bodies,  Social  Partners,  VET 
policy  design  institutions,  relevant  networks  and  institutions  acting  in  the  relevant 
local / regional / national / EU level field. The dissemination and promotion actions of 
the  project  objectives,  practices  and  results  led  to  fruitful  dialogue  and  proposals, 
related to the field of upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults, in order to contribute 
to the development of relevant policies. 

The means used for the dissemination included: 
•  Project and partner websites; 
•  Multimedia Project Presentation (videos); 
•  Social networking (Facebook, twitter etc.) sites; 
•  Direct  dissemination  activities  (conferences,  webinars,  info  days,  internal 

meetings); 

•  Other dissemination products and tools (Presentation of the project's objectives, 

results and deliverables in related conferences, leaflets, press releases). 

The dissemination activities of the project were primarily addressed to and aimed at: 
•  Bringing  on  board  supporters  such  as  public  and  local  authorities,  social 
partners, training providers as the multipliers with the highest potential with 
regard to a sustainable use of the project's results. 

•  Gaining the interest and acceptance of end users (professionals, practitioners, 
low-skilled  /  qualified  adults)  for  the  project's  outcomes,  via  the  “transfer”-
tasks scheduled, in order to facilitate their sustainable transfer into practice. 

•  Bringing partners’ internal stakeholders / networks on board, via the partners' 

• 

internal dissemination of the project’s results. 
Introducing 
its 
recommendations  and  engage  them  in  a  wider  dialogue  on  practices  for 
supporting upskilling pathways. 

further  stakeholders  to  the  project's  approach  and 

European added value: For the first time in the country, an integrated intervention 
and comprehensive proposal on upskilling pathways for low-skilled adults was built, 
thanks to the EU funding and the relevant initiatives taken by a partnership among 
strong national actors. Through the EaSI programme and funding from the EU, the 
four Greek collaborating partners successfully captured, on a more systematic level, 
the  situation  in  Greece  regarding  the  need  to  upgrade  skills  in  low-skilled  adults, 
contributed in detail to the relevant dialogue and proposed specific actions regarding 
low-skilled  adult  education  /  adult  training.  It  allowed  national  interactions  and 
relevant consultations on the policy field of basic skills for low-skilled / low-qualified 
adults. Moreover, the EU funding made it possible to organise study visits to Ireland 
and France to learn from their experience and adopt European-level best practices in 
the field of adult education.  

Sustainability measures: Project implementing partners focused on building strong 
relations with relevant stakeholders and building policy discourse on the upskilling of 
adults.  The  project  partners  aimed  to  create  Level  3  of  the  National  Qualifications 
Framework  (not  applied  in  Greece  until  December  2020)  for  basic  skills  and  to 
promote the BASIC Package, as the basis to act towards a certificate of basic skills 
level  3.  According  to  the  recently  introduced  law  of  the  Ministry  of  Education  (Law 

May 2022 

 65 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4763/21.12.2020,  art.9),  on  the  National  System  of  Vocational  Education,  Training 
and  Lifelong  Learning,  level  3  is  foreseen  to  be  provided  by  Vocational  Training 
Schools  and  the  Apprenticeship  Vocational  Education  Schools  of  OAED  –  art.9  (1). 
This is a great achievement and inter alia a result of the commitment of the leading 
project partners.  

Moreover, the Municipality of Larissa, known as the “Learning City” showed interest 
in implementing the actions from the BASIC project at a local level. They will use the 
vocational training actions to address unemployed low-qualified adults, fully adopting 
the methodology of BASIC, in collaboration with the Greek PES (initial meeting in mid-
February 2021). Similarly, discussions with the Ministry of Education will be continued, 
to  promote  the  BASIC  package  as  the  keystone  for  the  necessary  actions  to  be 
implemented for the validation of basic skills. 

Horizontal  objectives:  With  the  goal  to  combat  long-term  unemployment,  the 
BASIC project focused on vulnerable groups such as unemployed with low educational 
qualifications with particular attention to women. Out of 25 applications, 17 (4 men - 
13 women) trainees registered for the training programme and 15 of them (3 men - 
12 women) participated and successfully graduated.  

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3.2.5. Support for upskilling pathways in the Netherlands 

‘Education providers amongst others face difficulties with regard to 
the complexity of rules and regulations, limited insights into the best 
approach in a given context / sector, and the development of 
partnerships with regional stakeholders.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2017/011 

VS/2018/0107 
Unemployment  
• 
• 
• 
• 

Skills development; 
Combat long-term unemployment; 
Fight against poverty and social exclusion; 
Promotion of a high level of quality and sustainable 
employment. 
National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Social partners; 
Public and private education and training providers; 
Teachers and trainers; 
Policy advisers, managers and directors; 
Adult learners. 

Conducting desk research by gathering relevant information on 
adult education and training, including detailed information on 
public and private education institutions, quantitative data on 
adult education and training, and insights into the factors 
influencing the participation of adults in learning; 
Conducting field research by speaking to relevant stakeholders 
about the provision of flexible learning pathways. The main 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

• 

May 2022 

 67 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
target group consisted of public and private education 
institutions; 
Providing active support to education and training providers via 
meetings and service documents; 

• 

•  Organising a national conference by gathering all relevant 

stakeholders in order to solidify commitment for adult learning, 
exchange knowledge and good practices, and build a 
sustainable network of partners.  

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Netherlands  
Netherlands 
Koninkrijk der Nederlanden 

Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

(initial) 271 363.50 
1 July 2018-30 June 2020 

Project/organisation website 

- 

Socioeconomic context: Over the past decades, the Netherlands has successfully 
promoted basic skills (literacy, numeracy and digital skills) development via multiple 
inter-ministerial basic skills programmes. Nevertheless, the link between basic skills 
and VET has generally been weak. Furthermore, the Dutch VET system has long been 
oriented  towards  initial  education,  with  a  strong  focus  on  diploma-oriented 
trajectories.  In  the  coalition  agreement  of  the  current  government  (2017)  and  the 
governance  agreement  between  the  ministry  and  the  Association  of  VET  Colleges 
(2018),  the  importance  of  flexible  learning  pathways  and  tailoring  the  educational 
system  to  the  needs  of  adults,  especially  those  that  are  low-skilled  and/or  low-
qualified, has been reinforced. 

In the Netherlands, a participation gap in adult learning continues to exist between 
lower and higher qualified and skilled adults. The major barriers to learning include 
negative learning experiences, a lack of self-esteem, juggling work–life balance and 
a  focus  on  the  short,  instead  of  the  long  term.  Similarly,  development  of  flexible 
learning  pathways  is  also  a  difficult  process  with  challenges  including  limited 
knowledge  on  rules  and  regulations,  difficulties  regarding  the  development  of 
partnerships  with  regional  stakeholders,  and  a  lack  of  knowledge  on  the  various 
options and best approach in a given context / sector. 

Aims of the project/organisation: The project aimed to gather information on the 
status  quo  of  flexible  learning  pathways  for  adults  in  the  Netherlands  and  actively 
stimulate and support relevant stakeholders to develop these. The end goal was to 
stimulate  the  availability  of  flexible  learning  pathways  up  to  EQF  level  4  for  (low-
skilled / low-qualified) adults. To achieve these goals, the team conducted desk and 
field  research  and  provided  active  support  to  the  public  and  private  education  and 
training  institutions,  via  inter  alia  service  documents,  meetings  and  a  national 
conference. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The project has contributed to an action-
oriented approach and helped eliminate the gap between policy and practice. Through 
the desk and field research, the team gathered valuable insights into the status quo, 
ambitions and barriers  regarding the development of flexible learning  pathways for 
adults  in  the  Netherlands.  The  findings  from  the  study  highlighted  that  there  is 
confusion related to how to develop flexible learning pathways for adults, challenges 

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 68 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
with  developing  sustainable  cooperation  with  regional  partners,  and  significant 
differences between education and training institutions across the country.  

These insights have provided the basis for action-oriented support in the second phase 
of the implementation period. By providing an accessible service, directly speaking to 
relevant stakeholders, developing service documents that respond to current needs, 
and  organising  meetings  and  a  national  conference,  the  team  has  proactively 
stimulated  and  supported  education  and  training  institutions  to  progress  in  their 
efforts to develop flexible learning pathways.  

Major challenges faced by education providers in the Netherlands has to do with the 
complexity of rules and regulations, limited insights into the best approach in a given 
context  /  sector,  and  the  development  of  partnerships  with  regional  stakeholders. 
Hence, the project team focused on organising one-on-one meetings, disseminating 
newsletters, developing service documents, organising national meetings and a large-
scale conference. As a result, education and training providers have been effectively 
stimulated and supported to develop flexible learning pathways for adults. Over the 
course of the project, many education providers have managed to take the next step 
based on the new information received and have already seen positive outcomes. For 
instance, between 1 October 2017 and 1 October 2019, the number of adults enrolled 
in  formal  vocational  education  and  training  has  increased  from  72 438  to  88 114 
students. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  main  good  practice  from  this 
project is the combination of action and a policy-oriented approach to adult learning. 
On the policy front the project was a great addition to the inter-ministerial programme 
on adult learning initiated by the current government, including policy measures such 
as personal learning budgets and a digital overview of learning possibilities.  

The project has also enabled experimentation with an action-oriented approach in the 
field of adult learning. The direct interaction with education and training providers has 
proven valuable for both sides and has, amongst others, led to an increase in mutual 
understanding  and  closed  the  gap  between  policy  and  practice.  Furthermore,  the 
action has led to a strengthening of national partnerships and has contributed to the 
implementation of the Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways. 

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities:  One major lesson learned 
from  this  project,  which  could  be  transferred  elsewhere  is  to  experiment  with  an 
action-oriented approach by trying to find solutions within the given policy context, 
without  necessarily  wanting  to  change  it.  The  major  benefit  of  the  project  to  the 
Ministry  of  Education  in  the  Netherlands  came  from  adopting  an  action-oriented 
approach in the field of adult learning as it helps to close the gap between policy and 
practice. What is needed is not always a change in rules and regulations and / or more 
budget,  but  rather  the  provision  of  more  information  on  the  opportunities  within 
current  rules  and  regulations  and  the  facilitation  of  knowledge  sharing  and  the 
exchange of good practices. Similarly important is the coordination and cooperation 
of diverse stakeholders involved in the field of adult learning at all levels.  

Innovativeness of the project/activities: The major stakeholders of this project 
including  the  ministry  and  the  education  and  training  providers  found  the  action-
oriented approach inherent to this project as innovative and valuable. This approach 

May 2022 

 69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
not only fits the field of adult learning but is also it is in line with the ministry's more 
general  ambition  to  move  towards  a  more  responsive  government  that  adopts  a 
bottom-up approach whenever suitable and possible. Given the success of the project 
and  the  remaining  challenges  with  implementation,  the  type  of  support  and 
stimulation initiated by this project will be continued. Education institutions have plans 
to shift from developing visions and plans to focusing more on implementation over 
the next few years. Hence, focus will shift to project managers and teams of teachers 
and  trainers.  Similarly,  more  emphasis  will  be  placed  on  regional  stakeholders  by 
organising visits, meetings and disseminating relevant information.  

Policy evidence generated by the project: Through the desk and field research, 
the project team produced various outputs including two factsheets and six thematic 
two-pagers  on  public–private  partnerships,  the  link  between  basic  skills  and  VET, 
validation  of  knowledge,  skills  and  competences,  teachers  and  trainers,  generic 
courses  (languages,  maths  and  citizenship)  and  alumni  policy.  These  documents 
primarily served as input for internal policymaking processes and the development of 
a vision for the future  by the department. In  addition, insights from  the factsheets 
and two-pagers have been shared in the various newsletters, as well as orally during 
individual meetings with diverse stakeholders.  

The  project  team  also  organised  a  mini  conference  on  recognition  and  validation 
together  with  the  Service  Centre  on  VET  /  Adult  Learning,  the  Association  of  VET 
Colleges, the umbrella organisation for private education and training providers and 
the platform of validation providers. They produced a report31 on the conference which 
was published on the website of the Service Centre on VET / Adult Learning. Similarly, 
following a national  conference with the  Ministry of Social Affairs and  Employment, 
the  Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs  and  Climate  Policy  and  the  Social  and  Economic 
Council, the project team produced relevant materials. In particular, the project team 
produced a talking-head video,32 an e-magazine and four newsletters related to policy 
developments on adult learning.  

New  partnerships  created:  During  the  implementation  of  the  project  several 
important  partnerships  were  established  or  strengthened.  Firstly,  partnerships 
between different ministries, including the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 
the  Ministry  of  Social  Affairs  and  Employment  and  the  Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs 
and Climate Policy. .  

Second,  public–private  partnerships  in  particular  with  education  and  training 
providers.  The  direct  interaction  with  education  and  training  providers  has  proven 
valuable  for  both  sides  and  has,  among  others,  led  to  an  increase  in  mutual 
understanding and closed the gap between policy and practice. 

Third,  developing  partnerships  with  regional  stakeholders  was  also  prioritised  by 
organising visits and meetings with local municipalities, social partners and education 
and training providers.  

By organising a national conference, the project team gathered together all relevant 
stakeholders,  which  helped  to  solidify  commitment  for  adult  learning,  exchange 

31 Terugblik Miniconferentie ‘Erkennen werkervaring en maatwerk voor volwassenen’ op 21 mei 2019, 
https://levenlangontwikkelen.nl/praktijkvoorbeelden/miniconferentie-elw/  
32 Leven Lang Ontwikkelen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41uqBuM3F6Y  

May 2022 

 70 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
knowledge  and  good  practices,  and  to  build  a  sustainable  network  of  partners  who 
can  work  on  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Recommendation  on  Upskilling 
Pathways: New Opportunities for Adults. 

Dissemination  strategy:  The  project  team  produced  and  disseminated  various 
outputs  including  two  factsheets  and  six  thematic  two-pagers  on  public–private 
partnerships, the link between basic skills and VET, validation of knowledge, skills and 
competences.  These  documents  were  used  as  input  for  internal  policymaking 
processes and the development of a vision for the future by the department. These 
documents  were  also  disseminated  through  various  newsletters,  as  well  as  orally 
during individual meetings with education and training providers, national meetings 
of  the  Service  Centre  on  VET  /  Adult  Learning,  and  a  work  meeting  from  the 
department  with  the  Foundation  for  Cooperation  on  Vocational  Education,  Training 
and Labour Market (SBB).  

The main means to disseminate information included: 

•  One-on-one meetings with education and training providers and other national 

and regional stakeholders; 

•  Thematic and network meetings across the country (knowledge sharing); 
•  Communication materials such as newsletters, handouts, and worksheets;  
•  Thematic and national conferences; 
•  Provided input for policymaking and the new VET / adult learning strategy of 

the department. 

The  project  team  has  visited  around  90 %  of  all  public  VET  institutions  in  the 
Netherlands, as well as various private education providers – either once or multiple 
times.  These  meetings  involved  diverse  stakeholders  such  as  the  executive  board, 
managers, teachers and students at public and private education institutions as well 
as provinces, municipalities and Regional Service Centres for Learning and Work. 

The  project  team  also  organised  a  mini  conference  on  recognition  and  validation 
together  with  the  Service  Centre  on  VET  /  Adult  Learning,  the  Association  of  VET 
Colleges, the umbrella organisation for private education and training providers and 
the platform of validation providers. They produced a report33 on the conference which 
was published on the website of the Service Centre on VET / Adult Learning.  

A national conference was organised on 27 November 2019 together with the Ministry 
of Social Affairs and Employment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy 
and the Social and Economic Council. The event attracted 500 participants, ranging 
from national, regional and local-level policymakers, public and private education and 
training providers, social partners, Regional Service Centres on Learning and Work, 
researchers and the European Commission. The project team produced a talking-head 
video34 with the project manager, three ministers, teachers, social partners and adult 
learners.  It  was  disseminated  via  various  websites  (Service  Centre  on  VET  /  Adult 
Learning), social media channels (LinkedIn and YouTube of the ministries and Social 
and Economic Council) and newsletters. Similarly,  an e-magazine  was produced  on 
the  day  of  the  conference  which  participants  could  access  with  a  special  QR  code. 
Finally,  four  newsletters  related  to  policy  developments  on  adult  learning  were 

33 Terugblik Miniconferentie ‘Erkennen werkervaring en maatwerk voor volwassenen’ op 21 mei 2019, 
https://levenlangontwikkelen.nl/praktijkvoorbeelden/miniconferentie-elw/  
34 Leven Lang Ontwikkelen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41uqBuM3F6Y  

May 2022 

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produced and disseminated to hundreds of stakeholders via email and the website of 
the ministry.  

European added value: The project was possible thanks to the funding from the EU. 
It allowed the project team to conduct desk and field research, meet with 90 % of all 
public  VET  institutions  in  the  Netherlands,  establish  lasting  partnerships,  raise 
awareness of education and training providers and achieve policy impact in the field 
of  adult  education.  The  funding  support  also  made  it  possible  to  organise  several 
thematic,  local  and  national  conferences  which  attracted  hundreds  of  stakeholders 
and positively contributed to the project.  

Sustainability measures: The results of the project and impacts of the actions will 
be sustained in the long run thanks to the buy-in generated from policy actors as well 
as the education and training providers. During the two-year period of 2017-2019 an 
additional  15 676  adults  enrolled  in  formal  vocational  education  and  training.  The 
project also contributed to the inter-ministerial programme on adult learning initiated 
by  the  current  government  including  policy  measures  such  as  personal  learning 
budgets  and  a  digital  overview  of  learning  possibilities.  Moreover,  the  direct 
interaction with education and training providers has proven valuable for both sides 
and has, among others, led to an increase in  mutual understanding and closed the 
gap between policy and practice. Project helped to strengthen national partnerships, 
which will focus on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on Upskilling 
Pathways. 

Horizontal  objectives:  The  project  promoted  the  availability  of  flexible  learning 
pathways up to EQF level 4 for low-skilled / low-qualified  adults, including women. 
Using the insights from the desk and field research and by organising meetings and a 
national  conference  the  project  team  actively  supported  the  public  and  private 
education and training institutions.  

3.3.  EURES: projects promoting geographical labour mobility 

In  total,  two  projects  funded  during  the  analysed  period  in  the  area  of  geographical 
labour  mobility  (EURES)  supported  the  European  multilingual  classification  of  skills, 
competences,  qualifications  and  occupations  (ESCO).  Specifically,  the  projects  were 
aimed  to  build  support  for  national  classification  inventories  and  innovative  online 
services for mobile workers. The activities described below were implemented in Italy 
and Germany.  

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3.3.1. 

A  Data-driven  bridge  towards  ESCO  using  AI  algorithms  – 
AI4ESCO 

‘AI4ESCO employs 
state-of-the-art 
artificial intelligence 
algorithms to build a 
bridge between 
Italian Official 
Occupation 
Taxonomy and 
ESCO.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 
Target groups 

VP/2019/010 

VS/2019/0423 
Employment 
Skills 
National, regional and local authorities 
• 

Activities implemented 

• 

A machine-readable structure of the lexicon used within the 
Italian National Occupation Taxonomy created; 
Italian National Taxonomy was connected to ESCO by means 
of word-embedding similarities; 

•  Quality evaluation of generated mapping tables conducted 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Italy 
Italy 
University of Milan, Italy 

Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

(initial) 64 613.39 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 

Project/organisation website 

- 

Socioeconomic  context:  The  Commission  has  put  in  place  several  measures  to 
support Member States in establishing an inventory to map their national, regional 
and  sectoral  classification  to  and  from  the  European  classification  or  to  replace 
national classifications with the European classification.  

Member States who  choose not to use the European  classification in their national 
systems for job vacancies and jobseeker profiles connected to the single coordinated 
channel, within the meaning of Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589, must make 
a  mapping  between  the  classifications  used  by  those  systems  and  the  European 
classification  to  allow  interoperability.  The  mapping  between  national,  regional  or 
sectoral classifications and the European classification requires the establishment and 
regular updating of inventories and tables for mapping.  

To facilitate the establishment and updating of such mapping inventories and tables 
and the subsequent exchange of information based on the mapping the Commission 
has  provided  the  necessary  technical  standards  and  formats  and  the  appropriate 
technical applications to support it.  

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Aims of the project/organisation: AI4ESCO aimed at realising the objective that 
is  to  support  the  Member  States,  EURES  members  and  partners  to  establish  high-
quality mapping tables allowing for matching job vacancies and CVs in the European 
Job Mobility Portal.  

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  the  project  was  successful  in  its  aim  to 
derive a machine-readable structure of the lexicon used within the Italian National 
Occupation Taxonomy. This goal has been achieved by realising two mappings: one 
from the Italian National Occupation Taxonomy towards ESCO and from ESCO to the 
Italian National Occupation Taxonomy.  

The project has also connected ESCO to the Italian National Taxonomy by means of 
word-embedding similarities. This goal has been achieved by using state-of-the-art 
word-embedding algorithms to automatically suggest a match between two different 
mapping platforms. Each match has been validated by a human-expert to confirm or 
refuse the matching.  

In addition, AI4ESCO  used domain-experts to  review and validate the results. The 
experts were employed from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies (ANPAL). The 
experts have been involved in many iterations of the mapping validation, resulting in 
a complete validation of both mappings.  

Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities:  through  a  reproducible 
report and a specific code describing in detail the steps made to realise the AI system, 
the approach used by the project team can be easily applied to establish high-quality 
mapping tables for other national taxonomies.  

Innovativeness of the project/activities: the approach employed by AI4ESCO is 
part of the research activity of CRISP and published in the conference on the semantic 
web  at  “NEO:  A  Tool  for  Taxonomy  Enrichment  with  NEW  Emerging  Occupations. 
ISWC  2020:  568-584”.  The  novelty  of  the  action  lies  within  the  drive  to  test  new 
approaches on the mapping activity by using artificial intelligence algorithms.  

Sustainability measures: the sustainability of AI4ESCO that will allow the mapping 
table to be updated over time will be guaranteed by: 

•  a specific and reproducible report describing in detail the steps taken to 
realise the AI system which could work as a manual for a future re-
implementation of the process for other national taxonomies; 

•  a code to reproduce and re-iterate the procedure that maps the Italian 

• 

Occupation taxonomies on ESCO; 
the use of a multi-criteria-decision-making model to provide evidence on the 
judgements and criteria use by labour market experts.  

Horizontal objectives: the project contributes to the promotion of a high level of 
quality and sustainable employment as the mapping activities directly contribute to 
job  mobility  across  Europe  and  therefore  a  more  integrated  and  efficient  labour 
market, by offering a “common language” on occupations and skills that can be used 
by different stakeholders on employment and education and training topics. 

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3.3.2. 

EURES: ESCO under Regulation (EU) 2016/568, Article 19 

‘The use of ESCO within the interoperability of EURES will support the 
matching possibilities between jobseeker profiles and job vacancies 
on a European level. Structured and transparent information on 
occupations, skills and competences is the basis to achieve the goals 
of interoperability in the EURES network.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

VP/2019/010 

VS/2019/0391 
Employment 
Skills 
Employment services 

Activities implemented 

• 

a mapping concept considering the specific demands of 
the involved national classification systems and the 
mapping guidelines developed; 

•  mapped occupations, skills and competences in a 

• 

bidirectional approach; 
verified and integrated all the mapping tables in the IT-
systems of the German Public Employment Service 
Agency. 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Germany 
Germany 

Coordinator 

Partners 

Federal Employment Agency (DE) 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

(initial) 100 000.00 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 

Project/organisation website 

- 

May 2022 

 75 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Socioeconomic  context:  The  Commission  has  put  in  place  several  measures  to 
support Member States in establishing an inventory to map their national, regional 
and  sectoral  classification  to  and  from  the  European  classification  or  to  replace 
national classifications with the European classification.  

Member States who  choose not to use the European  classification in their national 
systems for job vacancies and jobseeker profiles connected to the single coordinated 
channel, within the meaning of Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2016/589, must make 
a  mapping  between  the  classifications  used  by  those  systems  and  the  European 
classification  to  allow  interoperability.  The  mapping  between  national,  regional  or 
sectoral classifications and the European classification requires the establishment and 
regular updating of inventories and tables for mapping.  

To facilitate the establishment and updating of such mapping inventories and tables 
and the subsequent exchange of information based on the mapping the Commission 
has  provided  the  necessary  technical  standards  and  formats  and  the  appropriate 
technical applications to support it.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The main objective of the action was to assist 
the mapping between ESCO and the German classifications of occupations, skills and 
competences  as  foreseen  in  Regulation  EU  2016/589  with  the  use  of  the  ESCO 
mapping platform and the support offered by the European Commission. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  The  project  team  first  developed  a 
mapping  concept  considering  the  specific  demands  of  the  involved  national 
classification  systems  and  the  mapping  guidelines  offered  by  the  European 
Commission.  This  concept  ensured  a  homogeneous  use  of  the  foreseen  mapping 
relations  within  the  team  responsible  for  the  mapping.  The  mapping  project  was 
registered on the ESCO mapping  platform, and the project team first concentrated 
on the mapping of  occupations in a bidirectional approach. This was followed by a 
quality control involving classification experts and placement agents.  

As a next step, the mapping concentrated on skills and competences following the 
same bidirectional approach.  

As a result of these activities, all mapping tables were verified and integrated in the 
IT-systems of the German Public Employment Service Agency.  

The  project  team  learned  that  combining  and  mapping  classification  systems  of 
occupations, skills and  competences produce  a lot of  obstacles.  These can only be 
managed by supporting the work with binding mapping guidelines. Besides this, there 
has to be a constant exchange within the team on specific cases.  

Sustainability  measures  and  transnational  dimension:  The  use  of  the  ESCO 
within  the  interoperability  of  EURES  will  further  support  the  matching  between 
jobseeker profiles and job vacancies on a European level. Structured and transparent 
information on occupations, skills and competences is the basis to achieve the goals 
of interoperability in the EURES network. It directly facilitates the transparency of the 
demands and needs of the labour market, and following that, labour mobility within 
the European Union.  

Horizontal objectives: The project contributes to the promotion of a high level of 
quality and sustainable employment as the mapping activities directly contribute to 
job  mobility  across  Europe  and  therefore  a  more  integrated  and  efficient  labour 

May 2022 

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market, by offering a “common language” on occupations and skills that can be used 
by different stakeholders on employment and education and training topics.  

3.4.  Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship: projects supporting social 

enterprises  

Six projects presented in this section tested various transaction cost support schemes 
combined with financial instruments as a means to address the mismatch of needed and 
sustainable ticket  sizes. More particularly, the  projects aimed to catalyse smaller  risk 
capital investments of below EUR 500 000 that otherwise would not happen.  

Financial  intermediaries  were  able  to  undertake  long-term  risk  capital  investments  in 
ticket  sizes  of  less  than  EUR 500 000  in  the  form  of  equity,  quasi-equity,  or  hybrid 
financing to social enterprises in the EaSI Participating countries. The EU support was 
expected to lower the transaction costs for these small investment tickets and thus help 
to overcome a market failure in the social enterprise finance market.  

3.4.1. 

SEFEA IMPACT 

‘Sefea Impact’s intervention has contributed to making the business 
models of companies more sustainable, resilient, effective and 
efficient in offering their social products and services, expanding their 
impact potential and in some cases also favouring the intervention of 
third-party investors by making them even more attractive to other 
lenders.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2017/013 

VS/2017/0339 
Social economy 
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

Social partners; 
• 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 

Social enterprises.  

Activities implemented 

• 

Social impact assessment model developed; 

May 2022 

 77 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

• 

A panel of 183 social enterprises created, 142 enterprises 
analysed; 
Funding provided to 7 companies (one currently being 
under evaluation to receive funding) with a ticket size of 
less than EUR 500 000.00. 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Italy 
Italy 
Sefea Impact – Savings management company 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

Project/organisation website 

- 

(initial) 500 000.00 
1 February 2018-31 January 2020 
https://sefeaimpact.it/ 

Socioeconomic  context:  The  Si-Social  Impact  fund  launched  by  Sefea  Impact 
intends  to  follow  an  impact  investing  strategy  by  investing  in  companies, 
organisations  and  funds,  to  generate  a  quantifiable  impact  on  a  social  and 
environmental  level,  as  well  as  financial  returns.  The  Si-Social  Impact  fund 
specifically  targets  Italian  enterprises  that  could  generate  a  positive  social  and 
environmental  impact.  Sefea  Impact  SGR,  through  the  fund,  aims  to  support 
companies  operating  in  sectors  such  as  Education  and  Training;  Health  and  well-
being; Sustainable Food Production; Creative industry and culture; Management and 
recycling of waste; Microfinance; Sustainable tourism; Sustainable mobility. 

Sefea  Impact’s  impact  investing  strategy  involves  the  adoption  of  a  long-term 
perspective characterised by: 

•  available portfolio offer of tailor-made financial products adapted to the 
needs of small and medium-sized enterprises with a clear social impact 
mission; 

•  offer of technical assistance services to strengthen the companies in the 
portfolio from an organisational and economic-financial point of view; 

•  adoption of management and measurement processes of the social and / or 

environmental impacts to maximise and optimise the results.  

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  the  project  aimed  at  developing  the  internal 
framework  needed  to  build,  in  the  long  run,  a  pipeline  of  long-term  risk  capital 
investments for social enterprises in ticket sizes of less than EUR 500 000.00 (that 
otherwise would not happen), taking as a reference the procedures already developed 
for  investments  in  ticket  sizes  higher  than  EUR 500 000.00.  The  project  aimed  to 
implement the activities in three stages: 

•  First screening. This phase is divided into three consecutive steps: 1) analysis 
of the eligibility of investment applications; 2) qualitative assessment of the 
applications deemed eligible, including the provision of investment readiness 
support for the preparation of the information material required by the Fund; 
3)  drafting  and  subscription  of  the  Term  Sheet  for  applications  evaluated 
positively.  

•  Due diligence. This phase involves a detailed verification of all the data that 
were  provided  by  the  applicant  for  the  previous  qualitative  assessment,  as 
well as the legal and fiscal aspects which lead to a drafted proposal to allow 
the Board of Directors to decide on the investment.  

May 2022 

 78 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

Investment management. This stage deals with the ordinary management of 
the investment, from the moment of disbursement to the exit, focusing mainly 
on the monitoring of the beneficiary and of the results achieved. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: Sefea Impact SGR was able to develop a 
panel of 182 companies, analyse 142 enterprises and finally invest in 7 companies 
(one more is currently under evaluation), with a ticket of less than EUR 500 000.00. 
The  projects  funded  concentrate  specifically  on  job  and  social  integration  of 
disadvantaged people; promotion activities of sustainable and responsible tourism; 
environmental education initiative; promotion  of car-sharing services; initiatives of 
local  integration  events;  education  programmes.  The  companies  which  were 
evaluated  and  then  carefully  chosen  were  analysed  using  an  impact  assessment 
model developed by Sefea Impact SGR.  

In addition, four workshops were carried out in collaboration with the International 
Research  Centre  on  social  impact  assessment  and  innovation  of  the  Politecnico  di 
Milano. The workshops included some of the first beneficiaries and aimed to present, 
explain and further elaborate on the impact assessment model.  

During  the  project,  various  reports  which  represent  the  peculiarities  of  the  impact 
assessment model, and its functionality were elaborated. Additionally, a final report 
was drawn up, indicating the assessment process used by Sefea Impact. 

The project reached several important conclusions: 

•  To  ensure the development of the  social  economy  sector, it is necessary to 
process ad hoc projects and solutions taking into account the target company, 
the reference territory and the social and economic presence there; 

•  The  counterparties,  as  well  as  financial  resources,  also  need  technical  and 
long-term 

the  development  and 

organisational  support 
sustainability and resilience of their businesses; 

to  ensure 

•  The attention of investors towards the impact investing sector is growing; also 
given the actual increase in recognising the need for sustainable development, 
the work of Sefea Impact and other similar organisations is essential to direct 
the resources towards these new sustainable models.  

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities:  Sefea Impact will further 
spread knowledge about the importance of impact investing by directing resources 
towards  the  social  economy  sector  and  highlighting  the  potential  of  the  impact 
assessment model for it to be transferred to  other specific sub-areas  of the sector 
and other countries in Europe. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities:  With the EaSI support,  Sefea Impact 
was  able  to  develop  and  test  a  social  impact  assessment  model  which  focuses  on 
investments  lower  than  EUR 500 000.00  and,  in  addition,  provide  solutions  for 
specific small and medium enterprises.  

Dissemination strategy: The reports on the social impact assessment model and a 
final  report  indicating  the  assessment  process  were  disseminated  publicly  through 
the  information  systems  (mainly  newsletters)  to  various  subjects  operating  in  the 
social  economy  sector  with  which  Sefea  Impact  collaborates  (Febea,  Fondazione 
Comunita di Messina and Fondazione con il Dus). The reports were uploaded on Sefea 
Impact’s website and disseminated through social media channels.  

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 79 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
European added value: Through the investment in the selected enterprises with a 
clear social mission, Sefea Impact allows the development of projects that not only 
have a direct positive short-term impact on the users of goods and services provided 
by the subsidiaries but  that also have an impact on the entire local community  as 
well  as  the  wider  society  as  a  whole.  The  investments  made  lead  to  less  State 
expenditure  on  supporting  disadvantaged  people;  change  in  social  habits  by  the 
promotion  of more sustainable social behaviour; greater feeling  of acceptance and 
solidarity and growth in GDP.  

Sustainability  measures:  The  next  Sefea  Impact’s  steps  include  constant 
monitoring of the beneficiaries to guarantee support for each activity and ensure that 
the financial and impact targets will be respected. 

Sefea Impact SGR will also continue selecting and investing in worthy activities, in 
the  panel  of  companies  collected  during  the  project.  The  organisation  will  further 
support  the  development  and  implementation  of  social  innovation  and  impact 
measurement projects.  

While  continuing  to  implement  the  investment  processes  targeting  small  social 
enterprises  will  not  be  without  problems,  the  participation  in  the  EaSI  programme 
has  allowed  Sefea  Impact  to  experiment  with  the  created  model  and  to  take 
advantage of it.  

Horizontal  objectives:  The  project  objectives  were  pursued  through  the 
intervention  of  Sefea  Impact  SGR,  and  in  particular,  through  the  contribution  of 
financial resources and technical assistance to companies that carry out specific social 
impact  projects  aimed  at  mitigating  social  problems  related  to  social  and  job 
integration of disadvantaged people, corruption and discrimination and promotion of 
sustainable  development  and  environmental  education  initiatives.  Sefea  Impact’s 
intervention  favoured  the  development  of  a  network  of  virtuous  businesses  by 
promoting the growth of the social economy sector in Italy.  

3.4.2. 

Building  an  open,  pan-European  pipeline  of  early-stage, 
investment-ready  social  enterprises  with  customised  deal-by-
deal support 

May 2022 

 80 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘[…] we were able to extend our investor network from core markets 
in Germany and Austria to further European countries by adding 
more than 700 new impact investors.’  

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2017/013 

VS/2018/0294 
Social economy 
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
• 
Social enterprises; 
• 
Impact investors across the entire return spectrum  
• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Screened and analysed more than 300 investment-ready 
social enterprises in Germany, Austria, Benelux countries 
and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE); 
Supported more than 20 social enterprises in raising 
hybrid growth capital; 
Supported 10 additional enterprises which were not yet 
investment-ready  
Expanded investors network by adding more than 700 
new impact investors. 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Germany 

Participating countries 

Austria; 
Belgium; 
Luxembourg; 
The Netherlands; 
France; 
Spain: 
Italy; 
Estonia; 
Latvia; 
Lithuania; 
Czechia.; 
Slovakia; 
Poland; 

•  Germany; 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Hungary; 
Slovenia; 
• 
•  Denmark; 
• 
• 

Sweden; 
Norway. 

Coordinator 

Partners 

May 2022 

Financing Agency for Social Entrepreneurship GmbH (FASE) 

•  GLS Treuhand; 
SNE Invest; 
• 

 81 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BMW Stiftung; 
Scheuch Family Foundation; 
ERSTE BANK; 
KOIS INVEST; 
Shaerpa Fund Management; 
La Bolsa Social; 
Creas; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Oltre Venture; 
Nordic Impact; 
• 
EVPA; 
• 
Ashoka Italy; 
• 
Ashoka France; 
• 
Ashoka Spain; 
• 
Ashoka Scandinavia; 
• 
NESsT; 
• 
Zavod Viva.  
• 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 700 000.00 
1 June 2018-31 May 2020 
www.fa-se.de/en/  

Socioeconomic  context:  The  Commission  has  recognised  the  potential  of  social 
enterprises for innovation and their positive impact on the economy and society at 
large  in  particular.  Social  enterprises  develop  innovative  approaches,  models  or 
practices  for  resolving  societal  challenges  in  an  entrepreneurial  way  to  promote 
inclusive,  socially  fair  and  environmentally  sustainable  economic  development  and 
social change. Their economic operations cover a broad spectrum of activities. 

However, lack of or poor access to finance is still a significant barrier for starting up 
a  social  enterprise,  ensuring  its  sustainability  and  growth.  The  financial  needs  of 
social enterprises are relatively small: the most important financing gap in the market 
between  EUR 100 000  and  EUR 500 000  for  early-stage  social  enterprises.  As  the 
transaction  costs  of  these  small  tickets  are  comparatively  high,  social  impact  fund 
managers  have  an  incentive  to  focus  on  higher  amounts  to  preserve  the  fund’s 
sustainability. This leads to a mismatch of needed and sustainable ticket sizes.  

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  Financing  Agency 
for  Social 
Entrepreneurship aimed to build a pan-European pipeline of investment-ready, early-
stage social enterprises with customised deal-by-deal support. Bearing in mind the 
high transaction costs of sourcing, preparing and executing small, customised deals, 
the  action  focused  on  catalysing  smaller  risk  capital  investments  of  below 
EUR 500 000 that otherwise would not be possible.  

The  action  focused  on  addressing  the  shortages  of  smaller  financing  for  social 
enterprises and aimed to mobilise EUR 7 million of risk capital investments. It sought 
to further extend the scope of the successfully piloted deal-by-deal support to other 
European regions and increase the penetration in existing markets.  

Since  2013,  FASE  has  built  a  successful  track  record:  an  investor  base  with  more 
than 500 impact investors and successful support for more than 30 social enterprises 
in  Germany,  Austria,  and  Benelux  countries,  raising  over  EUR 14 million  in  hybrid 
growth  capital.  In  addition,  FASE  has  already  set  up  an  early-stage  co-investment 
fund to mobilise more capital for social enterprises. 

In particular, the action supported by the EaSI Programme planned five activities:  

•  To extend the orchestrated transaction support to 3-4 new European countries 
/  regions  (e.g.,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Central  and  Eastern  Europe  and 

May 2022 

 82 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Scandinavia) through a rigorous assessment of appropriate regions, detailed 
market analysis, set up of regional teams and building partner networks.  
•  To source deals for appropriate social enterprises seeking smaller risk capital 
investments of below EUR 500 000 in current core markets (Germany, Spain 
and Benelux countries) as well as in further European countries (e.g., France, 
Spain,  Italy,  Central  and  Eastern  Europe  and  Scandinavia)  by  screening, 
selecting and meeting potential pipeline candidates and providing investment 
readiness support. 

•  To extend current investor networks by deepening the existing relationships 
in  Germany,  Austria  and  Benelux  countries  and  adding  more  than  200  new 
potential impact investors specifically interested in smaller, early-stage deals. 
•  To  provide  transaction  support  on  a  deal-by-deal  basis  for  20-30  selected 
social  enterprises  seeking  risk  capital  investment  of  below  EUR 500 000  in 
current markets and further European countries.  

Results, impacts and lessons learned: While the deal-by-deal approach has been 
successfully  tested  with  multiple  cases  previously,  FASE  has  expanded  these 
practices  further  in  Germany,  Austria  and  additional  regions.  During  the  action 
activities  in  Hungary,  Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands  and  Poland  have  been 
successfully started.  

FASE has screened more than 300 investment-ready social enterprises in Germany, 
Austria, Benelux countries and Central and Eastern Europe and supported more than 
20 social enterprises in raising hybrid growth capital: 

•  Ten of these enterprises have already completed their financing rounds, 
while two needed to end their fundraisings primarily due to lack of interest from 
investors.  
In three other cases the financing rounds are still ongoing and are expected 
to be completed after the official end of the project.  
In two cases, FACE developed pay-for-success models and discussed them 
with different impact investors as well as outcome payers;  

• 

• 

•  Two social enterprises received targeted investment readiness support to 
develop their business models and test these with grant money before 
pursuing an investment round. 

In addition, FASE managed to support more than 10 social enterprises which were 
not  yet  investment-ready  or  hesitant  to  start  raising  rounds  due  to  lack  of 
commitment,  management  expertise  or  too  many  operational  challenges  to  cope 
with.  

FACE  was  also  able  to  expand  the  investors’  network  from  the  core  markets  in 
Germany and Austria to further European countries by adding more than 700 new 
impact  investors.  In  total,  more  than  EUR 5  million  in  investment  capital  were 
mobilised towards early-stage investees.  

Furthermore,  during  the  project,  another  milestone  was  reached  by  advancing  the 
launch of a new, innovative co-investment fund called the European Social Innovation 
and Impact Fund (ESIIF). 

To  disseminate  knowledge  and  expand  the  outreach  to  potential  impact  investors, 
FASE organised 8 online Social Finance Events in 7 different locations, attended by 
148 participants in total. In addition, to educate potential investors about the “do’s 
and don’ts” of impact investing FACE carried out 10 web lounges and online impact 

May 2022 

 83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
investors’ hangouts which were attended by more than 200 potential investors. The 
knowledge on impact investing was shared at various conferences, workshops, sector 
events and panels (e.g., UN Summit Geneva, ChangeNOW summit in Paris, Digital 
Social Summit in Berlin etc.). During the project, FACE participated in more than 80 
events of this kind. 

Throughout  the  project  implementation  period,  FACE  contributed  to  compendiums 
and  publications  by  the  Organisation  for  Economic  Co-operation  and  Development 
(OECD), EVPA and the European Commission.  In total, 15 such contributions were 
made. Several insightful pieces were also written for sector-relevant media such as 
Alliance, Impact Magazin, Venture Capital Magazin and Die Stiftung and bank-owned 
client magazines such as Bethmann Bank and BW Bank.  

FASE has also successfully published 12 case studies35 on closed transactions with a 
specific  focus  on  the  individual  hybrid  financing  packages  and  the  investors  that 
supported the deals.  

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  implemented  action  has  shown 
that customised deal-by-deal support from FACE can be a very effective mechanism 
to provide hybrid capital to social enterprises in the early stages of their growth. The 
chosen  approach  resulted  in  more  than  50  closed  deals,  channelling  more  than 
EUR 25  million  in  new  resources  to  the  social  finance  ecosystem  in  Austria,  the 
Benelux countries, Germany and Scandinavia. Such customised deal-by-deal support 
proved  to  be  specifically  helpful  for  catalysing  smaller  risk  capital  investments  of 
below EUR 500 000.  

Policy  evidence generated by the project:  FASE  communicated  the  findings  of 
the project to the relevant national and European social finance market and published 
12 case studies  on closed transactions and made  an additional 15 contributions to 
compendiums and publications of OECD, EVPA and the European Commission.  

Transnational dimension: The transnational dimension was addressed through the 
European-wide  rollout  of  FASE’s  customised  deal-by-deal  support  to  new  regions 
(e.g., the Netherlands, Central and Eastern Europe) and the preparation to build an 
open, pan-European pipeline of investment-ready social enterprises.  

New  partnerships  created:  The  action  mobilised  and  committed  additional 
investors,  donors,  banks,  crowd-investors  and  public  authorities  from  different 
European  countries  to  cooperate  on  specific  hybrid  financing  packages.  FACE  was 
able to extend the investor network from the core markets of Austria and Germany 
to further European countries by adding more than 700 new impact investors.  

Dissemination strategy: The cross-national knowledge was disseminated through 
a  consortium  of  impact  investors  prepared  to  invest  or  co-invest  in  the  supported 
hybrid deals. The knowledge was also shared with the GECES group of the European 
Commission and other public authorities (e.g., Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs 
in Germany (BMWi). FASE has also used its professional website36 to disseminate the 
key  insights  and  lessons  learned  from  this  action,  including  the  project  report 
‘Developing  the  Social  Enterprise  Finance  Ecosystem37.  Detailed  case  studies  are 
publicly available and can also be found on the official website. The information on 
the action and implemented activities were also shared via newsletters. 

35 https://fa-se.de/en/category/case-studies/ 
 https://fa-se.de/en/category/case-studies/ 
36 http://www.fa-se.de/en/ 
37 https://fa-se.de/static/fa_se_de/uploads/2020/08/FASE-EU-III-Project-Report-2020-FINAL.pdf?x69731 

May 2022 

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European added value: The action served to effectively lower transaction costs for 
small  financing  rounds  and  actively  support  the  development  of  a  pan-European 
social  finance  market.  It  generated  effective  demand  among  social  enterprises  for 
social finance, encouraged more social enterprises to take on repayable finance and 
helped to boost the supply of social finance in general. The action contributed to the 
objective  to  test  a  transaction  cost  support  scheme  as  a  means  to  address  the 
mismatch  of  needed  and  sustainable  ticket  size.  This  action  would  not  have  been 
feasible without the support from the EaSI Programme. 

Sustainability  measures:  The  activities  implemented  during  the  project  will 
continue on a sustainable basis after the end of the project. FASE plans to expand 
successfully tested customised deal-by-deal support with hybrid finance packages to 
further Member States of the European Union. By now, FASE is a well-established, 
leading  financial  intermediary  in  Austria,  the  Benelux  countries,  Germany  and  the 
CEE region.  

After many discussions during multiple events, the project team indicated that there 
is  a  huge  demand  for  shaping  the  financial  ecosystem  for  social  innovation  across 
Europe.  FASE  aspires  to  cover  all  Member  States  of  the  European  Union  and  to 
contribute to the establishment of a Single European Market for Social Innovation.  

In  addition,  the  launch  of  an  innovative  co-investment  fund  called  the  European 
Social  Innovation  and  Impact  Fund  (ESIIF)  will  complement  FASE’s  deal-by-deal 
support  model  by  mobilising  additional  investment  capital  for  the  benefit  of  early-
stage social enterprises.  

Horizontal objectives: FASE supported social enterprises that develop innovative 
approaches to resolving societal challenges. With raised hybrid growth capital these 
enterprises were able to continue and strengthen their mission by addressing issues 
such as long-term and youth unemployment; poverty and social exclusion; equality 
between  women  and  men,  provision  of  adequate  and  decent  social  protection  and 
especially  discrimination  based  on  sex,  racial  or  ethnic  origin,  religion  or  belief, 
disability. 

May 2022 

 85 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.4.3. 

SEED CAPITAL – FEIS 

‘The main aim of the FEIS Fund is to support the promotion and 
consolidation of socially innovative business initiatives and to finance 
novel, profitable and valuable initiatives for people and the 
environment.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2017/013 

VS/2018/0403 
Social economy  
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

• 
• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities;  
Social enterprises; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment  

Allowed the creation of 10 new social enterprises; 
Supported the creation of 169 jobs; 
Raised EUR 1.5 million for selected social enterprises.  

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 
Partners 
EU contribution in euro 

Project duration 

Spain 
Spain 
Seed Capital Bizkaia, S.A.  
The Provincial Council of Bizkaia 
(initial) 109 699.54 
24 May 2018-23 May 2020 

Project/organisation website 

www.seedcapitalbizkaia.com  

Socioeconomic context: FEIS SEED CAPITAL is a Venture Capital Fund that receives 
EUR 1.6  million  from  the  Provincial  Council  of  Bizkaia  (DFB)  with  the  mutual 
commitment from two Departments, the Social Action Department and the Economic 
Development Department. FEIS is investing 100 % of its funding in companies with 
added  social  value  in  sectors  of  renewable  energy,  ecological  agriculture, 
bioconstruction,  supporting  people  at  risk  of  social  exclusion,  development 
cooperation, fair trade etc. The fund does so by temporary participation in the creation 
of innovative social projects which are prospective, attractive and profitable. 

According to the Strategic Plan 2030 of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the region 
faces several challenges that need to be addressed. The overall goal is to make the 
region  more  competitive,  inclusive,  modern  and  open.  The  creation  of  innovative 
social enterprises and management of incubators will support the achievement of the 
initial goal.  

May 2022 

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Given its prior experience in the field of social innovation investments, SEED CAPITAL 
has been able to see first-hand the creation of enterprises with a clear social mission 
in mind, and thus can facilitate further support to social enterprises by promoting and 
consolidating socially innovative business initiatives.  

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  general  objective  of  the  action  was  to 
generate  economic  activity,  boost  entrepreneurship,  and  promote  sustainable 
employment and social innovation. To reach this objective the project intended to: 

•  allow the creation (through risk capital investments) of at least six new social 
innovative enterprises with an induced investment amounting to EUR 1.5 
million; 
create about 30 new quality jobs in the social enterprise sector; 

• 
•  evaluate and monitor the social impact in addition to standard financial 

metrics. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  The  project  was  successful  in  the 
implementation of the objectives set. FEIS was presented and promoted by organising 
information  days,  seminars,  participating  in  conferences  (especially  the  Annual 
Conference  for  the  Promotion  of  Social  Innovation  in  Bizkaia)  and  through  the 
publication of brochures, an official website, and press releases.  

The  project  searched  and  analysed  16  potential  investees  working  in  the  social 
innovation market in Bizkaia, conducted feasibility and market studies, pilot projects, 
testing of prototypes and provided bespoke advice on the development of business 
projects.  It  further  analysed  16  business  plans  according  to  an  established  set  of 
criteria.  

Ten companies were selected to receive support from the Fund. The project has also 
executed a due diligence process on these companies and simultaneously met with 
the  Board  of  Directors  of  selected  social  enterprises  to  align  further  actions,  give 
support in managing the investments and measure the social impact of the projects.  

All the specific expected results were reached by the project which led to the creation 
of  10  new  social  enterprises  and  the  provision  of  169  new  jobs.  In  total,  EUR 1.5 
million were invested.  

Through the activities implemented during the action, the project team indicated that 
most  often,  the  participants  of  social  innovation  projects  do  not  have  any  business 
experience  or  entrepreneurial  vision,  therefore  more  help  and  advice  are  needed 
which consequently increase the transaction costs.  

Identification of potential good practices: FEIS was recognised as a best practice 
in  2019  by  the  European  Public  Sector  Award  (EPSA)  for  “Creating  social  impact 
through innovative financing tools for an intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth”. 
The prize was received in Maastricht in November 2019.  

Dissemination strategy: The Fund and the activities implemented were presented 
and  promoted  mainly  among  the  social  innovation  stakeholders  in  Biscay.  SEED 
Capital organised information days, published brochures, uploaded the findings of the 
project to the official website38 and carried out press releases. SEED Capital has also 

38 http://www.seedcapitalbizkaia.com/ 

May 2022 

 87 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
participated in  conferences, (especially the Annual Conference for the  Promotion  of 
Social Innovation in Bizkaia) and seminars.  

European  added  value:  The  project  resulted  in  the  creation  of  10  new  social 
innovative  enterprises  and  received  in  total  an  investment  of  EUR 1.5  million.  It 
provided  financial  and  human  resources  to  social  enterprises  with  a  clear  social 
mission. The action directly contributed to the promotion of sustainable employment, 
boosted and enhanced the entrepreneurship skills of the beneficiaries and promoted 
social innovation. It gave the selected social enterprise access to funding which would 
otherwise  not  have  happened  due  to  high  transaction  costs  and  exclusivity  of  the 
social economy sector.  

Sustainability measures: 100% of the expected capital was invested. Seed Capital 
is still developing the evaluation and monitoring of the social impact created, with the 
expectation  of  the  fund  to  be  more  specialised  and  more  efficient  in  reducing  the 
transaction costs and the due diligence process. Seed Capital does not end with the 
provision of funds from the European Union. Instead, through the follow-up process, 
it will continue to monitor the partly owned companies so that all the requirements 
are met. In addition, Seed Capital is considering expanding its economic capacity over 
the next few years.  

Horizontal  objectives:  the  projects  which  received  support  from  the  action  are 
operating in sectors such as health, education, social inclusion and the environment. 
With  the  raised  capital  these  enterprises  can  further  expand  on  their  activities  and 
strengthen  their  mission  by  promoting  a  high  level  of  quality  and  sustainable 
employment,  combating  discrimination  of  any  kind,  paying  particular  attention  to 
vulnerable groups.  

3.4.4. 

Increasing  the  number  of  quality  impact  investments  into 
investment-ready  early-stage  social  enterprises  in  Spain  and 
Portugal 

‘Bolsa Social created an investment-
ready pipeline of early-stage social 
enterprises in need of capital 
investments below EUR 500 000 in 
Spain. […] after a proper financial and 
impact analysis, Bolsa Social selected 
12 early-stage social enterprises that 
had the highest social impact and 
business potential.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/017/013 

VS/2018/0309 
Social Economy 
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

• 
• 

Social enterprises; 
Retail impact investors 

May 2022 

 88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Activities implemented 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Created an investment-ready pipeline of social 
enterprises in Spain comprised of 342 projects; 
Provided deal support to 15 early-stage social 
enterprises; 
Expanded the investor network by attracting 445 new 
retail investors; 
Improved the overall management to ensure adequate 
reporting of performance and social impact to investors. 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 

Spain 
• 
• 

Spain; 
Portugal. 

La Bolsa Social SL 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 351 439.79 
1 August 2018-31 July 2020 
https://www.bolsasocial.com/  

Socioeconomic context: a vibrant  ecosystem of  social  enterprises  is  essential  for 
facing  the  social  and  environmental  challenges  framed  in  the  UN  Sustainable 
Development  Goals  (SDGs).  There  is  a  nascent  and  promising  ecosystem  of  social 
enterprises  in  Spain.  However,  very  often  the  early-stage  social  enterprises  lack 
access  to  much  needed  initial  finance  due  to  high  risks,  the  lack  of  investment 
readiness  and  the  important  support  for  the  transaction  costs  involved  in  the 
investment  operations.  The  social  entrepreneurship  sector  in  Spain  needs  to  be 
strengthened  by  creating  the  necessary  conditions  for  connecting  impact  investors 
and early-stage social enterprises and produce, as a result, a higher number of equity 
investments of below EUR 500 000 to social enterprises in need of finance.  

In this context, Bolsa Social is a community of social enterprises and impact investors 
based  in  Spain  and  built  around  a  participative  financing  platform39  which  was 
authorised by the Spanish securities market regulator (CNMV) in 2015. Bolsa Social 
has built a successful track record in financing early-stage social enterprises through 
serious  and  rigorous  processes  and  practices,  with  more  than  7 000  community 
members that have channelled EUR 5 million to more than 20 social enterprises. Bolsa 
Social is focused on funding companies whose mission is to produce a positive and 
measurable  impact  on  society  and  the  environment,  aligned  with  the  SDGs  and 
divided into five areas: health and social well-being; inclusive education; responsible 
production  and  consumption;  action  for  the  climate  and  social  integration  and 
development. 

Aims of the project/organisation: Bolsa Social set four main objectives which are 
as follows:  

•  To create an investment-ready pipeline of early-stage social enterprises in 

Spain; 

•  To provide deal support and investment for 10 to 15 early-stage social 

enterprises; 

•  To expand the investor network that could invest in these deals by setting up 

an impact fund, and  

•  To follow on, manage the investments and ensure adequate reporting of 

performance and social impact to investors.  

Results, impacts and lessons learned: Bolsa Social activities resulted in: 

39 www.bolsasocial.com  

May 2022 

 89 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
•  The creation of an investment-ready pipeline of early-stage social enterprises 
in Spain comprised of 342 projects, from which 15 were selected to receive 
funding. 

•  The provision of deal support to 15 early-stage social enterprises, with funds 

amounting to EUR 4 million. 

•  The expansion of the investor network by attracting 445 new retail investors. 

This makes a total of 910 investors currently active on the Bolsa Social 
platform. The expansion was reached through the creation of an impact 
investing fund and investment rounds which were opened up to retail 
investors through the participative financing mechanism of Bolsa Social‘s 
equity crowdfunding platform.  

•  Follow-up and improvement of the overall management to ensure adequate 
reporting of performance and social impact to investors. Bolsa Social is 
actively following up on the projects funded and ensuring that the business 
and the social impact performance are reported a quarterly basis. This was 
achieved through the creation of an IT tool which made the reporting for 
social enterprises easier.  

The detailed descriptions of the 12 social enterprises funded through the platform and 
their specific social impact can be found on the official website of Bolsa Social.  

María  González,  co-founder  and  CEO  of  Tucuvi.  Tucuvi,  is  a  virtual  assistant  that  offers  continuous 
monitoring at home for older people and chronic patients. They raised €140 000 through Bolsa Social in 
2020, from a total of 59 investors. 

The project team has reached some valuable conclusions: 

• 

• 

Investment rounds are much more effective when they are accompanied by a 
match funding structure with some renowned investors. This generates trust 
among retail investors, encouraging them to invest. 
"Social impact returns" are more important for investors than could be 
thought. This is why it is so important to provide support for helping social 
enterprises define their theory of change, measure their social impact and 
report it regularly to their investors. 

May 2022 

 90 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Face-to-face, better than virtual: We can try to automate the processes all 

we want, but face-to-face meetings with investors are always more effective 
than virtual ones. 

•  The social finance market in Spain is still a challenge: Initially we estimated 
that the average investment round for early-stage social enterprises would 
be EUR 400 000. But after two years, we saw that most of the companies in 
need of these rounds are younger and in an earlier stage. The average round 
was EUR 230 000, almost half what we envisaged. 

Identification of potential good practices: The Bolsa Social investment protocol 
implies a rigorous analytical process and a legal due diligence with the support of an 
external law firm. In addition, Bolsa Social imposes high standards of transparency, 
investor  protection  and  accountability  on  the  social  enterprises  vis-à-vis  their 
investors.  

The team of Hemper, a sustainable fashion brand that combines the artisan tradition of Nepalese hemp to 
create socially and environmentally fair products. Hemper raised EUR 350.000 through Bolsa Social in 2019, 
from 90 investors. 

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities: The participative financing 
mechanism  created  by  Bolsa  Social  is  a  powerful  tool  to  finance  early-stage  social 
enterprises which led to the launch of 12 successfully funded investment rounds. The 
project  team  is  confident  that  the  potential  of  the  mechanism  can  be  replicated  in 
other countries as well.  

European  added  value:  Without  the  EU  funding  it  would  have  been  extremely 
difficult  to  implement  the  actions  initially  foreseen.  The  costs  related  to  screening, 
analysing  intermediating  and  structuring  an  investment  in  the  capital  of  an  early-
stage company is too high. The costs are bearable only in cases where the deals are 

May 2022 

 91 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of high volume, but not on the deals with lower value. In addition, there is a great 
number  of  social  enterprises  which  are  still  young  and  have  a  small  track  record 
making them too risky for professional investors.  

The EU support contributed greatly to boost the capacity of Bolsa Social and cover the 
high legal costs involved, and also contributed to the development of a more mature 
market for social enterprises.  

Horizontal objectives: The selected enterprises supported by Bolsa Social, had to 
be aligned with at least one of the Social Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United 
Nations,  covering  sectors  such  as  quality  education,  climate  change,  decent  work, 
gender equality, sustainable cities, responsible production and consumption etc. From 
the 15 companies funded with the support from the action, 10 of them have a direct 
impact on the areas mentioned.  

In  general,  Bolsa  Social  has  indirectly,  through  the  investments  made  available, 
contributed to the promotion of equality between woman and men, and a high level 
of quality and sustainable employment. It has also supported issues related to long-
term unemployment and discrimination based on all characteristics as well as helped 
to pay particular attention to vulnerable groups.  

3.4.5. 

FSSE - Financing Small Social Enterprises 

‘INCO is a group specialising in entrepreneurship that has a strong 
social and environmental impact. We actively support start-ups and 
entrepreneurs through investment, acceleration and training 
opportunities. We believe that it is through social and environmental 
entrepreneurship that we can make the world a better place.’ 

Call identification number 

VP/2017/013 

Grant identification number 

VS/2018/0300 

May 2022 

 92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Social economy 
Social enterprises 

• 
• 

Social entrepreneurs; 
Small and medium enterprises with high social and 
environmental impact.  

•  Developed a training tool – INCO Academy for 

entrepreneurs; 

•  Developed a tool to monitor dead flows and companies 

supported by the Consortium 
Attended more than 35 events; 
• 
•  Developed Rating methodology; 
•  Made 79 investment activities amounting to 

EUR 13 million; 
Since June 2018 INCO has funded 64 organisations 
amounting to EUR 37.7 million; 
Created INCO Club to connect experts and start-ups. 

• 

• 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Partners 

France 
France 
INCO 
- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

Project/organisation website 

(initial) 327 361.80 
1 January 2018-31 December 2019 
https://inco-group.co/  

Socioeconomic context: INCO is a consortium specialising in entrepreneurship and 
particularly in social enterprises with a strong social and environmental impact. The 
consortium  actively  supports  start-ups  and  entrepreneurs  through  investment, 
acceleration  and  training  opportunities.  The  comprehensive  work  undertaken  by 
INCO  since  June  2018  forms  part  of  a  global  approach  towards  encouraging 
entrepreneurship. 

The  various  opportunities  offered  by  INCO  (e.g.,  trainings,  incubators)  are  free  of 
charge, regardless of the age, gender, race or ethnicity of the participants. The key 
criteria for pursuing the offered opportunities are a high level of motivation and the 
will to create added value through an entrepreneurial project that has a social and 
environmental goal.  

INCO specifically operates through the implementation of four main activities: 

•  Developing incubation and support programmes to encourage and accelerate 
the development of enterprises with high social impact in France and around 
the world; 

•  Provision of training programmes dedicated to people who are far from 

employment; 

•  Promotion of social entrepreneurship and impact investing through a series 

of national and international events; 
Investment through its private equity funds, endowed with EUR 1.05 million. 

• 

Aims of the project/organisation: INCO, under the funded action set three main 
objectives: 

•  To increase the overall investment portfolio by targeting social enterprises 

operating in the social economy sector;  

•  To promote economic development and synergies between key players in 

the social impact sphere;  

May 2022 

 93 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  To reduce transaction costs by providing additional early-stage support to 

social enterprises and prospective business initiatives.  

These  objectives  were  anticipated  to  be  met  by  actions  organised  around  three 
themes: 

•  Organisation of events to attract, share knowledge and build connections 

between entrepreneurs, investors and mentors; 

•  Development of tools to provide one, open modifiable information system 

where INCO‘s investment portfolio can be easily monitored; 

•  Reorganisation of management by recruiting an additional investment 

manager to improve INCO‘s deal flow, reporting and monitoring capabilities.  

Results, impacts and lessons learned: with the support from the EaSI programme 
INCO managed to develop a training tool called INCO ACADEMY for entrepreneurs. 
The tool40 provides access to all the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to 
launch and develop a social enterprise. The course tackles topics related to social and 
environmental  impact,  distinguishing  itself  from  other  existing  content  currently 
available  online.  A  dedicated  training  course  has  been  published  online  and  it  is 
completely free of charge. The training course is available in French and English and 
will be regularly updated with additional specific content.  

In addition, INCO developed a tool41 to monitor deal flows and companies supported 
by the consortium. The aim of this tool is to grant access to, classify and monitor all 
data on the companies supported by INCO and / or those in which INCO has made 
investments. 

INCO  also  attended  more  than  35  events  that  brought  together  financiers  and 
entrepreneurs to further spread the consortium’s investment policy and approach to 
the rest of France. These events also provided a good opportunity to shed light on 
the solutions to address local social problems and support the ecological transition. 

With  the  support  from  the  Commission,  INCO  developed  a  specific  Rating 
methodology which uses precise and efficient impact indicators to measure the real 
/ prospective impact of the social enterprises.  

From June 2018 to May 2020, 79 investing activities of less than EUR 500 000 each 
were  implemented  which  amount  to  EUR 13  million.  In  addition,  since  June  2018, 
INCO  has  funded  64  companies  /  associations  with  a  total  expenditure  of 
EUR 37.7 million: 35 of them were new investments and 29 received refinancing.  

Lastly, the consortium created an INCO Club to link experts and start-ups. In total, 
120 experts specialising in 11 distinct business themes were mobilised.  

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  The  impact  measurement  system 
developed  by  INCO  uses  a  particularly  innovative  approach.  The  INCO  ratings 
methodology  covers  all  positive  and  negative  external  factors  through  its  25 
indicators. 

Dissemination  strategy:  The  training  tool  developed  for  social  entrepreneurs  is 
available  on  the  INCO  website  and  is  free  of  charge.  The  consortium  has  also 

40 https://entrepreneurs.inco-group.co/ 
41 https://cloud.inco-group.co/ 

May 2022 

 94 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
published several reports related to impact measurement which were communicated 
to the investors in funds managed by INCO Ventures42. 

European  added  value:  The  support  from  the  EaSI  Programme  helped  INCO  to 
increase  the  number  of  aspiring  entrepreneurs  (regardless  of  their  age,  level  of 
education, social or professional background, etc.) to kick start their businesses and 
in general to  contribute to the social economy  of the future. EU support facilitated 
greatly  the  implementation  of  methodological  tools  to  better  monitor  and  analyse 
social  enterprise  systems  and  helped  greatly  to  implement  sustainable  tools  which 
improve the quality of entrepreneurial projects.  

Sustainability measures: INCO will continue to carry out its activities and expects 
to capture more mature and investment-ready projects, namely through the training 
course  of  the  INCO  Academy  for  entrepreneurs.  It  also  anticipates  expanding  its 
activities into other European Union Member States as well.  

in  addressing 

Horizontal  objectives:  INCO,  through  the  implementation  of  the  action  was 
successful 
long-term 
unemployment and gender equality. It further encouraged a high rate of quality and 
sustainable  employment  and  supported  the  prevention  of  discrimination  based  on 
race, ethnicity, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or personal beliefs 
with a special focus on vulnerable groups.  

issues  related  to  youth  employment, 

Specifically, the financial support given to social enterprises improved the autonomy 
and  adherence  to  medications  for  the  older  population;  improved  access  to  care, 
made  available  a  faster  return  to  employment  through  digital  therapy  and 
rehabilitation  activities,  increased  generation  of  clean  energy;  supported  the 
reduction of the use of fertilisers and increased accessibility to employment through 
learning platforms. 

42 https://presse.aviva.fr/communique/199423/SEMAINE-DE-LA-FINANCESOLIDAIRE-AVIVA-FRANCE-
PUBLIE-LE-PREMIER-RAPPORT-DIMPACT-DE-SON-FONDS-DEDIE-A-L-INNOVATION-SOCIALE-ET-
ENVIRONNEMENTALE 
 https://presse.aviva.fr/communique/199423/SEMAINE-DE-LA-FINANCESOLIDAIRE-AVIVA-FRANCE-PUBLIE-
LE-PREMIER-RAPPORT-DIMPACT-DE-SON-FONDS-DEDIE-A-L-INNOVATION-SOCIALE-
ETENVIRONNEMENTALE 

May 2022 

 95 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3.4.6. 

EaSI Transaction Cost Support Project  

‘SHIP2B Impact Forum has become the main annual event for Spain’s impact 
economy, with a growing number of attendees and high-quality speakers. This event 
attracts the interest of both public and private organisations.’  

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2017/013 

VS/2018/0302 
Social Economy  
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Media; 
• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 

Small and medium enterprises; 
Social enterprises. 

• 
• 
• 

• 

• 

• 

Financed 18 operations and formalised 28; 
Supported the creation of 142 jobs; 
Reduced the transaction costs to on average EUR 27 000 
per transaction; 
Increased the dead-flow of potential social impact start-
ups by identifying 230 companies in 2019 and 312 in 
2020; 
Increased the professionalisation of the investment 
team; 
Improved the quality of the analysis on start-ups as well 
as the quality of social impact measurement 
methodology; 

•  Organised 8 events to further connect with impact 

investing community.  

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Partners 

May 2022 

Spain 
Spain 
Foundation SHIP2B 

- 

 96 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 

Project/organisation website 

(initial) 535 250.05 
1 September 2018-31 August 2020 
https://www.ship2b.org/en/  

Socioeconomic  context:  SHIP2B  is  a  Spanish  Social  Investment  and  business 
acceleration  platform  founded  in  2014.  With  a  non-for-profit  funding,  the  platform 
has  successfully  accelerated  51  start-ups  winning  recognition  from  the  Spanish 
Savings Banks Foundation (FUNCAS) as Spain’s second-best accelerator. In 2016 the 
platform launched a Social Impact Investment Vehicle (B-FUND).  

While the fund brings together multiple investors, minimising their risk perception, 
the fund is not currently self-sustaining for the investment tickets of EUR 40 000 to 
EUR 400 000.  

The Platform has recently reached an agreement with the European Investment Fund 
(EIF)  whereby  EIF  will  support  the  platform  with  two-thirds  of  the  total  financial 
investment needed to the B-FUND.  The Fund platform will be able to  add to these 
further investments from the pool of 474 social impact investors which will result in 
the creation of B-FUND II.  

With  this  specific  project,  the  platform  aims  to  support  their  cost  structure,  to 
investigate current and future predicted efficiency levels, to improve the social impact 
measurement metrics and to put in place a framework to  reach  sustainability with 
the B-FUND II by 2020.  

Aims of the project/organisation: The SHIP2B has set the following objectives: 

•  To invest in start-ups during the investment period of the new investment 

vehicle (from June 2018 to January 2021) in compliance with the co-
investment agreement made with the European Investment Fund; 

•  To increase the potential investment in underfunded start-ups, with high 

growth potential and high social impact;  

•  To reduce the transaction costs in funding rounds for new investee start-

ups; 

•  To increase the deal flow of potential social impact and improve the quality 

of start-ups by devoting more effort to explore alternative sources of deal 
flows in Spain; 

•  To strengthen and increase the professionalisation of the SHIP2B 

investment team; 

•  To improve the quality of the social impact measurement methodology by 

focusing on the theory of change model; 

•  To connect with the European impact investing community by attending and 

organising events. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The project was successful in financing 18 
operations  and  formalising  28,  in  a  short  period  of  time  during  the  exceptional 
circumstance  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic.  The  investment  vehicle  managed  by 
SHIP2B invested a total amount of EUR 1.95 million since the beginning of the action, 
while  the  total  capital  raised  in  the  rounds  the  Foundation  participated  in  was 
EUR 17.47 million.  Through  the  investments  made  by  SHIP2B,  the  Foundation 
supported the creation of 142 jobs and was able to establish the sustainability of the 
project having made the first closing of a successor fund. Therefore, new start-ups 
can receive funding to develop their projects.  

May 2022 

 97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The objective to reduce transaction costs in capital rounds of new investee start-ups 
was  partially  achieved.  Before  the  project  implementation  the  cost  per  transaction 
was  EUR 35 000.  The  Foundation  was  able  to  reduce  the  transaction  costs  to  on 
average EUR 27 000 per transaction.  

Additionally,  the  Foundation  was  able  to  increase  the  deal  flow  of  potential  social 
impact start-ups by devoting more effort to explore new projects in Spain. This led 
to  230  identified  companies  in  2019  and  312  in  2020,  despite  the  COVID-19 
pandemic.  

The Foundation has also been able to strengthen and separate the investment team 
and therefore increase the professionalisation of SHIP2B capacity building efforts. 

SHIP2B has also improved the quality of the analysis on start-ups by establishing a 
rigorous  process  and  applying  a  similar  method  to  venture  capital  funds  with 
extensive  experience.  In  addition,  the  quality  of  the  social  impact  measurement 
methodology was improved by focusing on the theory of change model.  

When  it  comes  to  the  objective  to  connect  with  the  European  impact  investing 
community,  the  Foundation  attended  numerous  different  events  and  was  able  to 
organise its own. The two landmark events that SHIP2B organised were 4YFN event 
as well as the Impact Forum. In addition, The Foundation carried out the following 
events during action’s lifetime:  

•  Social Entrepreneurship and Impact Investment: Bilbao, 9 January 2019 

(203 attendees); 

•  LABs Demo Day: online, 22 January 2019 (376 attendees); 
•  BBK Venture Philanthropy Demo Day: 6 June 2019 (117 attendees); 
•  LABs Demo Day: Barcelona, 28 January 2020 (309 attendees); 
•  Rezinkers4Impact, sustainability and scalability in projects of social 

inclusion: Barcelona, 27 February 2020 (54 attendees); 

•  Dialogues for impact economy: online, 30 November 2020 (237 attendees). 

Finally,  the  Foundation  launched  an  extensive  communication  campaign  to  further 
promote  the  social  impact  investing  ecosystem  and  the  activities  carried  out  by 
SHIP2B.  During  the  period  of  the  action,  communication  channels  such  as  mail, 
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,  YouTube were used. In addition, 207 blog 
posts43 were created, and 237 digital press releases44 were launched.  

Throughout  the  implementation  of  the  project  SHIP2B  reached  several  important 
conclusions:  

•  The success of the acceleration and investment areas are highly correlated. 
The greater the availability of capital in the investment area, the better the 
projects attracted by the acceleration area; 

•  Traditional and impact investing must converge, including staff compensation 

• 

to reduce high turnover; 
Investments  should  have  economies  of  scale.  Fixed  costs  cannot  be 
significantly  reduced  which  puts  a  strain  on  scale  when  investing  in  small 
tickets; 

•  Establishing  professionalised  processes  is  the  most  efficient  way  to  reduce 

transaction costs; 

43 https://www.ship2b.org/actualidad/  
44 https://drive.google.com/file/d/15rrsMWZDjtLT8d6ZasAvex5mofYgMZye/view  

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 98 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
• 

Impact measurement is continuously developing. It must be updated regularly 
and requires high  engagement  with investees. Quasi-experimental methods 
are the best way to measure impact but they are very expensive; 

•  Recognition of the fund manager increases the ability to generate high-quality 

deal flow; 

•  Large, unprecedented and unexpected events significantly change the results 

of small-scale projects (COVID-19). 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  SHIP2B  Impact  Forum  has 
become the main annual event for Spain’s impact economy, with a growing number 
of attendees and high-quality speakers. The event attracts the interest of both public 
and private organisations.  

In  addition,  with  the  lobbying  and  the  influence  generated  by  SHIP2B,  significant 
progress has been made in Spain through the recently proposed Entrepreneurs Act 
which aims to further promote the impact economy.  

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities: The project team suggests 
that  other  projects  in  Spain  and  in  Europe  could  replicate  the  model  proposed  by 
Ship2B  to  channel  resources  most  effectively  for  projects  that  target  social  and 
environmental issues.  

Policy evidence generated by the project: The team prepared quarterly reports 
for  investors  and  an  annual  summary  during  the  period  of  the  action.  These  were 
disseminated online (12 reports in total). Unfortunately, for reasons of confidentiality, 
the identity of investors could not be disclosed.  

The project team has also carried out 59 in-depth analyses on 18 investments. These 
analyses also included impact assessments.  

New partnerships created: With regards to international relationships, the project 
team established alliances and partnerships with Investir & Plus, Oltre, Mustard Seed 
Maze, Seroba Life Sciences, CoreAngelsImpact, Hadean Ventures, Optum Ventures, 
Ring4Good,  Impact  Partners  Europe,  Speedinvest,  IQ  Capital,  Eka  Ventures,  IP 
Capital, Foresight, and Road Ventures. 

The Foundation was also able to establish alliances with crowdfunding platforms such 
as La Bolsa Social, CrowdCube and Capital.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  reports  prepared  by  SHIP2B  were  disseminated 
among the investors. In addition, SHIP2B  has published the companies to which it 
has provided financing on its website with the intention to further disseminate this 
information to future candidates for the acceleration programme. The model used by 
the foundation was promoted through the annual organisation of the SHIP2B Impact 
Forum event. 

Finally, SHIP2B has a communication team that periodically prepares newsletters and 
other types of information materials to spread the achievement of the Foundation. 
This  is  done  using  mailing,  social  media  channels,  official  website,  blog  page  and 
press releases45.  

European  added  value:  The  SHIP2B  Foundation  supported  and  promoted  social 
enterprises with a clear social vision and tangible social and environmental impact. 

45 https://drive.google.com/file/d/15rrsMWZDjtLT8d6ZasAvex5mofYgMZye/view 

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 99 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The investments which were mobilised and made available helped social enterprises 
to  develop  their  objectives  and  further  operationalise  their  activities.  The  social 
economy  sector  encounters  a  lot  of  difficulties,  which  the  sSHIP2B  Foundation 
embrace  and  tries  to  minimise.  Without  the  support  of  EU  funding,  financial 
intermediaries  such  as  SHIP2B  would  not  be  economically  viable  and,  therefore, 
would not have been able to achieve its impacts.  

Sustainability  measures:  The  platform  further  aims  to  replicate  the  model  and 
improve it by allowing for larger tickets in investment rounds. Thanks to the support 
from the EaSI Programme, SHIP2B will be able to have a greater role in the decision-
making of start-ups, with a focus  on social and environmental impact matters and 
without losing sight of economic profitability.  

The  policy  areas  that  have  been  developed  and  consolidated  during  the  project 
execution will continue through the successor fund. The policy areas targeted will be 
the same and the sustainable development objectives will remain unchanged with a 
focus  on  quality  of  life  of  vulnerable  groups,  climate  change,  employability,  social 
cohesion and social inclusion.  

Horizontal  objectives:  SHIP2B  addresses  horizontal  objectives  through  the 
investments made in start-ups that are social enterprises, with an aim to promote a 
high level  of quality and sustainable  employment; guarantee adequate and decent 
social  protection;  fight  against  poverty  and  social  exclusion  or  combat  long-term 
unemployment  and  discrimination  based  on  sex,  racial  or  ethnic  origin,  religion  or 
belief,  disability,  age  or  sexual  orientation.  The  enterprises  targeted  by  the 
Foundation are generally focused on vulnerable groups.  

May 2022 

 100 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. EaSI-funded organisations 

The  EaSI  programme  has  a  crucial  role  to  play  in  promoting  the  involvement  of  civil 
society through financial support for the key EU-level NGO networks. The programme 
supports  these  networks  with  the  aim  of  boosting  their  capacity  to  participate  in  and 
influence  decision-making  and  policy  implementation  at  both  EU  and  national  levels. 
Furthermore,  such  involvement  fosters  the  accountability  and  transparency  of 
authorities and increases the relevance of policy responses. 

Below, the report describes activities implemented in 2019-2020 by 11 EaSI-supported 
organisations active in the promotion of social inclusion, poverty reduction, microfinance 
and social enterprise finance. These organisations are major EU-level networks working 
in  different  areas  of  social  policy  or  microfinance  and  social  enterprise  finance  and 
holding four-year Framework Partnership Agreements with the European Commission. 
The overall goal of the funded organisations active in promoting social inclusion 
and poverty reduction is to support the Commission’s initiatives contributing to the 
modernisation  of  social  protection  systems  and  the  development  of  adequate  social 
protection  schemes  as  well  as  the  implementation  of  Europe’s  2020  Strategy46,  EU 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds47  and  the  Social  Investment  Package48.  The 
organisations also contribute to the processes related to the European Semester49, the 
Open  Method  of  Coordination50  (OMC)  on  social  protection  and  social  inclusion.  Their 
activities have also paid particular attention to the key principles of the European Pillar 
of Social Rights51 initiative (EPSR), including gender equality, work–life balance, support 
to  children,  the  inclusion  of  people  with  disabilities  and  long-term  care,  as  well  as  to 
targets of Europe’s 2020 Strategy52 in terms of employment and fighting poverty and 
social exclusion. To this end, the following types of activities were implemented in 2019-
2020: 

•  Analytical  activities  such  as  the  collection  of  data  and  statistics,  the 
development  of  common  methodologies,  the  monitoring  and  assessment  of 
relevant  legislation,  policies  and  practice,  research,  mapping  projects  and 
evaluations, publication of guides, reports and educational material, and different 
events, including expert meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences. 

•  Training  activities  such  as  staff  exchange,  workshops,  seminars,  capacity 
building actions, train-the-trainer events and developing online training tools. 
•  Actions  aiming  at  the  creation  and  improvement  of  networks  through 
mutual  learning,  cooperation,  awareness-raising  and  dissemination  activities 
such as the identification of and exchange of good practices, organisation of peer 
reviews  and  mutual  learning,  organisation  of  conferences,  seminars,  media 

46 For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-
policy-coordination/eu-economic-governance-monitoring-prevention-correction/european-
semester/framework/europe-2020-strategy_en  
47 For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/funding-
opportunities/funding-programmes/overview-funding-programmes/european-structural-and-investment-
funds_en 
48 For more information, please see https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/observatories/eurwork/industrial-
relations-dictionary/social-investment-package 
49 For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-
policy-coordination/eu-economic-governance-monitoring-prevention-correction/european-semester_en 
50 For more information, please see http://www.europarl.europa.eu/EPRS/EPRS-AaG-542142-Open-Method-
of-Coordination-FINAL.pdf 
51 For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-
and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights_en 
52For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-
policy-coordination/eu-economic-governance-monitoring-prevention-correction/european-
semester/framework/europe-2020-strategy_en  

May 2022 

 101 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
campaigns, the compilation and publication of materials, and regular information 
on EU social and employment policy issues. 

4.1.  The  European  Federation  of  National  Organisations  Working  with  the 
Homeless (FEANTSA) – 2019 Work Plan: Leaving no-one behind 

‘Housing is a right that, can, and must, be upheld.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2018/016 

VS/2019/0168 
Social protection and social inclusion 
Housing exclusion and homelessness 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners (e.g. social impact investors and human 
rights lawyers); 
Non-governmental organisations (e.g. European social 
NGOs); 

National statistical offices; 

•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 
•  Media; 
•  Diverse set of social services working with homeless 

people or people at risk of homelessness; 
Social housing associations;  
People affected by homelessness. 

• 
• 

•  Research – Produced several research-based reports on 
homelessness with a focus on quality control of homeless 
services ; 
Training – Organised trainings, seminars, toolkits, best 
practice guides etc. for service providers and policymakers; 
Policy work – Lobbying, monitoring, contributing to 
policymaking and implementation at EU & MS level; 

• 

• 

•  Networking and exchanges – Organised policy and research 
conferences aimed at a variety of stakeholders involved in the 
fight against homelessness; 

•  Awareness raising and mobilisation – using social media 
actively (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) to promote 
objectives and communicate results to wider audiences. 
Worked to mobilise interest and support for the homeless 
cause among other intergovernmental institutions and 
European NGOs; 
Strategic litigation – including the preparation of collective 
complaint with the Council of Europe on the basis of housing as 
a fundamental human right;  

• 

May 2022 

 102 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 

• 

Promotion – increase take-up of Structural Funds (especially 
ESF) for the fight against homelessness and promote 
innovative housing solutions in MS through the publication of 
the 50 most promising practices from Europe and beyond. 

Belgium 
France, Belgium, Finland, Sweden.  
FEANTSA  European  Federation  of  National  Organisations  Working 
with the Homeless 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

EPHA (FEANTSA Director currently President); 
Social Platform; 
Social Services Europe; 
European Expert Group on DI;  
Alliance for Investing in Children;  
European NGO Platform on Migration and Asylum;  
European Migration Forum;  
EAPN;  
Bilateral work with European NGOs such as EDF, EWL, ATD 
Quart Monde & Eurochild. 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 976 160.16 
1 January 2019-31 December 2019 
https://www.feantsa.org/en  

Socioeconomic context: The 2019 work plan “Leaving no-one behind” is part of the 
four-year Partnership Agreement between the European Commission and FEANTSA. 
The action took place against a background of rapidly growing homelessness during 
the last decade, in most Member States. It is estimated that at least 700 000 people 
experience homelessness on any given day in the EU in 2019, which is an increase of 
70 % compared to 2009. The action was aimed at better understanding the increase 
and  to  develop  actions  and  tools  to  help  reverse  this  worrying  trend,  as  well  as  to 
establish an EU strategy to combat homelessness, which does not currently exist.  
Aims of the project/organisation: The main objectives of this work plan were to 
further  develop  the  evidence  base  for  effective  homelessness  policies,  to  increase 
awareness  of  the  EU  opportunities  (including  funding)  to  advance  the  fight  against 
homelessness, to strengthen the role of the EU as a promoter of better services and 
policies for the homeless, and to further exploit EU processes and actions to ensure 
progress on homelessness in the different Member States. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  Through  FEANTSA‘s  encompassing 
activities, which span  over a wide variety of areas, the following results have been 
achieved:  
•  Raised awareness about the changes in the nature and scope of homelessness to 
a wide and diverse audience. This has been achieved, largely, due to substantially 
increasing  the  reach  of  communication  via  the  use  of  social  media, 
complementarily to mainstream media outputs. 
Increased attention to homelessness in relevant EU policies and concrete progress 
towards an EU homelessness strategy by ensuring wide take-up of Housing First53 
as  the  most  effective  approach  to  chronic  homelessness.  In  addition,  the  2019 
work plan has helped to increase the number and quality of national homelessness 
strategies.  

• 

•  Mobilised  attention  of  policymakers  at  EU  and  national  level  on  the  situation  of 

some of the most vulnerable homeless (LGBTQI, women, youth, migrants). 

It is expected that these results will result in more long-term impacts, including:  
•  The formulation of a concrete EU strategy / action plan on homelessness in the 

coming years; 

53 https://housingfirsteurope.eu/assets/files/2020/12/Introduction-to-HF-and-FAQ-Print-01.12.2020.pdf  

May 2022 

 103 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  More national / regional evidence-based strategies on homelessness with a strong 

• 

Housing First approach; 
Increased  support  from  the  newly  elected  European  Parliament  (across  the 
political spectrum) and the incoming Commission for the homelessness cause; 
•  Defined  EU  actions  on  urgent  and  often  overlooked  aspects  of  homelessness, 
notably youth homelessness and homelessness among the LBTQI community, and 
the health aspects of homelessness. 

The implementation  of  the 2019  work plan has resulted in several lessons learned, 
including: 
•  Housing is a right that must and can be upheld through strategic litigation; 
•  EU anti-discrimination policies (gender, sexuality, ...) should include the issue of 
homelessness to help reach out to some of the most vulnerable in the homeless 
population such as LGBTQI, women, and youth; 

•  EU processes such as the Semester and the Social Rights Pillar are  relevant for 
the  fight  against  homelessness  and  can  help  to  generate  policy  impact  in  the 
Member States;  

•  Homelessness among EU-mobile citizens is a preventable and solvable problem if 
the  EU  works  to  secure  minimal  protection  of  vulnerable  people,  making  use  of 
their right to free movement; 

•  Homelessness  is  as  much  a  health  issue  as  a  housing  issue  and  addressing 
homelessness should and can become part of modern public health policies.  

Identification of potential good practices: Through conducting rigorous research 
and  employing  comparative  empirical  methods,  FEANTSA  has  been  able  to  identify 
and  promote  best  practices  such  as  Housing  First,  Psychologically  Informed 
Environments (PIE) for homeless women victims of gender-based violence, effective 
discharge  protocols  for  the  homeless  in  hospitals,  and  access  to  housing  through 
socialisation of private rent and social rental agencies. In particular, the good practice 
examples in Finland, the country which has the best track record on homelessness in 
Europe, can be transferred to other country contexts.  

Transferability element(s) of the project/activities: The demand for information 
and  expertise  in  Europe  on  Housing  First  is  consistently  on  the  rise.  In  response, 
FEANTSA  has  created  the  Housing  First  Europe  Hub  to  support  the  transfer  of 
innovation and change in national policies and services. Under the contract with DG 
EMPL,  FEANTSA  has  paid  for  a  coordinator  to  manage  outputs  for  2019,  which  will 
include  a  training  programme,  advocacy  programme,  research,  national  events, 
steering meetings etc., all of which will support the transferability and take-up of the 
Housing First approach systemically throughout Europe. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities: Many of the actions and approaches in 
the  2019  work  plan  are  considered  innovative  and  progressive  in  the  conventional 
policy paradigm, most notably treating housing as a right and using this principle for 
strategic  litigation.  Equally  important,  Housing  first  is  a  social  innovation  that  goes 
against the traditional approaches to homelessness (housing as the first step, rather 
than an end goal).  

Policy evidence generated by the project: The 2019  work plan focused heavily 
on the collection and analysis of data. The main deliverables of policy research and 
evidence is summed up in the following reports: 

May 2022 

 104 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Annual Overview of Housing Exclusion in Europe.54 Helped to map and understand 

the trends in homelessness.  

•  50  Out  of  the  Box  Housing  Solutions.55  Helped  to  promote  housing  options  for 

homeless people.  

•  European  research  report  on  quality  of  homeless  services.56  Helped  to  identify 
problems and focus our action on issues where progress is needed possible.  
•  Editions of the European Journal on Homelessness.57 Helped to spread the most 
recent  research  findings  on  homelessness  and  homeless  policies  /  services  to  a 
wide audience of academics, service providers and policymakers. 

•  Legal analysis of the EU legal concept of worker.58 Helped to define the rights of 

homeless EU-mobile citizens.  

•  Analysis of homelessness in the Semester.59 Helped to lobby for better inclusion 

of homelessness in the different stages of the Semester process.  

•  Editions of the Homeless Magazine.60 Helped to disseminate interesting practices 

/ analysis on homelessness to a wide and diverse audience.  

•  Editions of the Flash.61 Helped to disseminate relevant news from Member States 

and the EU on homelessness to a wide and diverse audience.  

•  Country  profiles  on  homelessness.62  Helped  to  understand  country-specific 

developments on homelessness in a comparative framework. 

•  Analysis of women‘s homelessness and gender-based violence.63 Helped to raise 

awareness of the issue at EU level and in Member States.  

•  Report  on  investment  in  homelessness.64  Helped  us  to  make  the  case  that 

homelessness is an issue for InvestEU and the EIB.  

New partnerships created: Given the demand for expertise and support from MS 
to  formulate  efficient  policies,  FEANTSA  will  try  to  strengthen  partnership  with  the 
European Commission (move beyond a more funder-beneficiary relationship) as well 
as with relevant UN, Council of Europe, and EU actors, to collaboratively take a rights-
based  approach  to  homelessness.  To  secure  funding  for  activities  not  funded  but 
related  to  this  2019  Work  Plan,  FEANTSA  managed  to  establish  partnership  with 
Foundation  Abbé  Pierre  for  Human  Rights  Work  (HRW)  and  Overview  of  Housing 
Exclusion  (OHHE)  and  the  Y-foundation  and  partners,  FRB,  OSF,  and  Schneider 
Foundation, Just Transition Fund from ECF, EPIM, and is in negotiations with several 
others.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  actions  of  the  2019  work  plan  were  disseminated 
widely  to  a  variety  of  stakeholders.  Primary  audiences  constitute  of  service-and-
policymakers working with homeless people on homelessness at local, national and 

54 https://www.feantsa.org/en/report/2019/04/01/the-fourth-overview-of-housing-exclusion-in-europe-
2019?bcParent=27 
55 https://www.feantsa.org/en/news/2019/12/11/hsp-publication-50-housing-solutions?bcParent=27 
56 Comparative Studies on Homelessness: Number 9 - 2019 (feantsaresearch.org)  
57 European Journal of Homelessness (feantsaresearch.org) 
58 working-poor-within-the-eu1026919265820446116.pdf (feantsa.org) 
59 https://www.feantsa.org/en/feantsa-position/2019/08/07/2019-semester-homelessness-and-housing-
exclusion-on-the-european-commissions-radar?bcParent=27 
60 https://www.feantsa.org/en/resources/resources-
database?search=homeless+in+europe&theme&type=Newsletter&year&page=1 
61 https://www.feantsa.org/en/resources/resources-database?search=flash  
62 https://www.feantsa.org/en/resources/resources-
database?%20search=&theme=&type=Country+profile&year=2019  
63 https://www.feantsa.org/en/feantsa-position/2019/11/25/feantsa-background-paper-on-womens-
homelessness-and-gender-based-violence?bcParent=27  
64https://www.feantsa.org/en/feantsa-position/2019/03/18/homelessness-and-housing-
exclusion?bcParent=27 

May 2022 

 105 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
European level. Other target audiences include academia, homeless people, media, 
and European NGOs.  

The following means of dissemination were used: 
•  Traditional mailings (mailings list includes several thousand people)  
•  Social  media  (currently  FEANTSA  runs  over  a  dozen  social  media  accounts 

including professional accounts of staff – Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn) 

•  Events (two large events attended by approximately 600 people and a few dozen 

smaller events attended by several hundred additional people)  

•  Websites (five different websites reaching more than 10 000 unique individuals on 

a regular basis) 

European  added  value:  Given  that  FEANTSA  is  the  only  European  NGO  working 
exclusively  on  homelessness  and  as  such  all  the  work  carried  out  by  FEANTSA  is 
unique, if FEANTSA was not funded by DG EMPL for its annual work plan, it is very 
unlikely  there  would  be  any  EU  action  on  homelessness,  at  least  not  on  the  same 
structural scale. The chosen actions / topics are carefully selected in close cooperation 
with  our  members  and  partners  on  the  basis  of  added  value  and  potential  impact. 
FEANTSA helps to channel and translate the demand for support from policymakers 
and service providers into concrete proposals for EU action and lobbies the European 
Commission  to  deliver  on  these  proposals.  Almost  all  EU  actions  on  homelessness 
originate in one way or another from a FEANTSA proposal. In this way, maximum EU 
added value is guaranteed.  

In  addition,  FEANTSA’s  work  helps  to  avoid  duplication  of  efforts.  The  most  telling 
example is Housing First. By making the evidence on Housing First widely available, 
Member States and local authorities do not need to carry out their own research and 
evaluations. The 2019 action, like the actions in previous years, has led to plenty of 
networking with national governments and other stakeholders in the Member States 
as  well  as  with  intergovernmental  organisations  and  other  European  NGOs.  In 
addition, FEANTSA strive to ensure the correct implementation of legislation of free 
movement and the Mortgage Directive as it pertains to the issue of non-performing 
residential mortgage loans. 

Horizontal objectives: While working towards the eradication of homelessness (of 
which the affected already constitute a vulnerable group), other vulnerable groups or 
issues  are  addressed  by  the  2019  work  plan.  For  example,  FEANTSA  provided 
suggestions on how to make the Youth Guarantee more inclusive, promoted gender 
equality  by  putting  emphasis  on  women’s  homelessness  and  its  interlinkage  with 
gender-based violence and inequality, and was actively involved in all EU processes 
and actions that directly or indirectly relate to homelessness in the areas of health, 
migration, housing, social inclusion and anti-discrimination.  

May 2022 

 106 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.2.  EUCLID  Network  –  Empowering  Social  Enterprises  for  a  vibrant  social 
enterprise finance market 2021  

‘Through the activities implemented under the EaSI grant agreement Euclid 
Network has been able to support social enterprise leaders to run their 
business in a financially sustainable way.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2018/016 

VS/2020/0194 
Social Protection & Social Inclusion 
Social enterprises 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
•  Media.  
• 

Establishing and maintaining a good relationship with 
social finance stakeholders; 
Preparing and publishing an EU Funding Toolkit; 

• 
•  Organising workshops and events; 
• 
• 
• 

Updating an online Knowledge Centre; 
Representing the interests of social enterprises; 
Preparing and developing a European Social Enterprise 
Monitor. 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 
Partners 
EU contribution in euro 

Project duration 

Belgium 
- 
EUCLID Network 
- 
(initial) 256 025.00  
1 April 2019-31 March 2020 

Project/organisation website 

https://euclidnetwork.eu/ 

Socioeconomic  context:  The  Euclid  Network  works  together  with  the  European 
Commission to increase access to social finance for social enterprises as part of the 
EU’s  Employment  and  Social  Innovation  (EaSI)  programme  (2018-21).  Social 
investment  offers  a  significant  opportunity  to  empower  social  enterprises  to  drive 
positive change. The Euclid Network is responsible for supporting and strengthening 
the capacity of the demand side of the social finance market across Europe – that is, 
the frontline organisations who could benefit from this investment (social enterprises) 
and  their  support  structures  (such  as  national  federations,  networks,  universities, 
accelerators and incubators). Another important aspect of the EaSI programme is to 
increase awareness as to the current policies and programmes existing in the EU that 
support social enterprises to access finance and to encourage necessary adjustments 
in legal and regulatory frameworks for social finance. 

May 2022 

 107 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  main  objective  of  the  programme  is  to 
improve  access  to  social  finance  for  social  enterprises.  To  deliver  on  this  broad 
objective, the project is structured around four strategic pillars: 

1.  Support implementation of European policies in the social enterprise finance 

market with a focus on the demand side; 

2.  Reinforce  the  capacity  of  Euclid  Network  members  to  empower  social 
enterprises  to  access  the  social  finance  market  and  to  repay  social  finance 
thanks to a sustainable business model; 

3.  Voice the concerns and expectations of social enterprises and potential future 

social entrepreneurs, including disadvantaged groups; 

4.  Provide high-quality data and  research  on developments in  social  enterprise 

finance with a focus on the demand side. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: To meet the objectives, the Euclid Network 
has implemented a series of activities, including: 

-  Maintaining  a  good  relationship  with  relevant  social  finance  stakeholders, 
including  the  European  Commission,  the  European  Parliament,  the  Global 
Impact Investing Network (GIIN), European Venture Philanthropy Association 
(EVPA), European Microfinance Network (EMN), amongst others; 

-  Preparing and publishing an EU Funding Toolkit for  social enterprise  support 

organisations (hereafter SESOs) and social enterprises (hereafter SEs); 

-  Organising  workshops  for  SESOs  and  SEs  on  financial  sustainability,  social 

finance and project building; 

-  Organising events with public officials to improve the local policy environment 

for social enterprises; 

-  Updating  an  online  Knowledge  Centre  featuring  relevant  SE  legislation, 

reports, toolkits, films, podcasts, research articles and best practices; 

-  Delivering an online index of SE researchers on the online Knowledge Centre; 
-  Performing an annual member’s consultation to identify their needs; 
-  Having regular board meetings and an AGM; 
-  Communicating about the needs of social enterprises through online and offline 

means; 

-  Representing  the  interests  of  social  enterprises  in  the  EC  Expert  Group  on 
Social Economy and Social Enterprise (GECES) and the UN Taskforce on Social 
and Solidarity Economy; 

-  Preparing and developing a European Social Enterprise Monitor in cooperation 
with national networks of social entrepreneurs and an expert research board.  

The most important conclusions and lessons learned are that: 

-  Social enterprises rely heavily on intermediaries such as the Euclid Network to 
be informed about European policies and European funding opportunities; 
-  Social  enterprises  rely  on networks such as  the Euclid Network to represent 

their interests with legislators, finance providers and business; 

-  Social finance providers are keen to exchange good practices across borders; 
-  Social enterprises (support organisations) are interested in a stronger sense 

of community amongst international networks of peers; 

-  Social enterprises (support organisations) are keen to exchange good practices 

across borders; 

-  Public officials are keen to exchange good practices across borders; 
-  Social  enterprises  (support  organisations)  have  reached  a  stage  of  maturity 
where they have the capacity to focus more on policy influencing and outreach 
to external stakeholders; 

-  Social enterprises (support organisations) are best reached through targeted 

communication in the form of direct emails and calls; 

May 2022 

 108 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-  Social enterprises (support organisations) respond well to innovative ways of 

communication, such as podcasts; 

-  Social media remain important communication channels; 
-  There is a need to reach out to stakeholders beyond the bubble of “converted” 

social enterprise supporters. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  EU  Funding  Toolkit  for  social 
enterprises  and  social  enterprise  support  organisations  proved  to  be  a  very  useful 
practical guide. Due to great interest, the EU Funding Toolkit has been translated into 
French, by French member, Avise. 

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  The  Euclid  Network  prepared  and 
published an EU Funding Toolkit for social enterprise support organisations (hereafter 
SESOs)  and  social  enterprises  (hereafter  SEs).  It  has  also  updated  an  online 
Knowledge Centre featuring relevant SE legislation, reports, toolkits, films, podcasts, 
research  articles  and  best  practices.  In  addition,  it  prepared  and  developed  a 
European  Social  Enterprise  Monitor  in  cooperation  with  national  networks  of  social 
entrepreneurs and an expert research board. 

Transnational dimension: In 2019, the Euclid Network continued to be engaged in 
a very constructive dialogue with the European Commission to provide feedback on 
the EU social enterprise support instruments and discussing the current obstacles to 
sector development as well as the future of the sector. In particular, the open letter 
to the European Parliament prepared by the Euclid Network and 25 national networks 
for social enterprise serves as one of the key inputs for further conversations on the 
social enterprise support instruments. 

In  addition,  the  Euclid  Network  continued  its  cooperation  with  other  international 
organisations  and  networks.  Euclid  Network  coordinated  regular  meetings  with 
CECOP, RREUSE, ENSIE, MFC, EMN and EVPA (face-to-face and online) to discuss joint 
activities. The Euclid Network also visited 15 countries and attended 12 international 
conferences to discuss topics related to accessing social finance for social enterprises. 

New partnerships created: The social enterprise sector is growing, and the Euclid 
network is increasingly recognised as being highly valuable to be a part of. Five new 
member organisations joined the network since the beginning of this year. The Euclid 
Network now represents over 100 000 social enterprises. 

Dissemination  strategy:  The  Euclid  Network  participated  in  online  and  offline 
events,  webinars,  and  meetings  and  produced  reports.  The  Euclid  Network  also 
introduced its members as keynote speakers at high-level events such as the “Impact 
Fest  and  the  Social  Enterprise  World  Forum”.  The  Network  delivered  a  webinar  to 
promote  the  review  and  index  with  15  researcher  participants.  In  addition,  the 
updated research review was discussed. This resulted in buy-in for future engagement 
by several of the most prominent professors in the field. 

The  databases  and  reports  produced  by  the  Euclid  Network  under  the  EaSI  grant 
agreement  were  primarily  targeted  at  the  social  enterprise  sector  (support 
organisations). The reports have been disseminated through the following means: 

-  Euclid Network website; 
-  General and member newsletters; 
-  Social media, specifically Twitter and LinkedIn; 
-  Webinars; 
-  Printed  copies  at  events  such  as  Impact  Fest,  EU  project  building  workshop 

and the AGM. 

May 2022 

 109 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The policy reports written by the Euclid Network under the EaSI grant agreement were 
primarily  targeted  at  public  officials  working  for  the  European  institutions.  These 
reports have been disseminated through a series of means: 

-  Euclid Network website; 
-  Social media, especially Twitter; 
-  Presentations  at  international  events  of  relevant  stakeholders  such  as  the 
Social  Innovations  Forum  in  Belgrade,  the  Annual  Convention  on  Inclusive 
Growth and the UNTSSE Retreat; 

-  1-on-1 meetings with a member of the European Parliament, members of the 
European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and  staff  of  the  European 
Commission. 

European added value: Through the activities implemented under the EaSI grant 
agreement the Euclid Network has been able to support social enterprise leaders to 
run their business in a financially sustainable way; to learn from best practices across 
borders; to be heard by public officials and social finance providers and to become 
more visible to business, academia, government and wider society. 

Sustainability measures: To ensure the continuity of the action, the Euclid Network 
plans on the following activities in the future:  

-  Update the EU Funding Toolkit with the latest European developments, scale 
up  the  Toolkit  and  broaden  its  scope  to  include  funding  from  banks, 
foundations and alternative finance providers. 
Intensify relationships with public authorities and create a special membership 
status for cities to join Euclid Network. 
Increase engagement with local public officials in cooperation with OECD and 
coordinated with programmes like ESER. 

- 

- 

-  Organise a crash course on SDGs for our members and partners. 
- 

Increase  the  online  and  offline  visibility  of  the  Euclid  Network  through  our 
members. 

-  Organise  more  informal  activities  with  members  of  the  Euclid  Network  to 

strengthen the sense of community among the network. 
-  Continue with regular newsletters to members and partners. 
-  Grow the presence of the Euclid Network on LinkedIn. 
-  Continue to disseminate existing knowledge in innovative ways, e.g., through 

a Euclid Network webinar series. 

-  Grow the visibility of social entrepreneurs outside the bubble of the converted, 
especially  amongst  consumers,  and  social  finance  providers  through  a  “buy 
social campaign”. 

-  Grow  the  visibility  of  the  concerns  and  expectations  of  social  entrepreneurs 
amongst social finance providers and legislators through position papers and 
policy articles. 
Intensify relationships with researchers in SE and social  finance and support 
dissemination of research outcomes, networking and knowledge sharing. 
-  Develop and publish a  European Social Enterprise Monitor providing insights 

- 

into trends and needs of social enterprise across Europe. 

Horizontal  objectives:  Social  enterprises  are  pioneers  in  finding  sustainable 
solutions to societal challenges in an entrepreneurial way. They are working towards 
an inclusive and circular economy and more cohesive society. Every day in Europe, 
social enterprises are running their business sustainably while helping to address the 
above-mentioned  issues  of  youth  employment,  combat  long-term  unemployment, 
fight against poverty and social exclusion, promotion of equality between women and 
men, promoting of a high level of quality and sustainable employment, adequate and 

May 2022 

 110 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
decent social protection, combat discrimination and the other issues mentioned in the 
SDGs. 

4.3. CARITAS – Cares II Actions Reinforce the European Social Dimension 

‘The social economy model challenges us to think in different ways 
about our economy... Rather than focusing on generating individual 
wealth and maximising profits, it prioritises social objectives and 
social values.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0027 
Social protection and social inclusion 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

• 
• 
• 

Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) 
Child and Youth poverty  
social exclusion 

People experiencing poverty 
Council of Europe / EU Institutions and representations 
National, regional and local authorities 
Social partners 
Non-governmental organisations 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Media 
• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Building  /  enhancing  strategic  partnerships  with  other 
stakeholders at EU level; 
Exchange  of  information  and  consultation  with  member 
organisations (MOs); 
Support  and  facilitation  of  advocacy  actions  at  EU  and 
national level; 
Production of evidence-based policy recommendations and 
institutional development resources and materials; 
Participation of grassroots as a cross-cutting feature of all 
CE  activities,  also  through  the  new  work  with  the  Young 
Caritas network; 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Belgium 
44 European countries 
CARITAS EUROPA 

Partners 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

•  European Business and Innovation Centre Network (EBN); 
•  Centres for social innovation and entrepreneurship (IHUB); 
•  European  network  of  venture  philanthropy  organisations 

(EVPA); 
•  CONCORD; 
•  European Platform on Asylum and Migration; 
•  European Council for Refugees and Exiles; 
•  VOICE; 
•  Others. 
(initial) 744 229.66 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://www.caritas.eu/  

May 2022 

 111 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Socioeconomic  context:  CARES  II  is  a  project  run  under  a  four-year  Framework 
Partnership Agreement (2018-2021) co-financed by the European Commission’s EaSI 
programme.  The  European  Commission  co-finances  European  NGO  networks  like 
Caritas Europa (CE) to advance the  social agenda. CE works in reciprocity with  the 
EU; one the  one hand,  European NGO networks need to be fully aware of the EU’s 
social policy shaping mechanisms. On the other, the European Commission needs to 
know  what  is  happening  on  the  “ground”  in  EU  Member  States.  The  economic  and 
financial  crisis  in  2008  caused  unprecedented  levels  of  unemployment  and  poverty 
across  Europe.  It  also  underlined  the  weaknesses  and  limitations  of  the  social 
protection  systems  in  place  across  the  EU.  Through  our  contact  with  people 
experiencing poverty, we are best placed to monitor the national situations and the 
effects of national policies on the most vulnerable in our societies. CE then feeds this 
important information back to the Commission. 
Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  The  specific  objectives  of  CE  for  2018-2021 
have been designed in relation to the priorities identified in the EaSI programme and 
have been explained in CE's four-year strategic plan. The CARES II work programme 
2020 followed those same objectives:  

1)  Actions and recommendations to feed policymaking: collecting of grassroots’ 
input for better informed  policymaking in all fields related to social inclusion 
and poverty reduction.  

2)  Bridge-building  actions  between  EU  level  and  national  actors:  supporting 
members in national advocacy  efforts and providing their experiences  to EU 
policymakers.  

3)  Awareness-raising and dissemination: in cooperation with MOs disseminating 
information on the European Social Dimension and raising awareness among 
stakeholders and society at large  

4)  Network  organisation  and  management:  strengthening  capacities  and 

sustainability of members as well as of the European secretariat 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The initial plans of CARES II were slightly 
altered  in  the  face  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  and  CE  carefully  monitored  the 
developments of the crisis as it strongly affected the services provided by the Caritas 
Network to people in the most precarious situations, who will be the hardest hit by 
the  effects  of  this  global  crisis.  A  CE  crisis  cell  has  been  set  up  to  liaise  with  the 
secretariat of Caritas Internationalis and with all CE members to evaluate the specific 
needs of the network and the support measures that can be taken at the European 
level.  Through  advocacy  and  strong  media  presence,  the  Caritas  Network  was 
successful in raising awareness around the impact of the people living in poverty and 
the increase of inequalities and poverty following the pandemic, as well as the impact 
on the social service providers, and the need for an adequate policy response. 

In spite of the challenges of the pandemic, CE, along with its member organisations, 
continued providing relevant inputs to decision-makers, both at the national and EU 
levels, regarding the development and implementation of social policies. The network 
also identified the impacts,  risks and gaps of policies,  especially with  regard to the 
people  most  vulnerable  to  the  consequences  of  the  pandemic,  and  provided 
constructive  proposals  concerning  the  response  to  this  crisis  as  well  as  to  the 
development of the European social model(s) in the future. The relevant inputs were 
provided  through  the  implementation  of  activities  such  as  developing  policy 
documents,  organising  webinars  and  other  capacity  building  events  in  different 
technical,  institutional  or  thematic  areas.  CE  also  created  and  supported  social 
economy projects and  enterprises that contribute(d) to job creation,  education and 
training for those furthest away from the labour market, as well as to the EU's climate 
targets. 

May 2022 

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CE  further  disseminated  the  16  Caritas  CARES  country  reports  and  the  European 
Caritas CARES report, which included recommendations for policymakers. Thanks to 
the  strong  coordination  and  regular  contacts  with  the  full  Caritas  network,  and  the 
strong and well-respected network that Caritas is, the policy messages reached the 
relevant levels. The many and regular trainings and exchange opportunities provided 
for  the  members  with  good  practices  and  lessons  learned,  which  allowed  for  a 
stronger, more professional network, even better to fulfil our mission in the service of 
the people facing poverty, exclusion and marginalisation.  

Several of the CARES and CARES II activities have been further developed and will 
continue to be implemented over several years. Examples of these are the different 
learning paths, such as the Caritas Poverty Observatories, which are crucial for the 
drafting  of  the  CARES  reports,  the  Caritas  mapping  system,  which  is  now  being 
transformed  from  a  European  into  an  international  database  –  to  name  just  a  few 
(new ones continue to be developed). Moreover, innovative topics and solutions such 
as  social  economy  that  have  been  promoted  through  CARES  activities  have  been 
picked up and further developed by members and inspired other organisations as well. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  Some  Caritas  organisations  had 
already  indicated  a  general  difficulty  of  ensuring  the  sustainability  of  their  staff,  of 
their organisations, etc. well before the outbreak of COVID-19. They had attributed 
this to limited access to state funding, limited understanding of the legal possibilities, 
and / or limited opportunities to engage with national governments. In light of this, 
CE continued to identify good practices on the topic of Institutional Advocacy, which 
sought  to  help  Caritas  organisations  create  an  enabling  environment  to  strengthen 
their own organisations, and by doing so to be better situated legally, financially and 
politically to carry out advocacy. In 2020, the Institutional Advocacy Handbook65 was 
finally launched. This proved timely and very valuable, especially in the face of the 
COVID-19  pandemic,  where  even  more  Caritas  organisations  worried  about  the 
sustainability of funding for social services and the needs of the most vulnerable. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities: Many of the actions and approaches of 
CARES  II  are  considered  innovative  and  progressive  in  the  conventional  policy 
paradigm, such as CE‘s view on the social economy, which challenges us to think in 
different  ways  about  our  economy.  Rather  than  focusing  on  generating  individual 
wealth and maximising profits, it prioritises social objectives and social values through 
innovative  solutions  to  involve  people  far  from  the  labour  market  holistically  and 
effectively  in  training  and  job  opportunities.  Seriously  concerned  about  the  fair 
distribution  of  economic  resources,  inequalities,  and  the  exploitation  of  people  for 
financial gain, Caritas presented different examples of social economy enterprises in 
Europe.  This  has  been  promoted  through  various  CARES  activities  that  have  been 
picked up and further developed by members and inspired other organisations as well.  

Policy evidence generated by the project: In 2020, in the realm of the CARES II 
grant, CE produced and launched the following deliverables, including evidence-based 
recommendations  for  policy  development,  as  well  as  institutional  development 
resources for members: 

•  The Caritas CARES! European report on access to services66;  
•  The Institutional Advocacy Handbook; 
•  Spanish and French translations of the Grassroots Participation Handbook67;  

65 https://www.caritas.eu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Caritas-Europa-Institutional-Advocacy-
Handbook.pdf  
66 https://caritascares.eu/  
67 https://www.caritas.eu/grassroots-participation-handbook/  

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 113 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  The Knowledge Management Portal68;  
•  Engagement  communication  tools  for  Young  Caritas  Europa69  (video,  logo, 

website, social media channels);  

•  Numerous press releases, press statements, and positions70. 

New partnerships created: During the course of CARES II, CE pursued numerous 
activities specific to building strategic partnerships with relevant actors in the field of 
job  creation,  achieving  a  human-centred  economy,  and  social  business  approach. 
Some  collaborations  emerged  from  this:  for  instance,  the  European  Business  and 
Innovation Centre Network (EBN) and the main global network of centres for social 
innovation  and  entrepreneurship  (IHUB).  Also,  the  principal  European  network  of 
venture philanthropy organisations (EVPA) invited CE to be part of the advisory board 
of a project on social and inclusive entrepreneurship. 

Dissemination strategy: The main targets of CARES II dissemination strategy were 
policymakers and opinion leaders in and around the European institutions and at the 
national level in the Member States, particularly in the context of the consequences 
of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the most vulnerable people in our society 
and our members' work with them. To reach out to these audiences we used our social 
media channels intensively, with support from our members at the national level. For 
events,  CE  equally  targeted  decision-makers  and  opinion  leaders  as  well  as  civil 
society  networks  and  member  organisations.  The  specific  audience  was  always 
adapted to the topic and the purpose of the event. In order to be gender sensitive CE 
did not ask participants to provide their sex on the participants list / registration form 
(we can provide the European Commission with this data whenever needed). We were 
however pleased to note good equality in terms of participation of women and men 
at practically all events. Press releases and statements were promoted on social media 
in  particular,  in  addition  to  the  traditional  dissemination  channels  among  Brussels-
based journalists and national ones on the occasions that CE members translate and 
use them. We also published articles on the CE website to put forward the challenges 
and achievements of Caritas work in the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

European added value: The most important added value of CE resides in its multi-
layered network of 49 member organisations in 46 European countries. Thanks to its 
geographical  extension,  CE  is  able  to  ensure  a  capillary  presence  throughout  the 
European continent and at different levels - European, national and particularly strong 
presence  at  the  local  level.  CE  therefore  bridges  the  gap  between  these  levels  by 
working closely with its members and other networks, which enables us to monitor 
the implementation of policies and other instruments such as the European Pillar of 
Social Rights. The broad network of CE also allows for an ongoing exchange of best 
practices,  which  fosters  the  mainstreaming  and  upscaling  of  results  of  former  EU 
funded  projects.  The  scope  and  scale  of  CE  activities  and  influence  on  policy 
development would not be possible without the financial support of the EC.  

Horizontal objectives: In all its activities, procedures and interactions, CE adheres 
to a behavioural and attitudinal approach that respects the dignity of the individual 
and enables every person to human integral development. This effectively results in 
the promotion of an equality and diversity mainstreaming approach. CE also promotes 
diversity in the team, is committed to the mainstreaming of equal opportunities and 
ensures that no staff member is discriminated against. In addition, the topic of gender 
equality  was  deepened  through  a  workshop  for  all  staff  members  by  an  external 

68 https://www.caritas.eu/knowledge-management/  
69 https://www.caritas.eu/empowering-caritas/young-caritas-europa/  
70 https://www.caritas.eu/news/  

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 114 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
consultant. A follow-up event will take place in 2021. The existing good practices are 
in the process of being systematised and, if need be, improved and completed, leading 
to a unified, internal policy. Moreover, Caritas Europa stepped up its commitment to 
safeguarding  of  Caritas  beneficiaries  as  well  as  staff  members.  The  whole  team 
attended a training on safeguarding and the topic continues to be high on the agenda 
of  CE.  EC  also  introduced  this  topic  in  the  Social  Platform  Management  Committee 
and will continue to follow up on this into 2021. 

4.4. COFACE – Families online and offline – protection of human rights in the 
digital age 

‘With different actions and outputs, we bridge the gap between the EU and 
the local level, highlighting the emerging needs of families to be taken into 
account in EU law and policy.’  

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0069 
Social protection and social inclusion  

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

•  Healthcare; 
Long-term care; 
• 
Active inclusion;  
• 
•  Mainstreaming SPSI. 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
•  Media; 
• 
• 
• 

Toy industry; 
Advertising industry; 
ICT industry. 

• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

two contact databases created; 
19 reports produced; 
14 evaluation / assessments carried out; 
four internal expert meetings held to strengthen 
knowledge transfer across countries; 

four COFACE statutory meetings held to build common 
positions on key EU policies. 

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Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Belgium 
COFACE affiliate member countries  
COFACE-Families Europe 

Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 490 435.40 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
http://www.coface-eu.org/ 

Socioeconomic  context: COFACE-FAMILIES  EUROPE  is  a  network  promoting  the 
well-being, health and security of families and their members in a changing society 
and serves as a trusted entity for family mainstreaming and the needs of families in 
the EU and beyond. 

The  organisation  achieves  this  through  coordination  between  the  COFACE  Member 
organisations to assess the needs of families at grassroots’ levels, to gather evidence 
and project trends, and to link these needs to the appropriate policy mechanisms at 
the  EU  level,  such  as  the  European  Semester  process,  the  Social  Open  Method  of 
Coordination, the European Structural and Investment Funds, the European Pillar of 
Social Rights, as well as other key EU legislative and non-legislative initiatives beyond 
social  and  employment  policy  (gender  equality,  migration,  education,  consumer 
policy,  financial  services,  safer  internet  and  more).  This  is  done  by  liaising  directly 
with key EU policymakers in the European Parliament, the Commission and Council, 
as well as EU advisory bodies like the European Economic and Social Committee and 
the EU Committee of the Regions. 

The  organisation’s  role  is  also  to  drive  innovation  by  facilitating  transnational 
exchanges  and  foster  mutual  learning  on  effective  policies  and  practices  between 
COFACE member organisations, aiming to support national and sub-national policies 
in the interest of families. COFACE achieves this through the organisation of seminars, 
ad hoc expert groups, EU presidency and other conferences, advocacy and awareness-
raising campaigns, online and social communication and dissemination and training. 

In a spirit of pluralism, working in the name of all types of families, COFACE-Families 
Europe is rooted in a set of six core values:  

•  Non-discrimination.  COFACE-Families  Europe  recognises  all  family  forms. 
Equal  opportunities.  COFACE-Families  Europe  believes  equality  between 
women  and  men  is  a  cornerstone  for  the  reconciliation  of  family  and 
professional life.  

•  Respect  for  human  rights.  COFACE-Families  Europe  seeks  to  advance  the 

rights of families and their members to a decent quality of life.  

•  Empowerment.  COFACE-Families  Europe  aims  to  give  a  voice  to  all  family 

members as citizens, consumers and workers.  

•  Social inclusion. COFACE-Families Europe advocates for the shaping of policies 

to tackle poverty and social exclusion of families and their members.  

•  Solidarity.  COFACE-Families  Europe  promotes  intergenerational  solidarity 

between family members. 

Aims  of  the  project/organisation: COFACE-Families  Europe  works  towards  a 
family-friendly environment, enabling all families and their members to benefit from 
sufficient  financial  resources,  available  quality  services  and  adequate  time 
arrangements to live and enjoy their family life in dignity and harmony. 

The organisation has eight internal strategic objectives to achieve this vision: 

1.  Giving a voice to families in policymaking and implementation; 
2.  Promoting fair access to Services of General Interest; 

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3.  Building family-friendly policies and workplaces; 
4.  Achieving an EU status for family carers; 
5.  Harnessing the transformative power of technologies for a sustainable world; 
6.  Supporting the inclusion of vulnerable groups such as migrants, persons with 

disabilities, one-parent families, and other minority groups; 

7.  Promoting equal opportunities for all families; 
8.  Promote child rights and well-being. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned: Throughout  the  implementation  of  the 
action,  COFACE  held  four  very  successful  internal  expert  meetings  which  were 
important for knowledge transfer across countries and capacity building to empower 
national  civil  society  to  take  part  in  and  shape  EU  policy  and  law.  In  addition,  four 
main  COFACE  statutory  meetings  (three  Administrative  Councils  and  one  General 
Assembly) took place and were central for strategic exchanges between members for 
European consensus-building and to build common positions on key EU policies. Four 
main public affairs events were also organised.  

COFACE  created  two  contact  databases  for  the  Families  Corner  newsletter  and  the 
membership mailing lists; produced three benchmarks such as Internal Monitoring & 
Evaluation matrix, FamilyLab webinars programme and Child Compass 2030.  

In addition, COFACE produced 20 reports: 1 Annual COFACE report, 2 Child Guarantee 
seminar reports (EN / DE), 6 Position papers, 8 joint statements with other European 
civil society organisations (EEG DI, Alliance for Investing in Children, EPAM), 3 Joint 
reports  (EEG  DI  research  on  deinstitutionalisation,  FSUG  paper  on  crypto-assets, 
Finance Watch report on responsible lending in COVID-19 times). 

Furthermore,  the  organisation  carried  out  13  evaluations  /  assessments:  8 
assessments  (Disability  roadmap,  Consumer  Credit  Directive  revision,  Gender 
Equality  Strategy,  Gender  pay  gap,  Pillar  Social  Rights,  Impact  of  COVID-19  on 
families  &  work–life  balance,  Child  Rights  strategy  of  Council  of  Europe,  New 
Consumer Agenda); 1 study on toys and diversity; 2 policy briefs; 1 joint stocktaking 
deinstitutionalisation; 1 external evaluation report on COFACE strategic framework; 
one website accessibility audit.  

COFACE has also produced 7 assessments  of EU law: 1 assessment of the General 
Data  Protection  Regulation  (video  format),  1  Assessment  of  the  New  Deal  for 
Consumers;  1  assessment  of  the  Consumer  Credit  Directive;  1  assessment  of  the 
Gender  Equality  Strategy;  1  assessment  of  the  Safer  Internet  Strategy  (video 
format);  2  joint  assessments  of  EU  budget  (AMIF  with  EPAM,  and  ESF+  with  the 
alliance for investing in children). 

Transnational dimension: For COFACE, mutual learning and transfer of knowledge 
are key to including national civil societies more into the European dynamics and to 
building  common  positions  for  advocacy  on  different  EU  policies  and  laws.  COFACE 
achieves  a  transnational  dimension  through  the  organisation  of  different  types  of 
cross-country exchanges. COFACE has also experimented with the use of technology 
(namely video conference platforms and video editing software) to boost transnational 
connections  between  members  of  the  organisation  as  compensation  for  the 
cancellation of the physical events which were initially planned. 

Dissemination strategy: COFACE has disseminated all of its reports / outputs with 
the relevant EU institutions at the EU level including EU Commission DGs (DG EMPL, 
DG  EAC,  DG  JUST,  DG  FISMA,  DG  SANTE,  DG  REGIO,  DG  CNECT,  DG  HOME,  DG 
BUDG,  SECGEN),  the  European  Parliament  (via  select  Committees  such  as  FEMM, 

May 2022 

 117 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EMPL), interest groups (such as the Interest Group on solidarity between generations, 
interest  group  on  Carers),  Intergroups  (Disability  and  Child  rights)  and  national 
governments (either via our member organisations, which, for example, disseminated 
physical copies of our publications, or directly by inviting representatives of national 
governments  to  COFACE  events  or  attending  government  meetings  in  different 
countries).  

COFACE  has  also  disseminated  all  of  its  reports  /  output  to  key  NGO  and  /  or  civil 
society  stakeholders  at  the  EU  and  national  level.  Among  these  were  organisations 
such  as  Eurochild,  European  Women's  Lobby,  ETUC,  the  Social  Platform,  BEUC, 
Finance  Watch,  EU  Alliance  for  Investing  in  Children,  European  NGO  Platform  on 
Asylum and Migration, EDF.  

The  organisation  also  targeted  corporate  networks,  various  research  organisations, 
international institutions and national organisations.  

COFACE has used several channels to disseminate the reports and outputs produced. 
These include physical printed copies, QR codes, COFACE website, events and online 
meetings,  a  newsletter,  social  media  platforms,  email,  video  creation  and  media 
releases.  

European added value: With different actions and outputs COFACE bridged the gap 
between the EU and the local level, highlighting the emerging needs of families to be 
taken into account in EU law and policy (advocating for a strong EU Child Guarantee 
and  exploring  its  potential  implementation  in  four  countries,  pushing  for  a  Gender 
equality  strategy  with  a  strong  care  component,  ensuring  that  EU  consumer  law 
supports  vulnerable  consumers,  keeping  up  the  pressure  for  a  new  post-2020 
Disability Strategy that meets the demands of COFACE Disability, and giving a boost 
to the European Pillar of Social Rights as much as possible).  

COFACE  also  linked  Social  Europe  and  the  global  framework  through  their  special 
consultative status at the UN and the work on the Sustainable  Development Goals. 
The  organisation  transnationally  connects  family  organisations  of  all  types.  Social 
innovators constantly try to find support solutions for their local communities and use 
the COFACE network to find ideas and inspiration for their own countries. 

Sustainability measures: Protection of human rights in the digital age was the main 
focus of COFACE work in 2020 and will remain central in the future not only as a result 
of the pandemic shifting work, school, and leisure online but because digital families 
have been a core topic of COFACE for at least 10 years now.  

COFACE will build on the links created between social and digital policy to ensure real 
impact  for  families:  through  the  digital  citizenship  breakfast  bytes  including  one 
webinar hosted by DG CNECT on the EU Safer Internet Strategy; the mainstreaming 
of  the  digital  dimension  in  discussions  to  build  the  new  architectures  of  the  Child 
Rights Strategy of the Council of Europe and of the European Commission; initiating 
dialogues with the ICT industry namely engaging in discussions as a member of the 
newly  launched  Facebook  Alliance  on  digital  citizenship;  the  strong  partnership 
between  sociological  and  digital  transformations  researchers  of  the  DigiGen 
Horizon2020 consortium; highlighting the impact of the digital environment on child 
and  family  well-being  in  our  recently  adopted  2030  Child  Compass  to  guide 
policymakers  towards  more  holistic  thinking  in  developing  and  consolidating  family 
policies; and building on the Digital Families Map to feed the newly launched European 
Family Lab bringing family professionals together to create impactful family support 
in a complex world. This will not only serve to boost principle 20 of the European Pillar 

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 118 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of Social Rights but many other principles which have a digital dimension more than 
ever: inclusive education, work–life balance, gender equality, long-term care, decent 
work  conditions.  The  digital  divide  and  aspects  of  digital  deprivation  will  be  further 
explored by the COFACE network in 2021.  

Horizontal objectives: COFACE is carrying out all its activities by adhering to and 
addressing issues such as long-term unemployment, promotion of equality between 
women and men and poverty and social exclusion.  

As every year, COFACE highlighted the difficulties of families in vulnerable situations 
in different EU and national conferences / meetings, by generally promoting a safety 
net for all families based on access to Resources / Services / Time and by promoting 
investment in family support systems at the local level through access to childcare, 
long-term  care,  but  especially  a  wide  range  of  community-based  services.  The 
organisation  continued  to work with the Right to  Energy Coalition to  support a just 
transition  towards  a  greener  economy  and  to  raise  awareness  about  the  impact  of 
energy poverty on families.  

In 2020, COFACE put the spotlight on families in vulnerable situations, namely taking 
a closer look at single-parent families and large families, highlighting the challenges 
they face and policy solutions. COFACE’s continued work to promote financial inclusion 
is  also  part  of  our  poverty  prevention  work,  by  feeding  our  expertise  into  EU 
discussions that impact the financial inclusion of families. 

To promote equality between men and women, COFACE advocated for reconciliation 
of  work  and  family  life,  with  work–life  balance  policies  to  support  more  women  to 
enter the labour market and more men to take up their family / caring roles. COFACE 
was also leading the alliance of European NGOs on work–life balance to develop joint 
advocacy actions in support of the EU work–life balance agenda, through legislative 
and  non-legislative  measures;  supported  the  European  Women  Against  Violence 
Coalition and advocated for EU ratification of the Istanbul Convention; highlighted the 
gender  dimension  of  family  care  (most  family  carers  are  women  and  very  much 
threatened  with  poverty  and  exclusion);  boosted  the  EU  Disability  agenda  through 
actions  to  promote  independent  living  of  family  members  (a  win-win-win-win  for 
persons  with  disabilities,  family  carers,  society  and  the  economy);  and  finally 
advocated for childcare and long-term care services to support families in their caring 
role from birth to old age. 

To  further  promote  a  high  level  of  quality  employment  COFACE  reconciliation 
advocacy  focused  on  pushing  for  reconciliation  economy  measures,  namely  for 
legislation on adequate family leave and flexible working arrangements to ensure that 
workers can secure quality employment and have time off to take care of their family 
without  losing  employment.  Another  dimension  of  high-quality  employment  that 
COFACE  addressed  was  the  close  monitoring  of  changes  in  the  delivery  of  family 
support and care services in 2020. This was especially needed given the extraordinary 
circumstances  caused  by  the  global  pandemic  which  led  to  the  shift  in  working 
arrangements. 

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 119 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4.5.  PICUM  Network  –  Strategic  advocacy,  collaboration  and  activation  to 
address the social exclusion of undocumented migrants 

‘PICUM’s report on “Preventing and Addressing Vulnerabilities in Immigration 
Enforcement Policies” draws a clear picture of how vulnerabilities are too often 
overlooked in immigration detention decision-making and practices. This results in 
situations in which individuals are detained while suffering from pre-existing health 
diseases, being survivors of torture or ill-treatment, or despite being children.’ 

Call identification number 

VP/2019/013 

Grant identification number 

VS/2020/0024 

Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

• 
• 

Social protection and social inclusion; 
Employment. 

Active inclusion; 
Child and Youth poverty and social exclusion; 
Undeclared work; 

• 
• 
• 
•  Mobility. 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
•  Media. 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

The project conducted research, policy advocacy and dissemination 
in the following areas:  

• 
• 

Promoting civic engagement and dialogue; 
Influencing the MFF negotiations towards a more inclusive 
budget; 
Employment rights in precarious and undeclared work; 
• 
•  Quality  and  sustainable  work  permit  and  social  protection 

• 

systems; 
Policies  and  procedures  that  are  in  the  best  interest  of 
children and further their social inclusion; 
Policies to support inclusion in the context of the pandemic. 

• 
Belgium 
34 countries, primarily based in Europe 
Platform  for  International  Cooperation  on  Undocumented  Migrants 
ASBL 
- 
(initial) 480 605.94 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://picum.org/  

Socioeconomic context: The COVID-19 pandemic made the theme of health a more 
transversal  one  across  PICUM’s  work,  exposing  health-related  vulnerabilities  in  the 
context of work, immigration detention and return. PICUM’s work helped to insert the 
undocumented  population  into  policy  discussions  about  recovery,  vaccinations  and 
regularisation both at the EU as well as national levels. Across Europe, many policy 

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initiatives linked to the pandemic explicitly addressed the situation of undocumented 
people, and PICUM supported its members in their advocacy efforts for improved and 
sustained responses. Progressive government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic 
followed  in  many  cases  the  long-standing  recommendations  of  PICUM  and  its 
members.  They  confirmed  that  inclusion  of  undocumented  workers  in  emergency 
support  measures,  measures  to  regularise  their  status,  release  from  immigration 
detention  and  access  to  services  in  policy  and  practice  are  possible  and  beneficial. 
Significant work remains ahead to push for temporary measures to be maintained and 
improved through structural reforms. 

Aims of the project/organisation: The project had 14 aims, which are listed below: 

1.  Support 

implementation  of  major  political  EU-driven  processes  and 
instruments  on  social  inclusion  through  cooperation  between  EU,  national, 
regional and local stakeholders. 

2.  Consolidate  existing  expertise  and  data  to  develop  and  promote  rights  and 
evidence-based guidance on improving access to healthcare for migrants and 
other socially excluded populations. 

3.  Increase  evidence  on  social  exclusion  across  Member  States,  with  particular 
attention to vulnerable migrant groups, including children, youth, people with 
healthcare  needs,  people  in  or  at  risk  of  expulsion,  as  well  as  people  facing 
gender-based exclusion. 

4.  Develop analysis and recommendations on the impacts of EU policies on the 
social inclusion of undocumented migrants and migrants at risk of losing their 
status, focusing on the barriers to achieving EU social objectives. 

5.  Promote  confidence  in  public  institutions  –  particularly  those  engaged  in 
delivering health and social services and ensuring inclusion in law enforcement 
procedures  –  consistency  with  EU  standards  and  policy  coherence  by 
promoting separation of services from immigration enforcement. 

6.  Increase  awareness  of  the  impact  of  policies  across  areas  of  EU  action  on 
health, security and welfare of undocumented people, as well as engagement 
of  actors  across  sectors,  and  promote  the  implementation  of  the  EU’s 
obligation to ensure “health in all” policies. 

7.  Coordinate  joint  advocacy  for  national  and  local  policies  that  promote  all 

children's rights and social inclusion, regardless of their status. 

8.  Further joint analysis and dissemination of good practice for return procedures 
in  which  children  have  their  best  interests  properly  considered  in  order  to 
increase decisions that uphold their social rights and result in their inclusion. 

9.  Facilitate exchange to support members’ advocacy to increase access to secure 

residence status and empower and mobilise migrant youth. 

10. Advocate for all workers' mechanisms to enjoy fair, safe and secure working 
conditions,  file  a  complaint,  and  access  remedies  in  cases  of  exploitation  by 
further  analysing  and  exchanging  on  existing  practice  and  outreach  and 
cooperation with key stakeholders and institutions. 

11. Consolidate  partnerships  to  advocate  for  work  permit  schemes  that  address 
critical gaps in admission schemes and protect workers from exploitation. 
12. Lead an advocacy strategy to remove barriers in accessing education and care 
by ending child detention by bringing together medical professionals, teachers’ 
associations, social workers, child rights actors, and international organisations 
to elicit changes in law collectively, policy and practice on a national level and 
in the EU standards. 

13. Work with the Commission, Member States, and national NGOs to design and 
implement  pilot  alternatives  to  detention,  including  for  families  to  resolve 
immigration  status  while  remaining  in  the  community  and  continuing 
education, without resorting to social exclusion and harm through detention. 

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 121 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Promote activities, results and outcomes through print, online, broadcast and 
social  media,  targeting:  the  general  public;  social  partners;  social  service 
providers; civil  society  organisations; researchers; social policy  experts; EU, 
national and local and regional authorities. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: The project brought together a broad range 
of  experience  and  expertise  of  167  member  organisations  in  35  countries.  PICUM 
generated  and  coordinated  a  humane  and  informed  response  to  undocumented 
migrants’  realities  of  poverty  and  social  exclusion  and  provided  a  platform  for  its 
members  and  partners  to  engage  policymakers  and  the  broader  public  in  the  full 
realisation of their rights. 

The project addressed the gaps in Europe’s social protection systems which are critical 
to ensure resilience to the pandemic and other crises. PICUM worked throughout the 
year  to  bring  evidence,  arguments  and  recommendations  to  broad  audiences  of 
policymakers and partners and to provide spaces for PICUM members to share their 
challenges  and  insights  in  the  face  of  an  extremely  difficult  reality.  The  pandemic 
made  the  theme  of  health  a  more  transversal  one  across  PICUM’s  work,  exposing 
health-related  vulnerabilities  in  the  context  of  work,  immigration  detention  and 
return.  PICUM’s  resource  page  on  COVID-19  provided  a  go-to  source  on  positions, 
recommendations and  perspectives  on the pandemic and migrants;  and  the PICUM 
publication on relevant policy developments provided important evidence of initiatives 
at the national and local levels across Europe that explicitly addressed the situation 
of undocumented people, supporting advocacy for improved and sustained responses. 

The project addressed the fact that mistreatment of undocumented people requires a 
holistic  response  that  prioritises  their  needs  and  recovery.  PICUM’s  publications  on 
residence permits for victims of crime in Europe and preventing harm, and promoting 
rights  through  improved  safety,  protection  and  justice  for  undocumented  people 
underscore  how  the  criminalisation  of  irregular  migration  undermines  inclusion  and 
drive  abuse.  They  also  gather  important  evidence  about  existing  legal  and  policy 
frameworks at the EU and national levels intended to foster their protection, as well 
as  local  initiatives  that  promote  their  empowerment  and  safety.  With  the  input  of 
PICUM members and other national partners, PICUM provides concrete examples of 
initiatives  that  illustrate  the  different  dimensions  of  justice:  namely,  recognition  of 
and accountability for harm and the availability of services to support recovery without 
conditions or discrimination. This evidence and related analysis and recommendations 
are  timely  in  view  of  the  EU’s  new  strategy  on  victims’  rights  and  its  focus  on  the 
exchange of promising practices and possible EU-level policy solutions. 

The project encouraged that steps be taken to recognise migrant workers. PICUM’s 
analysis  of  labour  migration  proposals  and  recommendations  for  reform  highlight 
some  critical  elements  or  characteristics  that  should  be  integrated  into  labour 
migration and work permit policies, whether on a national, bilateral / multilateral or 
EU level, for them to be successful in achieving EU social and employment objectives. 
However,  significant  work  remains  ahead  to  push  for  temporary  measures  to  be 
maintained and improved through structural reforms. 

The project addressed the community-based alternatives to detention. Project teams 
stated  that  much  of  the  progress  achieved  at  the  national,  EU  and  global  level  on 
community-based  alternatives  to  detention  risks  being  dramatically  undermined  by 
the legislative proposals published by the European Commission in September 2020 
(EU  Pact  on  Migration  and  Asylum).  Aware  of  this  risk,  the  project’s  advocacy  has 
focused on attempting to reduce the negative impact of the Pact, highlighting the risks 
for increased detention at borders, and recommending the EU and the Member States 

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 122 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
to  implement  and  expand  alternatives  to  detention  (ATD).  For  this  purpose, 
coordination  with  other  regional-level  civil  society  organisations  and  working  with 
PICUM members has proven key to providing informed inputs on the potential impact 
of  the  proposals  in  different  Member  States,  and  monitoring  the  ongoing 
developments at national and regional levels. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has directly and heavily affected immigration detention in 
the EU. Therefore, such developments required quick coordination and exchange of 
information.  PICUM  organised  a  meeting  with  the  member  group  on  detention  and 
returns  to  discuss  the  impact  of  COVID-19  on  immigration  detention  in  Europe.  In 
addition, PICUM and some of its members working on alternatives to detention (ATD) 
participated in two closed-doors meetings organised by OSF to discuss COVID-19 and 
immigration  detention.  Furthermore,  PICUM  provided  inputs  to  the  European 
Parliament  Resolution  on  the  impact  of  COVID-19  (April  2020)  and  the  European 
Parliament  Resolution  on  the  Implementation  of  the  Return  Directive  (December 
2020)  in  consultation  with  its  members.  In  addition,  PICUM  immediately  set  up  a 
response system to facilitate the exchange of information on these developments, as 
well as on members’ responses and other initiatives, through the establishment of a 
Google  group  and  a  webpage  on  COVID-19,  and  the  coordination  of  a  network  for 
volunteers from 10 EU and non-EU countries. 

In  order  to  transform  positive  practices  of  release  from  immigration  detention  into 
systemic  change,  PICUM  organised  a  number  of  bilateral  and  multilateral  meetings 
with partners and members, with the aim to achieve a better understanding of the 
preconditions and strategies which made change possible, to pool relevant resources 
and case studies, and to develop coordinated advocacy strategies towards sustained 
and systemic change. 

As  PICUM’s  publication  Navigating  Irregularity:  The  Impact  of  Growing  Up 
Undocumented 
in  Europe  shows,  undocumented  children’s  well-being  and 
development is put in danger because of the social exclusion their  residence status 
causes. They often grow up in poverty, live in inadequate housing, fear police, and 
experience  high  levels  of  stress  –  all  of  which  affects  their  emotional  and  physical 
well-being  and  development.  However,  undocumented  children,  especially  those  in 
families,  continue  to  be  largely  invisible  in  policies  and  practices  affecting  them, 
whether that be policies wanting to alleviate social exclusion and poverty or migration 
policies. The fact that the upcoming EU Child Rights Strategy will not focus on children 
in  migration,  but  will  treat  groups  of  children  transversally,  is  an  example  of  this 
blindness. In other cases, harmful policies target children in families specifically: for 
instance, the fact that families with children older than 12 will be subject to the border 
procedures if the proposed Asylum and Migration Pact is accepted unchanged. 

PICUM’s  report  on  “Preventing  and  Addressing  Vulnerabilities  in  Immigration 
Enforcement  Policies”  draws  a  clear  picture  of  how  vulnerabilities  are  too  often 
overlooked  in  immigration  detention  decision-making  and  practices.  This  results  in 
situations in which individuals are detained while suffering from pre-existing (physical 
and  mental)  health  diseases,  being  survivors  of  torture  or  ill-treatment,  or  despite 
being  children.  In  the  five  countries  analysed  in  PICUM’s  report,  situations  of 
vulnerability are defined and interpreted differently. The lack of an inclusive definition 
of  vulnerability  often  leaves  out  individuals  who  do  not  fit  in  the  closed  list  of 
categories,  and  in  particular,  those  whose  vulnerabilities  are  exacerbated  as  a 
consequence of detention itself. Mental illnesses are rarely included in the definition, 
despite  being  an  important  factor  affecting  individuals’  situations  of  vulnerability. 
Existing operational tools, such as the IDC / UNHCR Vulnerability Screening Tool, are 
rarely  used  to  develop  a  screening  and  assessment  process  that  officials  can 

May 2022 

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implement. This analysis underlined the need for further work in this area to prevent 
the  harmful  effects  of  detention,  in  particular  on  individuals  in  situations  of 
vulnerability.  The  recommendations  included  in  the  report  were  developed  in  close 
contact  with  PICUM  members  and  discussed  during  an  online  meeting  on 
25 November 2020. 

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  PICUM  did  a  significant  amount  of 
additional  work  around  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  which  put  into  sharp  relief  the 
inequalities  linked  to  insecure  residence  status,  including  the  absence  of  social 
protection, limited access to healthcare and health information, and unsafe working 
conditions. PICUM reacted quickly and, as early as March, issued their own statement 
with recommendations on how to respond to the pandemic in a way that promoted 
inclusion and ensured protection of undocumented migrants’ social rights, including 
regarding residence status. PICUM published a blog sharing the results of a detailed 
survey  of  our  members  on  how  the  pandemic  and  related  measures  affected  them 
and the people they work with. PICUM also published a COVID-19 resource page, with 
statements,  recommendations  and  guidelines  from  NGOs  and  institutions  on  an 
inclusive, evidence- and rights-based response. PICUM created spaces for members 
to share and exchange about the impact of the pandemic on undocumented people 
and their own work to  address needs and advocate for change. In addition, PICUM 
published  a  non-exhaustive  overview  of  European  government  measures  impacting 
undocumented migrants taken in the context of COVID-19. 

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  PICUM  increased  the  in-house  and 
external production of audio-visual material (24 audio-visual products) and upskilled 
staff and membership. PICUM organised and delivered workshops for PICUM members 
on how to harness the power of narratives to deliver messages that can resonate with 
broader audiences.  PICUM also upskilled in using Instagram for advocacy purposes 
and produced a toolkit for members. The project also produced a number of written 
inputs and participated in outreach events: 

• 

• 

•  Recommendations on EU funding for effective labour complaints mechanisms. 
Similar recommendations were also sent by the Greens following outreach to 
them. 
Input to Greens on the FEMM Committee Draft Opinion on reducing inequalities 
with a special focus on in-work poverty (2019/2188(INI)). 
Input to the EMPL Committee Opinion on the implementation of National Roma 
Integration  Strategies:  Combating  negative  attitudes  towards  people  with  a 
Romani background in Europe. 
Input to the EESC Opinion on diversity management in the EU. 

• 
•  PICUM produced three internal briefing documents for its members on global 
and  regional  policy  developments  impacting  migrant  workers’  rights  and  EU 
policy recommendations. 

•  PICUM  also  collaborated  closely  with  the  Open  Society  European  Policy 
Institute,  EFFAT,  the  Food  Policy  Coalition  and  Slow  Food  Europe  on  policy 
analysis  and  actions  focusing  on  the  rights  of  the  agri-food  workers.  This 
included three coordination calls, and a joint statement with others: Without 
Rights for Agricultural Workers, Europe’s 

•  Food Supplies Rest on Shaky Ground.  
•  PICUM spoke at a conference organised by EFFAT in the European Parliament 
on  a  Social  CAP  (Common  Agricultural  Policy)  to  raise  labour  standards  in 
agriculture, highlighting the severe exploitation faced by migrant agricultural 
workers  and  the  recommendation  to  make  CAP  payments  conditional  on 
respect for the labour and social rights of workers. 

•  PICUM participated in the OSCE Alliance Expert Co-ordination  Team (AECT), 

including two meetings, a bilateral meeting, and a joint statement.  

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 124 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  PICUM  spoke  at  the  20-year  anniversary  event  of  the  Palermo  Protocol, 
organised by the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, María Grazia 
Giammarinaro and endorsed a statement made by the Special Rapporteur on 
the significant anniversary and ways forward in work to support people who 
are trafficked. 

•  Other outreach to key stakeholders on rights at work included dialogues with 
or written inputs to the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 
Amnesty  International,  trade  unions  and  civil  society  as  part  of  the  Sabir 
festival,  AEIDL  –  Association  Européenne  pour 
le 
Développement Local, Edinburgh Napier University, and Ashoka. 

l’Information  sur 

Transnational dimension: PICUM’s growing membership (167 members) across the 
EU  continued  to  work  together  through  task  forces  and  members  in  2020.  While 
moving  all  meetings  online  created  numerous  challenges,  in  some  cases,  it  also 
enabled broader transnational participation of organisations that are less able to travel 
for meetings. Among other partnerships, PICUM led the regional-level advocacy of the 
European  Alternatives  to  Detention  Network,  which  brought  together  regional-level 
organisations with national pilot projects implemented by civil society organisations 
in seven countries. Furthermore, thanks to PICUM’s coordination, ATD implementers 
have been invited to share their experiences in regional and global level webinars on 
ATD, including a Conference on ATD organised by EMN Belgium, a Listening Session 
organised by the UN Network on Migration Working Group 2 on ATD on 20 May 2020, 
and  the  Online  Global  Peer  Learning  Exchange  organised  by  the  UN  Network  on 
Migration Working Group 2 on ATD. These events allowed national-level NGOs to share 
their  experiences  with  transnational  networks  of  civil  society  organisations  and 
governments. 

New partnerships created: In 2020, PICUM consolidated existing partnerships by 
setting up an Advocacy Group on the Best Interests of the Child Procedures. The group 
brings together both PICUM members and non-members working on the issue on both 
regional and national level. PICUM coordinated joint advocacy of regional child rights 
organisations towards the EU institutions on children’s rights in the recasting of the 
Return Directive and the regulations included in the Asylum and Migration Pact; this 
included  the  adoption  of  joint  recommendations  in  January  (on  the  Migration  Pact, 
non-published),  May  (on  the  Return  Directive,  suggested  amendments)  and 
December (Pact). 

In addition, PICUM continued coordinating the Initiative for Children in Migration, was 
co-chair of the Child Rights Action Group (CRAG) from December 2019 to June 2020 
and continued being an active member of the EU Alliance on Investing in Children. As 
CRAG  co-chair,  PICUM  helped  develop 
joint  recommendations  on  the  EU 
comprehensive child rights strategy, carried by 35 organisations. PICUM also joined 
other  organisations  in  their  advocacy  on  protecting  children  and  families  (including 
undocumented) in alternative care and on the relocation of unaccompanied children 
from Greece to the other EU Member States. 

Partnerships were also consolidated at the global level through participation in the UN 
Migration  Network  Thematic  Working  Group  on  Bilateral  Labour  Migration 
Agreements, providing the opportunity for PICUM’s recommendations to be included 
in  the  related  guidance  to  governments,  including  EU  Member  States.  PICUM 
continued  to  coordinate  the  multi-stakeholder  group  on  migrant  domestic  and  care 
work, fostering continued exchange and partnership to promote better work permits 
and employment rights protections for domestic and care workers and created spaces 
for members to exchange. 

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Dissemination  strategy:  PICUM  wrote,  published  and  translated  60  reports, 
briefings,  fact  sheets  and  position  papers  in  different  EU  languages,  addressing 
different aspects of the rights and inclusion of undocumented migrants in relation to 
a  wide  range  of  policy  areas.  This  included  the  finalisation  of  four  major  analytical 
reports in 2020, which will be officially launched in the first semester of 2021 and will 
be subsequently available on PICUM’s website. PICUM’s advocacy team met with EU 
and national policymakers on 69 occasions on issues across PICUM’s thematic areas 
and made 30 submissions and inputs to ongoing policy procedures and consultations. 
PICUM  staff  made  presentations  at  135  meetings  and  participated  in  nearly  1 000 
external working meetings in total. Speaking at online events also increased PICUM’s 
reach to diverse audiences: in six webinars alone from April to June, PICUM’s director 
spoke  to  audiences  totalling  nearly  1 100  people,  representing  governments, 
international  institutions,  civil  society  and  migrants  themselves.  Although  forced  to 
work from a distance and fully online for the majority of the year, PICUM managed to 
be more connected than ever to its advocacy targets, allies, partners, and members. 

Reports are disseminated via PICUM’s website, targeted emails through target groups 
on  CiviCRM,  Google  groups,  newsletter  and  social  media  channels.  PICUM  has 
produced  four  quarterly  reports  compiling  analytics  from  their  social  media  pages 
(Facebook,  Twitter,  Instagram  and  LinkedIn).  PICUM  has  also  worked  with  a 
consultant to improve their Google Analytics framework to better analyse, learn and 
improve website traffic and engagement. 

European  added  value:  PICUM  was  a  very  large-scale  undertaking  that  not  only 
covered  a  wide  range  of  policy  areas  (that  are  not  only  limited  to  undocumented 
migration) but also tackled those issues at the EU level. Such large-scale work was 
only possible because of the EASI support and funding.  

Sustainability measures: PICUM will continue its work in the future. They foresee 
five areas to focus on: labour, EU migration pact, protection of victims, health, and 
undocumented children and families.  

PICUM  will  support  the  European  Commission  proposal  for  a  Directive  on  adequate 
minimum wages by providing inputs and advocacy where necessary, in coordination 
with trade union partners and members.  PICUM is also encouraged by the plans of 
the European Commission to develop an initiative to address the situation and rights 
of  workers  employed  via  platforms.  PICUM  will  engage  with  the  Platform  on 
Undeclared  Work  to  see  what  policy  follow-up  there  may  be  to  their  study  on 
undeclared work and labour exploitation of third country national workers. PICUM will 
engage  with  the  due  evaluation  of  the  implementation  of  the  Employers  Sanctions 
Directive  and  forthcoming  report  from  the  Fundamental  Rights  Agency  on  the 
Directive. 

PICUM will continue monitoring the ongoing legislative developments at the EU level, 
focusing on the possibilities to improve labour migration pathways and the quality of 
the  residence  and  work  permits  granted  to  migrant  workers,  the  need  to  expand 
community-based alternatives to detention, reduce resort to immigration detention, 
and  safeguarding  children’s  rights  throughout  (including  by  ensuring  that  they  are 
never detained). PICUM will also continue supporting the regional and national level 
advocacy  of  the  expanding  network  of  alternative  to  detention  pilots,  bridging 
between EU and global level actors and national stakeholders. 

The new EU Strategy on Victims’ Rights provides a solid basis for continued advocacy 
on the safety, protection and welfare of undocumented people who experience abuse 
and exploitation. PICUM will advocate with members of the European Parliament on 

May 2022 

 126 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
these issues in anticipation of possible legislative proposals from the Commission in 
2022  on  access  to  justice  for  undocumented  people,  as  foreseen  in  the  Victims’ 
Strategy. 

PICUM  will  use  the  opportunity  to  press  for  equitable  responses  to  the  COVID-19 
pandemic, including through specific attention  to the vaccine rollout and access  for 
undocumented people, proactively gathering evidence through media monitoring and 
exchange with PICUM members and partners and social media campaigning. PICUM 
will also continue to emphasise the importance of responses that are not purely crisis-
related  but  that  address  structural  exclusion  from  health  and  social  protection 
systems. 

PICUM will disseminate and promote PICUM publications “Navigating Irregularity: The 
Impact of Growing up Undocumented in Europe” and Hear our Voices: Undocumented 
Children and Young People share their Stories and continue advocating for opening 
existing and upcoming social inclusion policies to include undocumented children and 
families. This includes the Child Guarantee, amongst others. 

PICUM will continue its efforts to bridge the migrants’ rights and digital rights spaces, 
by  distilling  key  implications  of  the  use  of  invasive  technologies  for  undocumented 
migrants, both in the context of border management but also in relation to the rights 
of  migrant  workers  and  access  to  healthcare  and  social  benefits,  as  well  as 
discriminatory policing and profiling. 

Horizontal objectives: The project also covered the horizontal policy areas, such as 
youth employment, long-term unemployment, sustainable employment, poverty and 
social inclusion, equality between women and men, and adequate and decent social 
protection.  

PICUM’s  work  continued  to  underscore  and  address  the  ways  that  social  exclusion, 
due to irregular status, is a driver of poverty, poor health outcomes and exposure to 
mistreatment and exploitation in the context of their work, private lives or elsewhere. 
PICUM‘s work on access to justice highlights these inequalities and promotes policies 
that  empower  people  with  irregular  status  by  underscoring  their  rights  under 
international  and  EU  law  and  supporting  their  access  to  services  that  support  their 
recovery and flourishing. This work includes a focus on violence against women and 
the critical role of service providers in promoting resilience and protection measures 
that  promote  migrant  women’s  autonomy  and  economic  independence.  PICUM’s 
efforts  to  elevate  the  situation  of  undocumented  people  are  reflected  in  the  EU’s 
strategy  on  victims’  rights,  adopted  in  2020,  which  explicitly  recognises  the 
vulnerabilities  of  undocumented  people  to  mistreatment,  and  commits  the  EU  to 
address this through an exchange of good  practices of member states and possible 
legislative proposals in 2022. 

PICUM’s long-standing work on access to healthcare  champions equitable access to 
healthcare  for  all  people,  regardless  of  status,  emphasising  the  importance  of 
universal  health  coverage,  especially  primary  healthcare  that  integrates  medical 
services  with  social  support  services,  to  promote  inclusion.  PICUM’s  messages  and 
recommendations on undocumented people are  reflected in the WHO’s guidance to 
Member States on inclusive responses to the pandemic, and PICUM was among the 
organisations  consulted  on  several  occasions  by  the  World  Health  Organisation’s 
European regional office for insights on the realities and needs of marginalised groups 
in  the  context  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic,  and  recommendations  on  appropriate 
action. 

May 2022 

 127 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PICUM  continued  its  efforts  to  increase  understanding  of  the  forms  of  violence 
experienced  by  undocumented  women,  the  consequences  of  this  vulnerability  to 
harm, and the need for adequate policy responses through PICUM collaboration with 
women’s rights organisations, like Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE), including 
through PICUM’s active participation in the European Coalition to End Violence against 
Women.  Among  other  things,  PICUM  also  pressed  for  EU  responses  that  address 
migrant  women,  publishing  a  blog  responding  to  the  EU’s  adoption  of  its  gender 
strategy  and  meeting  proactively  with  representatives  of  DG  JUST  to  discuss  the 
inclusion of undocumented women in the EU’s planned initiative on violence against 
women and domestic violence.  

PICUM’s  advocacy  and  partnerships  promote  labour  migration  policies  and  work 
permits that promote decent work and social inclusion, including specific actions at 
the  EU  level,  and  therefore  contribute  to  promoting  quality  and  sustainability  of 
employment for all workers across sectors with a high proportion of migrant workers. 
PICUM’s  advocacy,  communications  and  support  to  members  to  promote  access  to 
effective complaints mechanisms for all workers also improve conditions for workers, 
in particular those  with precarious  or irregular residence  status, by increasing their 
negotiating  power  with  their  employers  and  access  to  unpaid  wages  and  other  due 
salaries or compensation in cases of non- or underpayment, unfair dismissal or other 
violations. 

PICUM was proactive in highlighting the importance of equitable access to the COVID-
19 vaccine, in particular for undocumented people, through social media and in PICUM 
advocacy, including at a UN General Assembly online event. PICUM began gathering 
existing recommendations and laid the groundwork for more extensive engagement 
ahead of the national vaccine  rollouts in Europe. The pandemic has also  revitalised 
discussions  around  minimum  social  protection  floors  and  minimum  income.  Some 
protections  have  been  extended  to  some  otherwise  excluded  groups  (in  particular, 
some  self-employed),  but  others  have  been  largely  left  aside  from  those  working 
undeclared  and  in  the  platform  economy.  PICUM  has  raised  awareness  of  how  civil 
society  and  community  groups  have  stepped  in  to  support  people,  and  the  few 
examples where governments have also stepped in to encourage initiatives to provide 
minimum social protection to migrant workers and their families, and their inclusion 
in evolving social protection models post-COVID-19. 

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4.6. EUROCARERS – Towards care(r)-friendly societies in Europe  

‘…the long-term care needs of the European population - which are expected 
to grow as a result of ageing demographics - can only be met through a 
combination of policy measures focusing on both formal and informal care.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0029 
Social protection and social inclusion 
Long-term care 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

• 
• 

National, regional and local authorities; 
Employment services; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 
Social partners; 
Non-governmental organisations; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
• 
National statistical offices; 
• 
•  Media; 
•  Others 

(EU,  national  and 

regional  policymakers; 
stakeholders  (officials  and  civil  servants  from  social  and 
health  sectors,  international  organisations,  health  and 
social  care  professionals,  academics,  employers,  trade 
unions); (young) carers). 
Actions and recommendations to feed EU policymaking; 
Bridge-building  actions  between  EU  level  and  national 
actors; 
Awareness-raising and dissemination; 

• 
•  Network organisation and management. 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 

Coordinator 

Partners 
EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

Belgium 
28 European countries 
Eurocarers-Association  Européenne  Travaillant  avec  et  pour  les 
Aidants Non-Professionnels 
- 
(initial) 244 873.77 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://eurocarers.org/  

Socioeconomic context: Up until the outbreak of COVID-19, the context for policy 
debates on care and caring was one in which improvements in population health came 
to be expected, and infectious diseases were essentially relegated to the past. As a 
result, the growing incidence of age-related conditions, growing demand for care, as 
well  as  the  sustainability  challenge  for  care  systems  caused  by  Europe’s  ageing 
demographics and an overall increase in life expectancy had become the main areas 
of  attention.  These  challenges  were  –  and  remain  –  compounded  by  structural 
problems in the long-term care (LTC) sector, i.e., insufficient staffing, poor job quality 
and  inadequate  skills,  which  all  have  an  impact  on  the  quality  of  care.  Therefore, 
community care had progressively become a “hot topic”, and home-based care had 

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been identified as a practical measure to contain the costs of services while supporting 
widespread  preferences  among  (older)  people.  Meanwhile,  informal  carers  who, 
according to some estimates, provide as much as 80 % of all LTC in Europe and are 
crucial to the sustainability of care systems, were subjected to increasing pressure. 

While informal care can be a source of great personal satisfaction, in many cases  – 
and even more so when people have limited choice in their caring roles or when no 
adequate support is available – being a carer can be a determinant of negative health 
outcomes,  a  barrier  to  education  and  employment,  and  a  driver  of  discrimination, 
social exclusion and poverty. Young carers may (have to) miss out on education and 
training as a consequence of providing care to a parent or sibling. This, in turn, affects 
their chances for labour market participation and career development later in life  – 
which increases the chances of falling into long-term unemployment.  

The  COVID-19  outbreak  brought  about  a  major  change.  It  indeed  reflects  a  re-
emergence of epidemics of infectious diseases, which renders the situation even more 
complex  and  critical.  COVID-19  requires  patterns  of  caring  that  are  unlike  any 
Eurocarers  societies  had  seen  in  recent  generations,  and  from  the  perspective  of 
informal  carers, this comes  on top  of the  challenges that pre-existed  the crisis and 
resulted  from  the  increasing  need  for  personal  care  and  prevalence  of  long-term 
impairments and disabilities. 

Aims of the project/organisation: The objectives of Eurocarers work programme 
2020 were to contribute to the implementation of the EU Pillar of Social Rights and 
advance the issue of informal care at both national and EU levels by: 

•  Providing the carers’ perspective and supporting EC coordination efforts in the 
fields  of  integrated,  people-centred  and  community-based  care,  access  to 
employment,  education  and  social  inclusion,  based  on  the  expertise  of 
Eurocarers members and building on the EC work programme, policy initiatives 
of relevance to the principles of the Pillar, the Social OMC and the European 
Semester process. 

•  Providing evidence-based input regarding the situation and needs of (young) 
carers in Europe as well as sustainable / innovative solutions to address them. 
•  Promoting the implementation of the 10 steps defined in Eurocarers proposed 
EU Strategy on Carers (launched at the very end of 2018) at the international, 
national  and  regional  level  in  order  to  drive  a  steady  and  multidimensional 
approach  towards  a  care-friendly  policy  environment,  building  upon  existing 
and new policy measures as well as enhanced coordination between them. 
•  Carrying out research, collecting and analysing new data to support evidence-
based and innovative policy developments relating to the situation and needs 
of (young) carers in Europe as well as their contribution to care systems and 
the economy as a whole (i.e., connecting the dots between research and policy 
on care and caring). 
Identifying,  fostering  and  informing  EU  policy  developments  of  relevance  to 
carers,  with  specific  attention  to  measures  aiming  to  facilitate  access  to 
employment, education and social inclusion (particularly for vulnerable groups) 
and  to  curtail  the  trade-offs  between  caring  and  a  healthy  social  and 
professional  life.  In  that  context,  Eurocarers  activities  in  2020  particularly 
focused on EC efforts, led by DG EMPL, the SPC (including its Indicators Sub-
Group), DG EAC (regarding the issue of young carers), DG CONNECT (on ICT-
based solutions for care), DG SANTE (on cancer), DG JUST (on gender equality 
and human rights), DG Research as well as related EU agencies (Eurofound, 
EIGE). 

• 

May 2022 

 130 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Facilitating the dissemination and transposition of EU-driven policy initiatives 
to  national  /  regional  stakeholders  through  joint  advocacy  efforts  with 
Eurocarers in-country members and partners targeted at public authorities. 
•  Fostering the development and reinforcement of synergies and multi-sectoral 
collaborations  with  stakeholders  at  the  international,  EU  and  national  level 
(i.e., other civil society organisations, UN / WHO, OECD, EU agencies, etc.). 

•  Maintaining  and 

improving  Eurocarers 

federal-type 
organisation,  ensuring  fair  and  effective  operations  while  strengthening 
networking among Eurocarers members to support them in providing a united 
carers’ voice at international and EU level. 

functioning  as  a 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  In  the  last  few  years,  the  momentum 
around  care  and  caring  has  never  ceased  to  grow.  The  Eurocarers  network  has 
continued  to  support  and  inform  this  constructive  process,  based  on  evidence 
(research and practice) so as to promote a consistent and multidimensional approach 
(based on the 10 steps of Eurocarers proposed EU Strategy on Carers) to the burning 
challenges facing care systems and carers, across relevant policy areas and levels of 
governance. 

Many recent policy initiatives and instruments at the international, national or regional 
level explicitly refer to carers, the impact of their caregiving responsibilities on their 
own social and professional life as well as the importance of addressing their needs. 
At  the  EU  level,  these  include  the  EU  Pillar  of  Social  Rights,  the  Work–Life  Balance 
Directive,  the  EU  Gender  Equality  Strategy  2020-2025,  the  relaunched  eHealth 
stakeholder  group,  the  EP  report  on  the  gender  perspective  in  the  COVID-19  crisis 
and post-COVID period, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and, even more recently, the 
EU Green Paper on ageing and the EPP proposal on an EU Care Strategy, to name but 
a few. The much-expected new SPC report on long-term care, the conclusions of the 
Indicators Sub-Group on LTC, as well as the EC Action Plan for the implementation of 
the EU Pillar of Social Rights, among others, should come to complement this already 
impressive list. At a national level, several policy breakthroughs have been achieved 
in  the  last  couple  of  years,  such  as  in  Belgium,  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  Italy, 
Portugal, Sweden, Norway or the UK. Ad hoc measures targeting carers and resulting 
from  the  COVID-19  outbreak  have  also  been  observed.  All  of  these  remain  on  the 
organisation‘s radar, and they will continue to foster new and further developments 
in these and other European countries. 

Eurocarer‘s detailed review of the implementation of the Work–Life Balance Directive 
by Member States has shown that while the legislation in place in a huge majority of 
countries already complies with the Directive, existing benefits and entitlements are 
too often provided at a minimal level. It is common for these rights to be defined on 
the basis of a narrow-focused notion of “informal care”, strict eligibility criteria or the 
benevolence of employers. Moreover, existing rights continue to favour those carers 
who have a first-degree relationship with the person in need of care, who live in the 
same household or are employees of the public or private sector (thereby excluding 
self-employed workers and atypical forms of employment). Finally, access to carer’s 
leave  and  flexible  working  conditions  tend  to  remain  problematic  for  those  who 
provide  care  to  dependent  elderly  persons,  which  is  paradoxical  given  the  original 
premise  of  the  Directive  and  the  need  to  adapt  to  ageing  societies.  Consequently, 
existing measures often fall short in adequately addressing the  needs of millions of 
informal carers across Europe. 

The organisation has also paid specific attention to the diffusion of international / EU 
interest  in  care  and  caring  at  the  national  /  regional  level.  Although  the  list  of 
committed policymakers and stakeholders keeps expanding, the COVID-19 crisis has 

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understandably disrupted ongoing dialogues on the situation of carers and diverted 
policymakers’ attention to combating the spread of COVID-19 and blunting the impact 
of  the  pandemic.  As  a  result,  the  COVID-19  crisis  brings  along  opportunities  and 
challenges for the European carers’ movement. On the one hand, it clearly emphasises 
the limitations and inconsistencies of prevailing long-term care models as well as the 
crucial role played by informal carers. This may stimulate the much-awaited reforms 
to strengthen formal care services and recognise informal carers. On the other hand, 
the crisis also confirms governments’ tendency to over-rely on families, friends and 
neighbours despite the absence or inadequacy of support measures available to them. 
Moreover, the crisis also demonstrates that civil society organisations are best placed 
to  respond  to  the  needs  of  the  community  and  compensate  for  the  deficiencies  of 
public services, even though they are often expected to do this with extremely limited 
resources. 

The  main  message  communicated  by  the  organisation  is  consistent,  clear  and 
evidence-based:  the  long-term  care  needs  of  the  European  population  –  which  are 
expected to grow as a  result of ageing demographics – can  only be  met through a 
combination of policy measures focusing on both formal and informal care. Significant 
investment  in  good-quality  professional  care  services,  including  community-based 
and home care, should be at the core of policy initiatives aiming to achieve universal 
access to care across Europe but this will not suffice given the central role played by 
informal carers. The 10 steps of Eurocarers’ proposed EU strategy on carers should 
therefore serve to guide the legislative and non-legislative agenda required to foster 
the development of care(r)-friendly societies. 

From the perspective of the community of people that Eurocarers represent, striking 
the right balance between formal and informal raises crucial questions as regards the 
values that will underpin European care systems of the future. It also generates grave 
concerns  regarding  the  carers  and  care  recipients’  ability  to  decide  to  what  extent 
they want to be involved in caring (and at what cost).  

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  Beyond  the  work  and  contribution  on 
“formal”  care systems,  the Eurocarers network also focused  and contributed to the 
development  of  policies  that  genuinely  take  the  best  interest  of  carers  into 
consideration in the areas of employment, social protection / social inclusion, human 
rights  and  anti-discrimination,  ICT-based  solutions  for  care,  youth,  etc.  These  are 
important  to  promote  and  implement  the  10  steps  of  Eurocarers’  EU  Strategy  on 
carers,  to  strike  the  right  balance  between  formal  and  informal  care  (collective  vs 
individual responsibility) and to ensure equal opportunities for both the care recipient 
and their carer. The first generation of LTC policies primarily focused on the situation 
of the dependent person. Benefits and their administrative organisation were designed 
with one unique objective: the well-being of the dependent person. Today, the design 
of care benefits should also include the objectives of employment and well-being for 
the carer. 

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  the  organisation’s  Policy  Working 
Group and Young Carers Working Group (EPWG and EYCWG) both contributed to the 
development of 17 Position papers and consultation responses (some of which at the 
national level), including: 

•  Making cancer-related complications and comorbidities an EU health priority; 
•  Eurocarers’ Contribution to the Consultation on EU Cancer Plan Roadmap; 
•  Eurocarers’  input  to  ‘the  Cancer-Related  Complications  and  Comorbidities 
Initiative’  Recommendations  under  the  Consultation  on  ‘Europe's  Beating 
Cancer Plan; 

•  Eurocarers' contribution to the consultation on Europe Beating Cancer Plan; 

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•  Eurocarers’ contribution to the EU consultation on the  New Digital Education 

Action Plan; 

•  Eurocarers’  response  to  the  UK  Government's  Open  Consultation  on  Carer's 

leave; 

•  Contribution  to  US  Government  Accountability  Office  report  on  Other 

Countries' Experiences with Caregiver Policies; 

•  EPF Factsheets and quick guides on vaccination and chronic diseases; 
•  Contribution to EXPH opinion on resilient care systems in times of COVID; 
•  Position paper on implementation of WLB Directive;  
•  Note for Italian Senate: I caregiver familiari: attori in prima linea nella lotta 

contro il virus;  

•  Eurocarers’ contribution to the Consultation on the Child Guarantee; 
•  Eurocarers’ position paper on the Child Guarantee;  
•  Enhancing  the  Rights  of  Informal  Carers  -  Eurocarers'  Response  to  the 

Consultation on the Social Pillar Action Plan; 

•  Eurocarers’ feedback on EC Roadmap regarding the EU Green paper on ageing; 
•  Eurocarers’ contribution to the Consultation on the EU Strategy for the Rights 

of the Child; 

•  Eurocarers’ Position Paper on the EU Strategy for the Rights of the Child. 

Transnational  dimension:  Eurocarers  is  the  European  network  representing 
informal carers and their organisations, irrespective of the age or health need of the 
person they are caring for. The ever-expanding network (73 carers' organisations and 
research & development organisations from 26 countries) is designed as a platform 
for  collaboration,  support,  exchange,  awareness-raising  and  evidence-based  policy 
change in Europe.  

New  partnerships  created:  One  of  the  organisation  priorities  is  “Bridge-building 
actions between EU level and national actors”. It includes building ad hoc partnerships 
and collaborations with other CSOs, including via a joint call for action entitled "Making 
cancer-related  complications  and  comorbidities  an  EU  health  priority"  (February 
2020),  Eurocarers  contribution  to  the  European  Patients  Forum's  (EPF)  Toolkit  on 
vaccination  confidence,  a  project  proposal  (to  be  submitted  in  the  next  round  of 
Erasmus+ calls) with AGE Platform Europe and AIM, the organisation’s participation 
in  the  informal  coordination  group  of  CSOs  with  an  interest  in  Social  Protection 
(initiated  by  REIF),  the  organisation’s  continuous  contribution  to  the  Platform  for 
International  Cooperation  on  Undocumented  Migrants  (PICUM),  the  submission  of 
joint suggested amendments to the draft EP report on “New Avenues for Legal Labour 
Migration” in November 2020, Eurocarers’ input into the work of the Osteoporosis and 
Fragility  Fracture  Policy  Network,  Eurocarers’  coordination  process  with  the 
organisation’s French members 'la Compagnie des Aidants' and Pfizer / Viatris France 
on the provision of Eurocarers expert views and analysis regarding the outcomes of 
an  international  survey  directed  at  Non-Communicable  Diseases  patients,  and 
Eurocarers’ participation in the EU eHealth Stakeholder Group. 

Dissemination strategy: Next to standard dissemination practices (such as reports 
and  social  media  presence),  the  organisation  focuses  a  lot  on  networking  activities 
through  which  they  increased  awareness  of  their  policy  messages.  The  Eurocarers’ 
belief  that  while  long-term  care  is  a  natural  entry  point  for  Eurocarers’  message 
around the situation, contribution and needs of informal carers, the development of a 
care(r)-friendly policy environment largely depends on smooth coordination between 
a  broad  set  of  policies  and  practices  in  the  social,  health  and  employment  sectors 
(among  others).  It  is  therefore  important  for  Eurocarers  to  attend  (and  organise) 
outreach events, policy dialogues, scientific conferences, exhibitions, etc. at the EU 
and  national  level,  making  it  possible  to  build  bridges,  develop  cross-sectoral 

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cooperation  and  spread  Eurocarers’  messaging  on  the  opportunities  and  challenges 
offered  by  the  EU  Semester,  EPSR  and  other  policy  instruments.  Eurocarers’ 
networking  activities  also  serve  to  convey  the  perspective  of  informal  carers  and 
disseminate evidence-based policies and practices. Finally, they allow us to develop 
sustainable or ad hoc partnerships and synergies with relevant counterparts.  

European  added  value:  In  the  last  few  years,  the  momentum  around  care  and 
caring has never ceased to grow. The Eurocarers’ network has continued to support 
and inform this constructive process, based on evidence (research and practice) and 
so promote a consistent and multidimensional approach (based on the 10 steps of the 
proposed EU Strategy on Carers) to the burning challenges facing care systems and 
carers, across relevant policy areas and levels of governance. The policy impact made 
by the Eurocarers’ network would not be reached without support from the EU.  

Sustainability  measures:  Numerous  positive  developments  of  relevance  to  the 
organisation’s  work  have  taken  place  since  Eurocarers  opened  its  secretariat  in 
Brussels  in  2014,  following  the  signature  of  a  first  EaSI  framework  partnership 
agreement with the EC. The challenges related to the provision of long-term care in 
an  ageing  Europe  –  and  the  crucial  contribution  made  by  informal  carers  to  care 
systems,  society  and  the  economy  as  a  whole  –  have  indeed  gained  considerable 
momentum among stakeholders and policymakers at international, EU and national 
levels.  An  increasing  number  of  developments  targeting  informal  carers,  or  of 
relevance  to  them,  are  also  progressively  dribbling  out,  in  and  outside  of  the  care 
policy arena, notably at a national and regional level. In the future, Eurocarers will 
therefore pursue its efforts to inform, nurture and transfer these developments and 
will  continue  to  articulate  its  message  around  the  objectives  of  the  Europe  2020 
Strategy  (or  its  follow-up),  including  through  the  implementation  of  the  principles 
defined in the EU Pillar of Social Rights as well as all other policy instruments at their 
disposal  (EU  Semester,  ESIF,  SPC,  SDGs,  EU  Gender  Equality  Strategy,  Youth  and 
Child  Guarantees,  EU  Strategy  on  the  Rights  of  the  Child,  Europe's  Beating  Cancer 
Plan etc.). The Green Paper on Ageing (and its future deliverables) and the work of 
the  SPC,  including  its  upcoming  report  on  LTC,  will  also  serve  to  guide  Eurocarers’ 
work in the months and years to come. 

As mentioned above, a majority of the 20 principles of the EU Social Pillar offer a great 
platform to shed light on the aspects of the carer's experience that the network aims 
to  draw  attention  to  and  nicely  complements  the  10  steps  of  the  EU  Strategy  to 
support and empower carers. If fully and properly implemented, the EU Pillar of Social 
Rights will have a very positive impact on the daily life of millions of informal carers 
across Europe and will provide them with the equal opportunities they need and seek. 
The organisation intends to monitor and contribute to the transposition of at least 10 
out of the 20 principles, including principles number 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, and 
17. To that end, the EC action plan on the implementation of the EU Pillar of Social 
Rights  will  come  in  very  handy.  Naturally,  principle  18  on  universal  access  to 
affordable  and  good-quality  Long-Term  Care  (in  particular  community-based  and 
home  care  services)  will  continue  to  be  a  natural  entry  point  for  the  organisation’s 
advocacy efforts in support of policies that: 

- 
- 

- 

favour sustainable, equitable, universal and good-quality care services; 
recognise  and  support  carers  as  important  contributors  to  Europe's  care 
systems; and 
ensure  informal  care  does  not  deprive  carers  of  an  active,  productive  and 
fulfilling life. 

The principles that concern access to social protection (e.g., pension rights), healthy 
lifestyles and work–life balance for parents and carers will also remain at the core of 

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the  organisation’s  activities  in  the  months  to  come.  The  monitoring  of  the 
transposition of the work–life balance directive will be pursued in 2021, and they will 
remain  involved  in  both  advocacy  and  research  activities  seeking  to  inform  the 
development of integrated social and healthcare services. These activities will include 
continued  collaborations  with  the  health  sector  (WHO,  cancer  sector,  dementia, 
continence  care,  etc.).  They  will  also  pursue  the  organisation’s  efforts  to  bring  the 
perspective  of  carers  in  the  development  of  ICT-based  solutions  for  the  care  and 
caring. Finally, they will also continue to support and call for the collection of better 
and more comparable data on the situation and needs of carers, as well as promising 
examples of measures allowing them to be addressed (along the lines of the 10 steps 
strategy). 

The principles related to inclusive education, gender equality or equal opportunities 
will be equally important to make a case for carers in Europe given the demographics 
of that group (which is mainly composed of women, with largely invisible components 
among younger people). Following the change of plan imposed on us by the pandemic, 
the issue of 'Young Carers' will be the core focus of the second European Carers Day 
communication campaign on 6 October 2021. This will be informed by the conclusions 
of the International Young Carers Conference held online on 3-6 May 2021 and which 
the organisation will co-organise with the Swedish Family Care Competence Centre 
and Linnaeus University. Many young carers struggle to balance their daily life with 
caregiving responsibilities and experience mental health barriers in relation to school, 
further education and employment issues as a result of their caregiving. Addressing 
their needs is therefore in direct compliance with the objectives and principles of the 
EU Pillar of Social Rights. 

Horizontal  objectives:  Eurocarers’  work  has  specifically  aimed  to  contribute 
evidence-based information in the framework of policy initiatives around: 

•  Care  and  caring:  the  10  fundamental  elements  of  what  constitutes  a  “carer 
friendly” policy environment'(summarised in Eurocarers’ proposed EU Strategy 
on Carers) remain at the core of research work and the organisation’s advocacy 
message on the need for recognition, support and empowerment of informal 
carers across Europe. Eurocarers’ Strategy includes recommendations on the 
definition  of  informal  care,  the  identification  of  carers,  the  assessment  of 
carers’ needs, the role of carers as part of integrated care systems, access to 
information  and  advice,  carers'  health,  respite  care,  carers'  training  and 
recognition  of  skills,  carers'  access  to  education  and  employment,  social 
inclusion  and  poverty.  Among  other  opportunities,  the  Strategy  served  to 
structure Eurocarers’ monitoring activities regarding the prevalence of informal 
care and support measures available to carers in Europe; the development of 
the organisation’s country profiles (28 countries covered);  the organisation’s 
communication strategy around the launch of the very first European Carers 
Day  (on  6 October);  the  contributions  to  the  EU  consultations  on  the  EU's 
Beating  Cancer  Plan,  New  Digital  Education  Action  Plan,  Child  Guarantee, 
Social Pillar Action Plan, the EXPH opinion on resilient care systems in times of 
COVID, Eurocarers (online) in-country policy dialogue and the first Portuguese 
National Meeting of carers "The Role of Informal Caregivers in Society", as well 
as the contributions to the WHO Webinar on Engaging Eurocarers’ communities 
in  the  well-being  of  the  health  and  care  workforce  or  the  International 
Conference on Integrated Care, among others. 

•  Measures  to  support  Work–Life  Balance  for  carers:  the  endorsement  of  the 
WLB Directive in 2019 and the introduction of new rights for carers (i.e., access 
to  carer's  leave  and  flexible  working  arrangements),  following  a  long  and 
arduous  battle,  does  not  give  an  unconditional  assurance  of  adequate 
implementation across Member States. They have therefore continued to work 

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with  the  organisation’s  members  and  partners  to  support  and  monitor  the 
transposition of the Directive. This is reflected in Eurocarers’ Position paper on 
the  implementation  of  the  Work–Life  Balance  Directive,  which  emphasises 
that,  while  the  legislation  in  place  in  a  huge  majority  of  EU  Member  States 
already complies with the requirements of the Directive, existing benefits and 
entitlements are very often provided at a minimal level and on the basis of a 
too narrow-focused definition and strict eligibility criteria – thereby excluding 
numerous carers. 
ICT-based  solutions  for  care,  including  through  an  updated  version  of 
Eurocarers’ policy briefing on Information & Communication Technology (ICT) 
for informal carers, the organisation’s contribution to the Marie Skłodowska-
Curie Innovation Training Network ENTWINE, Eurocarers’ participation in the 
recently  relaunched  eHealth  stakeholder  group  (DG  CONNECT),  the 
organisation’s continuous commitments as part of the EIPAHA, as well as the 
organisation’s  ongoing  Erasmus+  and  Horizon  2020  projects  on  ICT-based 
solutions for care. 

• 

•  Youth  and  young  carers,  through  the  work  and  meeting  of  the  Eurocarers’ 
Young Carers Working Group (19 February), the organisation’s position papers 
and  contributions  to  the  EU  consultations  on  the  Child  Guarantee  and  EU 
Strategy for the Rights of the Child, the preparation of the International Young 
Carers Conference (to be held online in May 2021) as well as Erasmus+ and 
Horizon 2020 projects. 
Integrated  care  and  age-friendly  societies  through  Eurocarers  research 
projects (Horizon 2020, EaSI and Erasmus+). 

• 

•  Carers' social exclusion and poverty, through Eurocarers’ online survey on the 
impact  of  COVID-19  on  carers,  the  organisation’s  contribution  to  the  EU 
consultation on the Action Plan for the implementation of the EU Pillar of Social 
Rights,  continuous  collaboration  with  EAPN  as  well  as  Eurocarers’  work  on 
access to employment  and recognition  of skills for  carers (including through 
structural funds). 
Informal care in a health context and health promotion / disease prevention 
targeted at carers via Eurocarers’ collaboration with the cancer sector and the 
World Health Organisation (among others). and 

• 

•  The gender dimension of informal care, through Eurocarers’ continuous work 
with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) and the organisation’s 
contributions  to  the  work  around  the  new  EU  Gender  Strategy  and  the  EP 
report on the gender perspective in the COVID-19 crisis and post-crisis period. 

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4.7.  European  Microfinance  Network  –  Microfinance  for  social  and  financial 
inclusion in Europe  

‘Microfinance in Europe is a clear and relevant tool to reduce social & 
financial exclusion and the dynamism of the sector supports a 
growing number of individuals and microenterprises thanks to the 
combined offer of both financial (microcredit, micro insurance, etc.) 
and non-financial services (training, mentoring, etc.).’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0130 
Social economy 
Microcredit 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Social partners; 

•  National, regional and local authorities; 
• 
•  Non-governmental organisations; 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
•  Media; 
•  Others  (Microfinance  Providers:  non-banking  financial 

• 

• 

sector 

institutions and banks). 
Engagement with European institutions to provide input on 
the implementation of current & future EU tools supporting 
the 
through  policy  notes,  meetings  with 
policymakers,  and  participation  in  several  committees  & 
expert groups (e.g., GECES, Code SG). This advocacy was 
complemented  by  participating  in  forums  like  the  Social 
Economy Intergroup & Social Economy Europe. 
EMN  enabled  members'  national  advocacy,  notably  by 
updating  &  maintaining  a  top-level  regulatory  mapping 
report, factsheets & toolkits. 
Collaboration with MFC. 

• 
•  Development of capacity building & peer learning activities 

• 

to reinforce members' skills & opportunities. 
EMN  research  focused  on  the  evolution  &  impact  of  the 
sector. 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

Belgium 
25 countries  
European Microfinance Network aisbl 

Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 411 937.82 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
www.european-microfinance.org 

Socioeconomic context: Microfinance remains a key instrument to address current 
socio-economic  challenges.  However,  it  is  diverse  in  Europe  and  not  universally 
supported,  despite  aligning  strongly  with  policymaker  objectives.  EMN  focuses  its 
activities  on  providing  common  ground,  coordination,  and  push  for  national-level 

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favourable  regulation  as  well  as  for  enhanced  funding  for  microfinance  institutions. 
Through its actions, EMN strengthens the whole sector to give a growing number of 
people  (especially  women,  youth  &  seniors,  rural  populations,  migrants  &  ethnic 
minorities) an inclusive road to entrepreneurship. 

Aims of the project/organisation: The aim of this action was based on four main 
goals: 

1.  Support and ensure sound implementation of EU policies in the relevant areas; 
2.  Reinforce the capacity of EMN's members through a platform for the exchange 

of good practices and raising awareness on relevant EU policies; 

3.  Voice  the  concerns  and  expectations  of  organisations  facilitating  access  to 

finance to entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups; 

4.  Provide research on developments in the sector. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  The  EMN  claims  that  the  social  and 
economic crisis in Europe and the long-term objectives for inclusive entrepreneurship, 
microenterprise development and reducing poverty make microfinance a key tool for 
the future. The microfinance sector in Europe is still very heterogeneous, with a few 
national champions emerging. The sector still faces legal and political obstacles (many 
identified  in  EMN's  legislative  mapping  reports  and  analysis)  but  has  become  a 
growing  sector  of  activity  in  Europe.  EMN  has  proven  that  the  sector  plays  a 
fundamental role in providing an inclusive response to the emerging socio-economic 
situation and that microfinance is very needed to create opportunities for a growing 
number of people not yet being adequately served by the financial sector in Europe 
and, more recently, in particular vulnerable groups and micro-entrepreneurs impacted 
by the current pandemic. 

Microfinance  in  Europe  is  a  clear  and  relevant  tool  to  reduce  social  &  financial 
exclusion, and the dynamism of the sector supports a growing number of individuals 
and  microenterprises  thanks  to  the  combined  offer  of  both  financial  (microcredit, 
micro  insurance,  etc.)  and  non-financial  services  (training,  mentoring,  etc.).  The 
microfinance  sector  has  been  steadily  growing  over  recent  years  (gross  microloan 
portfolio  outstanding  over  EUR 3.7bn  in  2019  [+15%  from  2018]  with  1.2m  active 
borrowers [+14%]), showing that demand is still high throughout Europe. There are 
both external factors (rising unemployment, deindustrialisation, the growing interest 
in self-employment, the withdrawal of banks, digital disruption, and automation) and 
internal factors (better-structured offers, institutional recognition, professionalism) in 
the sector. Nevertheless, the coverage of microfinance in Europe is still patchy, and 
the sector still has substantial growth opportunities before it fully serves the market. 

In  order  to  further  enhance  the  development  of  the  sector  and  its  impact,  several 
questions need to be considered by stakeholders all over Europe: 

•  Are there ways to build systems that can mitigate the estimated EUR 12.9bn 

financing gap for microfinance? 

•  Will microfinance providers remain supported in the future of EU policy, with a 
specific focus on the social economy? Will InvestEU contain the right tools? Will 
ESF+? 

•  Could microfinance be a more effective policy tool in some areas where there 
is  currently  little  link  between  the  policymakers  and  microcredit  (e.g.,  in 
neighbouring countries, developing countries, via DG NEAR & DG DEVCO)? 
•  Will  EU  programmes  be  equally  effective  when  the  EU  diversifies  its 
implementing  partners?  The  EIF  built  up  a  lot  of  institutional  experience  on 
microfinance,  is  there  a  risk  that  other  implementing  partners  miss  an 
opportunity to work with microfinance due to a lack of familiarity? 

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•  Are  EU  de-centralised  programmes  (ESF,  ERDF,  etc.)  using  the  potential  of 

microfinance to achieve their policy objectives? 

•  How could the different regulatory frameworks at the national level be better 
adapted  to  the  development  of  the  sector?  Can  EMN's  mapping  report  help 
catalyse upward convergence? 

•  How can the sector provide better and more adapted services to underserved 

populations? 

The key achievements of the action are the following:  

•  EMN's advocacy activities focused on feedback on EU policymaking, on ongoing 
and  upcoming  initiatives  and  policies  in  the  future  multiannual  financial 
framework (with special attention to InvestEU & ESF+). Specific attention went 
to responding to  stakeholders’ needs in  response to  COVID-19  &  supporting 
EMN members' national advocacy efforts. 

• 

•  Ongoing  collaboration  with  peer  network  MFC  results  in  a  clear  voice  on 
microfinance  vis-à-vis  EU  institutions.  Both  networks  are  committed  to  such 
continued and close collaboration. 
“Microfinance in Europe: Survey Report” compiled thanks to the participation 
of 143 institutions from 19 countries. This is a fundamental tool to assess the 
developments  of  the  sector  and  inform  policymakers  and  captures  data  for 
2018-2019 with a chapter on early 2020 at the start of the  COVID-19 crisis. 
The report reflects a steady growth of the microfinance sector over the past 
few years and highlights the dynamism of the sector that supports a growing 
number  of  individuals  &  microenterprises.  It  also  shows  that  opportunity 
remains for substantial growth before fully serving the market. 

•  EMN  has  diversified  its  funding  for  sustainability  through  additional 
partnerships.  Of  note,  a  privately  obtained  investor's  grant  to  support  the 
resilience of MFIs and clients during the pandemic: 6 MFIs received technical 
assistance  in  response  to  the  COVID-19  crisis.  Further,  EMN  via  EaSI  TA 
implemented  13  events  (574  participants),  facilitated  tailored  training  for  3 
MFIs, & 20 questions were answered through a dedicated Helpdesk. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  EMN  builds  up  its  own  expertise  in 
capacity  building  and,  while  it  does  not  deploy  its  own  teams  in  training 
implementation, consultancy, or research, it leads and coordinates opportunities with 
members. EMN considers that the main role in increasing the institutional capacity of 
their members is to facilitate the knowledge exchange among the MFIs from different 
countries  (mainly  from  the  EU  Members  States).  Knowledge  "from  the  ground"  is 
abundant  within  the  sector,  but  it  is  important  that  those  experiences  are  shared 
around the sector. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: EMN prioritises its role as an advocate 
for the sector, identifying concerns amongst its membership and relaying those in a 
constructive way to the relevant policymakers. 

•  At  the  EU  level,  the  most  prominent  counterpart  for  this  is  the  European 
Commission, with DG EMPL in particular. Additionally, EMN meets with the EIB, 
and the EIF as their implementation of the EU budget also benefits from such 
feedback and discussions. In 2020, EMN had nine dedicated, in-depth meetings 
with such EU institutions. 

•  EMN is also  represented in the  GECES Expert Group  on Social Economy and 
Social Enterprises and became an active member of Social Economy Europe in 
2020,  endorsing  the  work  it  does  to  promote  the  Social  Economy  policy 
agenda. EMN is also an active contributor to the ongoing Microfinance Code of 
Good Conduct steering group. 

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•  EMN  attends  the  more  general  forums  that  EU  bodies  organise  to  enable 
stakeholder  dialogue  in  order  to  represent  the  microfinance  sector.  EMN 
participated in 10 events organised by EU institutions on topics of social and 
inclusive entrepreneurship, microfinance, social economy and COVID-19, and 
EU policy in these areas. 

•  EMN also participated in and / or implemented 13 joint actions and awareness-

raising events with peer networks and organisations. 

•  EMN  sent  out  five  policy  briefings  to  members  to  keep  them  informed  on 

ongoing advocacy matters 

Aside  from  in-person  representation,  EMN  also  formally  develops  supporting 
documentation (policy  notes) that set out the  policy proposals from the sector in a 
convenient  format  to  interface  with  the  policymaking  process.  In  2020,  EMN 
completed the following support documents: 

1.  Joint  EMN-MFC  response  to  the  Consultation  on  the  renewed  sustainable 

finance strategy in July 2020; 

2.  Joint  EMN-MFC  response  to  the  Consultation  on  consumer  credit  in  October 

2020; 

3.  Joint EMN-MFC response to the Consultation on Pact for Skills in October 2020; 
4.  Joint EMN-MFC response to the Consultation on migrant inclusion in October 

2020; 

5.  Joint EMN-MFC response to the Consultation on EU SDGs indicators set review 

in November 2020; 

6.  Joint EMN-MFC response to the Consultation on the European Pillar of Social 

Rights in November 2020; 

7.  Ongoing feedback to DG EMPL about the actions implemented by MFIs to face 

the COVID-19 economic and social effects; 

8.  Ongoing  feedback  to  DG  EMPL  about  the  measures  taken  by  National 
Governments  of  MS  to  support  MFIs  and  their  clients  during  the  COVID-19 
crisis. 

Transnational  dimension:  EMN's  competitive  advantage  is  its  pan-European 
perspective on the sector, direct access to MFIs and its constructive partnership with 
the  European  Commission.  Through  the  action,  EMN  builds  closer  and  stronger 
relations  with  EU  institutions,  addressing  policymakers,  regulators,  and  funders  in 
order to lobby for favourable policies for the development of the sector. EMN works 
towards improving the European regulatory framework for microfinance by influencing 
policy.  EMN  supports  members  by  advocating  for  change  and  improvements  in  the 
national microfinance context based on the comparison with the frameworks in other 
countries and acts as a conduit of information on national and international policy and 
advocacy. 

New partnerships created: EMN continues to be an active and developing network. 
The involvement of the members in EMN activities remains satisfactory, with 45 % of 
attendance during the online annual General Assembly. Likewise, despite difficulties 
posed by the pandemic, members are active and involved in working groups (4 groups 
involving 16 member organisations over 8direct and multiple indirect meetings), and 
events  (23  local  EMD  actions)  etc.  Members  continue  to  contribute  to  knowledge-
sharing activities through webinars, good practice notes and national reports for EMN 
publications.  By  the  end  of  2020,  EMN  counted  4  new  members  from  4  different 
countries and had overall 98 members in 25 countries.  

Dissemination  strategy:  Next  to  numerous  policy  documents  (indicated  in  the 
policy evidence section), the EMN had an active outreach programme, including: 

May 2022 

 140 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  The  online  17th  EMN  Annual  Conference  was  a  significant  event  for  the 
exchange  of  information  and  peer  learning.  The  agenda  included  many  EU 
relevant  topics  with  a  strong  COVID-19  slant  in  order  to  highlight  „working 
together in the new normal". Nine sessions took place with interventions from 
EU policymakers, stakeholders and sector experts.  

•  Three good practice webinars and 2 notes published; one synthesis overview 

of measures implemented due to COVID-19. 

•  EMN  working  groups  continued  to  be  spaces  for  member  exchanges  despite 

the challenges to meet up. 

•  They  also  organised  the  6th  European  Microfinance  Day,  including  an  online 
central event. The EMD went virtual in 2020 due to the pandemic. Despite the 
difficulties this raised, 14 EMN and MFC members from 12 European countries 
joined this 6th edition, organising 23 different local activities, including video 
clips  promoting  microfinance,  webinars  on  aspects  of  entrepreneurship,  and 
showcasing client successes. Additionally, a central event was organised online 
and brought together 63 attendees during a webinar. The event was opened 
by  a  European  Commission  representative  and  featured  a  high-level  panel 
discussion on ensuring access to finance for entrepreneurs during COVID-19. 
The  event  was  rounded  off  with  a  pre-recorded  video  ceremony  for 
microfinance practitioners to celebrate their certification on the European Code 
of Good Conduct. 

European  added  value:  EMN  is  well-positioned  to  represent  the  interests  of  its 
members and the wider sector at the EU level and has 98 member organisations. More 
than  50 %  of  members  are  in  direct  contact  with  vulnerable  segments  of  the 
population and actively contribute to and benefit from the network's actions fostering 
networking  and  exchange  of  good  practices  among  organisations  from  different  EU 
countries. Such pan-European scope would not be possible with the EU support.  

Sustainability measures: In 2021, EMN will further build on its advocacy initiatives 
in the following key areas: 

•  EMN will continue to develop the strength of its Advocacy Committee to ensure 
frequent high-quality exchanges between members on their policy agendas. 
•  EMN  will  deepen  its  exchange  with  other  actors  representing  social  finance 
within the broader context of the social economy to constructively contribute 
to the rising EU policy initiatives focused on the social economy. It will leverage 
its  relationships  within  Social  Economy  Europe  and  participate  in  the  SE 
Intergroup when possible. 

•  EMN  will  continue  to  respond  to  the  evolving  needs  of  the  sector,  seeking 
diverse ways to represent them. For example, responding to market needs in 
the  pandemic,  responding  to  increased  digitalisation,  and  topics  such  as 
increased demographic challenges. Whether this requires the development of 
new relationships with different policymakers will be explored. 

•  EMN  will  continue  to  grow  the  wealth  of  advocacy,  research,  and 
communication  tools  that  its  members  can  leverage  in  their  initiatives, 
reducing the need for duplication. 

•  EMN  will  maintain  its  strong  partnership  with  DG  EMPL,  EIB,  EIF,  and  other 
partners, paying specific attention to future implementing partners during the 
next MFF & the development of the SE Action Plan. 

•  EMN will continue to collect and improve data and research on developments 
in the sector, maximising efficiencies, and synergies with other data initiatives 
such as ATLAS. EMN will continue to monitor emerging policy issues of specific 
interest to members. 

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Horizontal objectives: EMN envisions a society in which all those who are financially 
and socially excluded have access to the full  range of financial and complementary 
support  services,  empowering  them  to  start  new  ventures,  consolidate  existing 
businesses  and  finance  personal  needs  that  improve  their  lives.  EMN  organises  its 
activities in an efficient and cost-effective manner. In order to do this and to develop 
and maintain a sustainable and diversified  funding base, EMN also gets involved in 
the elaboration, coordination and / or implementation of other projects and services, 
thus ensuring that the total costs of delivering its core activities are covered. 

EMN's  capacity  building  action  focuses  on  key  topics  to  reinforce  the  institutional 
integrity  of  its  members,  such  as  growth,  sustainability,  good  governance,  quality, 
research and also the transparency of MFIs to increase the impact of microfinance in 
Europe. EMN decentralises the organisation and the execution of its activities as much 
as possible through its membership by encouraging and facilitating local and regional 
collaboration  and  by  forming  working  groups  in  which  members  can  actively 
participate and can offer their input into EMN's activities. 

4.8. EUROCITIES – EaSI Programme – ‘Inclusive cities for All: Social rights in 
my city’ 

‘Eurocities fostered sharing of know-how and good practices among city experts by 
engaging them in peer learning, which has proven to be key to building the capacity of 
cities to respond quickly to this crisis.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 

Policy sub-area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0023 
Social protection and social inclusion 
Active inclusion; 
Housing exclusion and homelessness; 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Participating countries 

• 
• 
Belgium 
- 

Employment services; 
Social partners; 

•  National, regional and local authorities; 
• 
• 
•  Non-governmental organisations; 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
•  Media. 
• 
• 

Actions and recommendations to feed EU policy making; 
Bridge-building  actions  between  EU  level  and  national 
actors; 
Awareness-raising and dissemination; 
Network organisation and management. 

Coordinator 

EUROCITIES asbl 

May 2022 

 142 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 521 851.62 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://inclusivecities4all.eu/ 

Socioeconomic  context:  EUROCITIES’  action  aims  at  reducing  poverty  and 
achieving social inclusion for all people in Europe by building capacity and empowering 
cities  to  respond  to  social  challenges  and  rising  inequalities.  The  work  programme 
helps  to  connect  local  and  EU  policies  and  support  multi-level  governance  by 
empowering  cities  to  continue  working  in  partnership  with  regional,  national 
authorities and EU institutions for effective implementation of the European Pillar of 
Social Rights, the EU 2020 Strategy and the European Disability Strategy. The SDGs 
are  a  horizontal  theme  in  the  work  programme,  with  the  view  to  support  cities  to 
create synergies with the EPSR.  
The  political  commitment  of  city  policymakers  in  the  form  of  pledges  to  the 
implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights boosts the uptake of EU social 
policies at a local level. By engaging in the political initiative ‘Inclusive cities for all: 
Social  Rights  in  my  city’,  cities  can  take  the  lead  in  EPSR  implementation.  The 
organisation  will  also  build  cities’  capacity  to  engage  in  EU  policy  making  and  to 
contribute with evidence on emerging social trends, feeding EU policy developments 
for an inclusive Europe.  

Aims of the project/organisation: Eurocities’ strategic objective for 2020 was to 
continue engaging the local level in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social 
Rights  by  further  building  on  the  political  initiative  “Inclusive  Cities  for  all:  Social 
Rights in my city” and on their mutual learning programme for cities. 

Eurocities  stepped  up  during  the  spring  lockdown  to  respond  to  the  crisis  and 
continued to do so until the end of the year, focusing on the following priorities: 

-  Boosting Eurocities’ political campaign “Inclusive Cities for all: Social Rights in 

my city” for cities to take concrete actions to implement the EPSR. 

-  Continuing  Eurocities’  mutual  learning  programme  for  cities’  implementation 

of EPSR principles, resulting in concrete policy changes at a local level. 

-  Raising awareness on the European Semester to help cities to engage in the 

process. 

-  Supporting  cities  to  fight  discrimination  and  facilitate  the  inclusion  of  Roma 

people. 

-  Supporting  cities  to  develop  an  integrated  socio-economic  inclusion  of 

migrants and refugees. 

-  Supporting cities to develop inclusive labour markets for vulnerable people. 
-  Supporting cities to create an inclusive environment for people with disabilities. 
-  Supporting cities to implement integrated services for the well-being of older 

people. 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, 
Eurocities implemented under the EaSI work programme various online city dialogues 
with the aim to strengthen cities’ capacity to address the emerging social challenges 
posed  by  the  crisis,  in  addition  to  the  originally  planned  mutual  learning  and  high-
level events. They also tailored some of the activities to provide extra policy inputs to 
DG EMPL  on the Child  Guarantee and the Homelessness initiative as agreed during 
the year. 

The key messages of this action are provided below: 
1. Cities are seeing a dramatic increase in demand for social support from new groups 
severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Poverty is rising rapidly in cities, with new 

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 143 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
groups of people at risk of poverty – the ‘new urban poor’. More people are having 
financial difficulties due to job loss and drops in income and are at risk of losing their 
home. Undocumented migrants, who had been active in the informal economy, are 
now coming forward to ask cities for help. Cities are seeing a significant rise in the 
number of people seeking food aid and basic material assistance. Increased demand 
for social support from new groups experiencing vulnerability comes especially from 
families with children and older people. There is a visible impact of the crisis on high 
unemployment,  precarious  housing,  loneliness  and  mental  health  impact,  risk  of 
'losing touch' with youth, especially those in transition from pre-school to primary to 
secondary  and  from  school  to  work.  The  crisis  has  exacerbated  pre-existing 
inequalities. Vulnerable people such as the homeless, older people, Roma, people with 
disabilities,  victims  of gender-based violence,  migrants and refugees, have become 
even more vulnerable. Moving many essential services online, including education and 
training, has widened the digital divide, especially affecting children in poverty. Cities 
are seeing that, even after lockdowns are lifted, many children in need do not return 
to school, especially those from the most vulnerable groups, and they risk missing a 
school year or possibly dropping out of school completely. Territorial inequalities are 
also deepening, with families living in the most deprived urban areas being the most 
severely affected and at the highest risk of social exclusion and isolation. 

2. Cities have quickly put in place urgent support measures at a local level that have 
proven critical to complement national measures and cover gaps in national welfare 
policies. Cities have quickly readjusted local priorities in light of the pandemic to help 
people  in  need,  save  jobs  and  meet  the  urgent  social  needs  at  a  local  level.  As 
presented in the Eurocities’ mappings of city policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis, 
many  cities  have  set  up  new  and  extra  services  to  provide  tailored  support  to  the 
most vulnerable people, such as: extending healthcare services, food aid delivery to 
families  in  need,  extending  shelter  capacities  for  homeless  and  setting  up  new 
emergency  housing  by  repurposing  public  (or  even  private)  buildings,  support  for 
home-schooling, online counselling and support, and more. At the same time, cities 
ensured the continuity of essential services and have quickly digitalised most social, 
healthcare and employment services (boosting online skills training) while innovating 
with  new  solutions  for  e-inclusion.  Furthermore,  cities  have  reallocated  municipal 
budgets  to  take  proactive  measures  to  mitigate  the  negative  consequences  of  the 
crisis by offering financial aid to families in needs, SMEs, self-employed, tax breaks 
and  loan  guarantees,  banning  evictions  and  freezing  rent  payments  for  tenants  in 
municipal public housing, creating new jobs through municipal works and setting up 
online skills training courses, among others. 

3. Cities play a key role in ensuring a fair, inclusive and sustainable recovery in Europe 
but  need  more  support  for  local-level  social  investment.  Cities  are  the  engines  of 
Europe's regions in terms of economic development and social progress. As the level 
of government closest to people, cities are best placed to connect citizens to the EU 
and  ensure  their  urgent  needs  get  a  European  response.  The  pandemic  has  shown 
how essential healthcare, social infrastructure and public social services at a local level 
are for our society. However, the recovery will require an unprecedented level of social 
investment in local services and infrastructure  that cannot be done by cities alone. 
Cities  have  been  able  to  respond  promptly  to  the  pandemic  crisis  thanks  to  their 
investment  in  public  social  services  and  infrastructure.  However,  this  level  of 
investment is at risk given the strained municipal budgets due to increasing demand 
for social services and emergency support coupled with dramatically falling revenue 
from taxation and tourism. It is thus essential to ensure that the EU recovery places 
social investments at the core and channels resources where most needed, at a local 
level. 

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 144 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  Eurocities  fostered  sharing  of  know-
how and good practices among city experts and engaging them in peer learning, which 
has proven to be key to building the capacity of cities to respond quickly to this crisis. 
Right at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Milan was one of the most 
affected cities; thanks to Eurocities SAF activities, the city shared how they adapted 
their social services in the new context. This example helped other cities to be better 
prepared  to  contain  the  virus  and  adapt  their  own  services.  Showing  of  solidarity 
among cities  continued  throughout the 2020 city dialogues Eurocities  held as cities 
shared know-how and recent experiences on which policy responses they put in place 
to mitigate social consequences of the crisis and how they plan for a social recovery, 
inspiring  other  cities  to  follow  the  good  practice  examples.  The  number  of  cities 
attending the EUROCITIES EaSI activities has doubled, and the number of participants 
nearly tripled, reaching out to many more cities in the Eastern part of Europe. Moving 
the organisation’s mutual learning and policy transfers online has brought an added 
value to developing innovative approaches to mitigate the social impacts of the crisis 
in a timely manner to many cities. This in turn has brought local policymakers in direct 
contact with EU policymakers and facilitated a constructive dialogue around recovery 
solutions for different local contexts. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: Eurocities produced multiple reports, 
briefs and mappings supported by the EaSI grant: 

-  EPSR Principle 17 report – Inclusion of people with disabilities; 
-  EPSR  Principle  19  report  –  Housing  and  assistance  for  the  homeless  (2019 

work programme); 
IV Integrating Cities report; 

- 
-  Child Poverty report; 
-  Statement on Social Europe; 
-  Contribution to Reinforcing Youth Guarantee; 
- 
- 
- 
-  Overview city measures to mitigate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19; 
-  Overview city social measures to respond to COVID-19; 
-  Cities' policy responses to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the integration 

Policy brief on the social dimension of NGEU and MFF; 
Policy brief on EU financial support to fight COVID-19; 
Policy brief on the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD); 

of migrants and refugees; 
Policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 on women; 

- 
-  A video: Eurocities – Lyon puts Housing First. 

Transnational  dimension:  Eurocities  involve  150  European  cities  in  their  work 
programme activities in a participative and co-creative manner, to work in partnership 
with relevant stakeholders at local, national and European levels and to test innovative 
solutions tackling rising inequalities. 

New  partnerships  created:  Eurocities  collected  30  new  city  pledges  in  2020, 
reaching a total of 63 city pledges from 45 cities representing over 51 million citizens 
and totalling an investment of over EUR 14.5 billion from municipal budgets. 

Dissemination  strategy:  All  their  consultations,  publications  and  reports  are 
published on the Eurocities website, including the updated and the migration-specific 
website.  These  websites  are  available 
for  both  Eurocities’  members  (city 
policymakers) and the public (EU-level policymakers, relevant stakeholders, national, 
regional  and  other  policymakers  and  the  media).  Eurocities  members  and  selected 
stakeholders  receive  targeted  communications  via  email  when  a  specific  report  or 
publication  is  available.  In  many  cases  (e.g.,  EPSR  reports,  contributions  to  EU 
consultations), Eurocities members are an active part of the process of the production 

May 2022 

 145 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of these publications / reports via online surveys, consultations, etc.; therefore, they 
also actively engage in their dissemination. 

In 2020, Eurocities have continued to distribute their publications digitally. Hardcopies 
of  2020  publications  will  be  sent  to  Eurocities’  members  by  post  during  2021. 
Eurocities’  videos  are  hosted  in  the  Eurocities  YouTube  channel  and  extensively 
disseminated  via  news  articles  on  Eurocities’  website,  email  communications  and 
other means (e.g., sent as preparatory documents for their mutual learning activities 
and broadcasted during their online events). 

European  added  value:  The  number  of  cities  attending  the  EUROCITIES  EaSI 
activities has doubled, and the number of participants nearly tripled, reaching out to 
many more cities in the Eastern part  of Europe.  Moving Eurocities’ mutual learning 
and  policy  transfers  online  has  brought  an  added  value  to  developing  innovative 
approaches to mitigate  the social impacts of the crisis in a timely manner to many 
cities.  This  in  turn  has  brought  local  policy  makers  in  direct  contact  with  EU 
policymakers  and  facilitated  a  constructive  dialogue  around  recovery  solutions  for 
different local contexts. 

Sustainability measures: In 2021, Eurocities will build on the work done in 2020 
and  will  step  up  actions  with  cities  around  three  key  priorities  of  the  Social  Affairs 
Forum in 2021: 

1. Building Back Fairer Together: Eurocities will focus on building the capacity of 
cities for inclusive recovery post-COVID-19 to reduce poverty and inequalities in the 
cities and promote equal opportunities for all people in cities, especially for the most 
vulnerable  groups  such  as  children,  young  people,  older  people,  migrants  and 
refugees,  Roma,  etc.  Eurocities  will  continue  and  step  up  their  contribution  to  the 
European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights  action  plan  through  Eurocities’  campaign 
'InclusiveCities4All'  to  bring  a  strong  political  message  from  cities  at  the  EU  Social 
Summit in Porto. Eurocities will organise a Cities' Social Summit, the day before the 
Porto Summit, to bring mayors and deputy mayors in direct dialogue with EU leaders 
on how to strengthen the social dimension in the EU recovery and the EU Green Deal 
while pushing forward with the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. 
Eurocities will also work closely with the Roundtable of city directors of social services 
on  building  resilience  and  adapting  social  services  for  recovery  post-COVID  and 
putting in place concrete local measures to contribute to social policy objectives of the 
EPSR  action  plan.  Eurocities  will  continue  and  strengthen  their  work  to  support 
inclusive labour markets in cities while mitigating the impact of the crisis and tapping 
into the new opportunities for green and digital jobs and skills. Eurocities will focus 
on  tackling  rising  unemployment,  especially  youth  unemployment,  facilitating  Local 
Pacts for Employment with a focus on quality jobs, decent working conditions for all, 
including on platform work.  

2. A Home for Everyone: Eurocities plan to focus on affordable housing and tackling 
homelessness.  With  the  aim  to  ensure  affordable  housing  for  all,  Eurocities  will 
exchange among cities and with EU policymakers on strategies to facilitate and build 
a long-term investment for affordable housing. Eurocities will continue working with 
the European Parliament to better reflect the reality of affordability of housing in the 
European  Semester  and  in  other  EU  policies.  Eurocities  will  also  focus  on  the 
opportunities within the Renovation Wave and energy poverty. Eurocities will also step 
up their work on reducing homelessness in the cities. Will build the capacity of cities 
through  mutual  learning  and  policy  transfer  to  develop  an  integrated  approach 
combining housing support (e.g., Housing First) with social care and health services 
and active inclusion (access to work or training). As such, Eurocities contribute to the 

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new  EU  initiative  on  fighting  homelessness  with  policy  inputs  from  cities  to  the  EU 
recommendations and toolkit. 

3.  Welcoming  Everyone  in  the  Cities:  Eurocities  will  focus  on  improving  local 
services for managing diversity and social cohesion in cities through integration and 
social inclusion of migrants and people with migrant or ethnic minority backgrounds, 
Roma  inclusion,  fighting  discrimination  and  racism  through  positive  narratives, 
fighting child poverty, shaping age-friendly services, integrating health and social care 
services,  better  accessibility,  and  developing  territorial  approaches  to  improve  the 
quality of life in the most deprived urban neighbourhoods. Eurocities will build on the 
good work they started in 2020 on child poverty to strengthen mutual learning among 
cities  on  child  poverty  strategies  and  support  to  children  in  need,  with  a  focus  on 
children  in  migration.  Eurocities  will  contribute  with  policy  inputs  from  cities  to  the 
shaping  and  delivery  of  the  EU  Child  Guarantee  and  the  EU  strategy  on  children's 
rights.  To  do  so,  Eurocities  will  organise  a  high-level  event  to  launch  a  political 
dialogue  between  city  and  EU  leaders  on  how  to  fight  child  poverty  and  how  to 
prioritise  investing  in  children.  Eurocities  will  also  continue  their  work  with  cities 
towards  Roma  inclusion.  In  2021,  Eurocities  aim  to  build  the  capacity  of  cities  to 
become  engaged  in  the  national  policy  processes  for  shaping  the  new  National 
Strategies  for  Roma  inclusion  under  the  new  EU  Roma  Framework  2021-2030,  to 
ensure  that  the  local  needs  of  Roma  communities  are  well  addressed  in  national 
strategies. Eurocities will also organise mutual learning on cities' measures to tackle 
school dropout among Roma children and another mutual learning focusing on policy 
solutions to tackle homelessness among EU-mobile citizens, many of whom are Roma. 
Eurocities will also continue to work on supporting vulnerable groups focusing on older 
people and people with disabilities. Eurocities will do so through their mutual learning 
activities  for  cities  to  transfer  policies  and  replicate  good  practices  and  innovative 
approaches  to  support  the  inclusion  of  older  people  in  society  and  their  well-being 
through better service integration of healthcare, long-term and social care services in 
cities. Eurocities will engage cities in formulating policy inputs to the EU Green Paper 
on Ageing. At the same time, Eurocities will continue to improve accessibility in cities 
by  working  in  a  cross-cutting  way  between  social  services  and  mobility  and  other 
services,  and  contributing  to  the  dissemination,  raising  awareness  of  and  then 
implementation of the new EU Disability Strategy. Eurocities will design all the mutual 
learning activities focusing on transfer and upscale of innovative policies implementing 
the EPSR principles at a local level. Eurocities will continue to build the capacity of city 
practitioners to transfer elements from different local contexts to improve the access 
and quality of social services to all people. 

Horizontal  objectives:  Eurocities,  in  all  of  their  actions,  has  also  focused  on 
horizontal issues such as youth employment, long-term unemployment, poverty and 
social  exclusion,  equality  between  women  and  men,  sustainable  employment, 
adequate and decent social protection and discrimination. Such horizontal objectives 
were addressed through: 

− 

− 

Political  commitments  to  address  the  issues  at  a  local  level  through  a 
political campaign (InclusiveCities4All), high-level events, political debates 
and active engagement of politicians at the online events (participation of 
politicians during the digital mutual learning activities). 
Capacity building of cities through city dialogues, webinars, digital mutual 
learning  activities  and  information  sessions  during  Working  Group 
meetings. 

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4.9. Fundacja Microfinance Centre – Financial inclusion for inclusive growth in 
Europe II 

‘The COVID-19 crisis confirmed that MFC, thanks to its culture and 
structure is able to respond quickly to members and broadly the 
sector needs, re-adjust its plans and activities.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0194 
Social economy 
Microcredit 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

•  National, regional and local authorities; 
•  Non-governmental organisations; 
• 
•  Others 

(microfinance 

Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 

institutions, 

microfinance 

associations). 
Cooperation with international organisations; 
The organisation of a digitalisation academy webinars; 

• 
• 
•  Developing research / case studies / reports papers; 
• 

Supporting  national  working  groups  related  to  inclusive 
finance agenda; 
Co-organised the 6th Microfinance Day; 

• 
•  Organised Borrow Wisely Campaign; 
• 

Conducted  three  webinars  to  present  good  practice 
solutions introduced by various institutions during  COVID-
19 lockdowns; 
Promoting the European Code of Good Conduct. 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Poland 

Participating countries 

- 

• 

Coordinator 

Partners 

Fundacja Microfinance Centre 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 205 130.14 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://mfc.org.pl/ 

Socioeconomic context: MFC's programme “Financial inclusion for inclusive growth 
in Europe II” is designed to galvanise EU practitioners and policymakers into action 
to ensure wider and deeper financial inclusion of all EU citizens. In particular, the idea 
is to increase awareness on current policies and programmes existing in the EU that 
support  improvements  in  providing  finance  to  various  excluded  groups  as  well  as 
encourage necessary modifications in legal and regulatory frameworks for inclusive 
finance. Another important aspect of the  “Financial inclusion for inclusive growth in 
Europe  II”  programme  is  to  develop  the  capacity  of  the  MFC  members  and  non-
members active in  overcoming access to financial barriers and providing finance to 
micro-entrepreneurs and social enterprises. 

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Aims of the project/organisation: The overall objective of the  organisation is to 
raise awareness of the broader aspect of access to finance (such as the role of the 
financial sector in providing services to excluded groups, financial literacy, policy and 
adequate  infrastructure  etc.).  The  project  was  structured  around  four  pillars  with 
additional strategic objectives augmenting each of the strategic pillars: 

1.  Support the Commission in its outreach objectives at the EU, national and local 
level with the aim of ensuring the implementation of European policies in the 
relevant area. 

2.  Reinforce the capacity of the MFC members. 
3.  Voice  the  concerns  and  expectations  of  organisations  facilitating  access  to 

finance to entrepreneurs from disadvantaged groups. 
4.  Provide data on developments and trends in the sector. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  The  MFC  continued  to  engage  in  a  very 
constructive dialogue with the European Commission to provide feedback on the EU 
microfinance  support  instruments  and  discuss  the  current  obstacles  to  sector 
development,  standards-setting  (EU  Code),  as  well  as  the  sector’s  future.  Despite 
numerous challenges caused by COVID-19, MFC was able to respond to sector needs 
which,  among  others,  resulted  in  a  research  paper  on  the  impact  of  the  COVID-19 
lockdown  on 
included  several 
recommendations for different stakeholders, three webinars on the topic. 

the  microfinance  sector 

in  Europe,  which 

The project team indicates that these were the main takeaways from the action: 

1.  2020  confirmed  that  digitalisation  is  one  of  the  key  issues  among  MFC 
members in the region. Although the COVID-19 crisis did not cause any specific 
increase in digitalisation in the sector, it clearly proves that those institutions 
which digitalised or are in the process of digitalisation were better prepared to 
face the crisis. Even institutions which only planned certain digital solutions in 
2020  speed  up  their  work  and,  sometimes  even  without  proper  testing, 
implemented them in full scale. To better assist MFIs, MFC increased its efforts 
in supporting the sector through conducting 23 online meetings / webinars on 
basic  aspects  related  to  digitalisation  (4  planned  initially).  The  challenge 
related to securing funding for innovative solutions still remains and may well 
be even bigger in 2021. 

2.  Advocacy  efforts  on  the  national  level  seem  to  be  one  of  the  key  needs 
recognised by MFIs, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the need 
to  advocate  /  communicate  with  national  policymakers  and  regulators  on  a 
national  level  became  a  must.  MFC  supports  those  efforts  not  only  by 
supporting existing national working groups but by facilitating the experience 
sharing across the countries.  

3.  COVID-19  lockdown  impact  –  despite  numerous  support  programmes 
developed and implemented by national governments to support business, the 
most vulnerable – micro-entrepreneurs, self-employed, usually received little 
support or were not able to access the support at all.  

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  The  project  team  noticed  that  the 
national working groups seem to be a good way to boost and / or initiate discussions 
on the country level among microfinance practitioners.  This became obvious during 
the lockdowns when governments started introducing various measures, and dialogue 
with local regulators was essential. 

The  successful  effort  of  the  MFC  in  promoting  active  involvement  with  migrant 
entrepreneurship  projects  was  noted  by  DG  HOME.  The  project  team  was  asked  to 
provide  recommendations  for  designing  new  access  to  finance  programmes  for 

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 149 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
migrant  entrepreneurs.  They  drafted  and  submitted  MFC  recommendations  to  DG 
HOME in September 2020. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities: With regard to the COVID-19 crisis, the 
MFC  continued  to  respond  to  sector  needs  related  to  digitalisation  to  build  the 
capacities of microfinance institution staff. These were very well received; MFC plans 
to continue this with some adjustments made based on the evaluation results (e.g., 
more participants, better promotion in terms of the calendar so people can book time 
in advance). In addition, there is a need to support microbusiness in their digitalisation 
journey – MFIs are well placed to support those efforts. However, the resources to do 
that have to be secured for microfinance institutions as do facilitation of experience 
and know-how. 

The COVID-19 crisis confirmed that MFC, thanks to its culture and structure, is able 
to  respond  quickly  to  members  and  broadly  the  sector  needs,  and  to  re-adjust  its 
plans  and  activities.  The  crisis  showed  that  MFC  capacity  building  efforts  around 
digitalisation are very relevant, needed and should be continued. 

Policy  evidence  generated  by  the  project:  The  MFC  developed  the  following 
research / case studies / reports papers: 

•  MFI digitalisation pathways. Monitoring progress in microfinance digital 

journeys; 
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the microfinance sector in Europe. 

• 

Transnational  dimension:  The  MFC  works  in  cooperation  with  international 
organisations and networks, shares information with EC representatives through  its 
mobile Brussels office (moved online due to lockdown). The management of MFC and 
EMN and staff regularly met (face-to-face and online meetings) to discuss plans and 
joint activities, including the MFC-EMN merger. The networks actively cooperated on 
two issues: advocacy (through Advocacy Think Tank) and research (through Research 
Think Tank), as well as joint promotion / communication of various activities, including 
European Microfinance Day. 

In  addition,  the  MFC  continues  to  support  four  national  working  groups:  Albania, 
Poland, Romania and Serbia to allow local members and other stakeholders to discuss 
important  topics  related  to  inclusive  finance  agenda  and  helped  to  establish  the 
working group in North Macedonia. 

New partnerships created: The MFC continuously supports and expands its network 
of national working groups. The initiative to establish and support national working 
groups is crucial  and very much needed in many countries.  In  some countries, the 
groups  have  already  functioned  for  three  years  and  it  is  clear  that  they  are  very 
capable of communicating with regulators.  

Dissemination  strategy:  The  dissemination  activities  of  the  project  were  the 
following:  

-  The digitalisation webinars targeted practitioners primarily from EU and pre-
accession  countries.  Information  was  available  on  the  MFC  website, 
communicated through mailing, social media as well as MFC partners. 

-  The  country  meeting  in  Romania  targeted  MFC  members  –  microfinance 

practitioners primarily. 

-  The  Borrow  Wisely  Campaign  has  been  implemented  by  MFC  members: 
microfinance  institutions  as  well  as  country  associations.  The  main  target 
group  was  clients  of  microfinance  institutions  (microbusiness  and  farmers). 
Information  about  the  Borrow  Wisely  Campaign  has  been  communicated 

May 2022 

 150 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
mainly through social media (MFC and partners). There was also information 
on the MFC website.  

-  The  6th  Microfinance  Day  targeted  the  EU  policy  and  decision-makers  and 
practitioners  from  the  microfinance  sector  primarily.  Information  about  the 
events was distributed through MFC and EMN contact lists and was available 
on websites and social media. 

-  The CEO library and talks that targeted mainly MFC members – CEOs and other 

leaders of microfinance institutions through mailing. 

-  During  2020,  MFC  had  196  communication  activities  related  to  various  EU 
issues  and  news.  This  information  reached  microfinance  practitioners,  NGO 
representatives  working  in  the  field  of  microfinance,  financial  education,  EU 
policy and decision-makers, experts and academics through mailings, posts on 
Facebook and Twitter and the MFC website. 

European added value: The project aimed to make a difference at the EU level. It 
would not have been possible to carry out the project on such a large scale  without 
the support provided by EaSI.  

Sustainability measures: In the future, the MFC is committed to working on: 

1.  Strengthening national advocacy efforts through support of national working 

groups. 

2.  Monitoring the situation related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and 

if needed developing further recommendations. 

3.  Promoting  green  microfinance  through  mapping  best  practice,  including  MFI 

practices, investors’ programmes. 

Horizontal objectives: The project activities covered the horizontal topic of fighting 
against  poverty  and  social  exclusion.  This  was  done  through  building  capacities  of 
microfinance  institutions  through,  e.g.,  workshops,  webinars,  guidelines  and  tools 
developed.  The  microfinance  institutions  can  more  effectively  serve  often  excluded 
groups from the traditional banking sector like microbusiness, migrants. Furthermore, 
the organisation promotes wise borrowing, the microfinance institutions educate its 
clients to avoid over-indebtedness. 

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4.10. European Social Network – 2020 European Social Network Annual Work 
Programme  

‘Social services across Europe are faced with the impact of serious current challenges 
such as ageing, migration, market pressure on housing costs, in parallel to the long-
lasting consequences of the past socio-economic crisis. It is paramount to ensure that 
social services are adequately funded and sufficiently staffed to enable them to rise to 
these challenges.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0057 
Social protection and social inclusion 
Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) and social OMC 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

EC officials and MEPS; 
National, regional and local authorities / policymakers; 
Employment services; 
Specialist bodies provided for under Union law; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Directors of social services and practitioners;  
Non-governmental  organisations  and 
• 
representatives; 

service  user 

•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 

People using social services / representatives of care user 
groups; 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment. 
Actions and recommendations to feed EU policy; 
Bridge-building action between EU and national actors;  
Awareness raising and dissemination;  
Network development. 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Implementation country (-ies) 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 

EU Member States 
Belgium 
European Social Network (ESN) 

Partners 

- 

EU contribution in euro 
Project duration 
Project/organisation website 

(initial) 918 374.91 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 
https://www.esn-eu.org/ 

Socioeconomic  context:  The  European  Social  Network  (ESN)  represents  the 
perspective of public social services at European level. ESN foster both their members’ 
understanding  of  European  policy  and  ensures  that  European  policy  is  informed  by 
knowledge and evidence from the local level. To facilitate this, ESN creates platforms 
for  exchange  and  mutual  learning  between  members  and  the  EU.  Social  services 
across Europe are faced with the impact of serious current challenges such as ageing, 
migration,  market  pressure  on  housing  costs,  in  parallel  to  the  long-lasting 
consequences of the past socio-economic crisis. It is vital to ensure that social services 

May 2022 

 152 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
are  adequately  funded  and  sufficiently  staffed  to  enable  them  to  rise  to  these 
challenges, which are likely to put further pressure on them in the future. 

Aims  of  the  project/organisation:  In  2020,  the  ESN  Annual  Work  Programme 
focused on four key areas:  

1)  Upholding people’s social rights throughout the life-course 
Implementing social rights through the EPSR  

- 
-  Procurement of long-term care (LTC) services for older people  
- 
-  Digitalisation and access to technology  

Integrated care and support  

2)  Sustainability and adequacy of social services and welfare  

-  Capacity building  
-  Exchange of expertise  

3)  Engaging in European and international policy processes and funding  

-  Building inclusive communities and societies  
-  Sustainable social planning and inclusive housing 

4)  Network Development  

-  Membership development and organisation  
-  Membership engagement 

Results, impacts and lessons learned: ESNs strategic actions and their results and 
impact for the 2020 Annual Work Programme were:  

•  Actions and recommendations to feed EU policymaking  

-  ESN promoted the perspective of local social services and their actions in 
implementing both EU and international strategies and frameworks through 
the development of four policy-oriented reports. Specific to these were the 
crucial  recommendations  on  the  essential  role  of  social  services  in  the 
implementation of EU and international frameworks (SDG's and the EPSR), 
and  the  central  role  of  social  services  in  supporting  vulnerable  groups 
(digitalisation, children, adults' mental health and older people). 

•  Bridge-building action between EU and national actors  

-  ESN ensured the ongoing capacity of  its members to  engage at EU level 
and  to  demonstrate  how  their  work  is  directly  linked  to  EU  social  policy 
priorities, such as EU2020, SIP, EPSR and the SDGs. ESN highlighted key 
policy principles in current EU policy frameworks and strategies of interest 
to our members linking them to EU funding programmes. ESN facilitated 
transfer of good practices and lessons learned between members by aiding 
multilateral exchanges through expert webinars.  

•  Awareness-raising and dissemination  

-  Through  15  online  events,  ESN  facilitated  exchanges  between  local  and 
European stakeholders and fostered the impact of ESN policy and practice 
outputs  and  promoted  evidence-based  practice  from  our  members.  The 
targeted 
outputs  of 
communications  and  messaging  with  stakeholders  in  the  European  and 
international institutions as well as national stakeholders.  

these  events  were  disseminated 

through 

•  Network organisation and management  

-  ESN ensured that the Secretariat has the necessary support and capacity 
to  facilitate  engagement  in  EU  level  policy  processes  with  members, 
meeting  their  needs,  concerns  and  expectations.  ESN  membership 
continues  to  grow,  while  retaining  current  members.  Further  to  this, 
members  were  consulted  on  a  regular  basis  to  ascertain  their  needs, 
concerns  and  expectations  in  terms  of  EU  policy  knowledge,  mutual 
learning  and  capacity  building.  The  ESN  website  has  also  been  updated 

May 2022 

 153 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
further,  making  it  more  accessible  and  implemented  work  programmes 
through online meetings. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  Recommendations  of  good  practices 
from ESN activities include:  

• 

•  Social Services Quality: promote a review of quality assurance principles based 
on a new definition of quality that focuses not only on access to services but 
also on outcomes, and the capacity of people to live an independent life in their 
communities.  
Long-term care: Ensure that quality services and quality of life for people using 
services  is  at  the  centre  of  the  procurement  process  for  long-term  care 
services.  
Integrated Care and Support for adults with mental health problems: Though 
there  is  a  commitment  to  ensure  greater  integration  of  health  and  social 
services to support adults with mental health issues in their communities, there 
are  significant  variations  (within  and  between  countries)  in  the  nature  and 
extent  this  is  achieved  in  practice,  hence  it  is  key  to  promote  good  practice 
and advance this further.  

• 

•  EU Semester: Advance towards common qualifications in social services to help 
address the recruitment gap in Europe, promote a care guarantee across all 
vulnerable populations, and a review the European quality framework in social 
services. 

Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities:  Through  events  with 
members of the network and the European institutions, good practice examples were 
presented that could be implemented in other national contexts. This was to support 
the  implementation  of  EU  social  policy  principles  at  national  level.  ESN  events  on 
quality  procurement  of  long-term  care  services,  integrated  support  for  adults  with 
mental health problems, and digitalisation of social services exemplify this notion of 
transferability.  Through  these  events,  stakeholders  gained  valuable  practical 
information to inform their practices in each specific context. Also, ESN collected and 
disseminated  to  members  16  innovative  practices  in  the  areas  of  long-term  care, 
sustainable  development,  integrated  care  and  support  and  digitalisation.  These 
practices are accessible to all members in the e-library71. 

Innovativeness  of  the  project/activities:  Technological  innovation  has  become 
increasingly important in social service delivery in light of the  COVID-19 pandemic, 
and ESN continue to work to support the dissemination of good practices in this field, 
such  as  the  use  of  data  applications  to  make  decisions  to  shift  resources  between 
services,  updating  systems  for  the  provision  of  information  or  digital  service 
applications, as well as remote assessment, consultation, and monitoring.  

Policy evidence generated by the project: Despite the drawbacks of 2020, ESN 
delivered  a  series  of  actions  to  feed  EU  policymaking,  including  the  following 
publications: 

• 

Investing in Social Services, Investing in Europe72 – with 17 country profiles 
and recommendations for the EC and national governments;  

•  Sustainable  Development  Agenda  –  The  Role  of  Social  Services73  –  Policy 
briefing on the role of social services in the implementation of the SDG 11; 

71 https://www.esn-eu.org/practices  
72 https://www.esn-eu.org/sites/default/files/2020-
11/ESN_European%20Semester%202021_Interactive_spread_compressed.pdf  
73 https://www.esn-eu.org/sites/default/files/2020-06/PolicyBrief_SDG11_0.pdf  

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 154 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Putting Quality First – Contracting for Long-term Care74 – assesses the quality 

of public procurement and contracting for long-term care;  

•  Annual Review 202075 – annual review of ESN activities, including the impact 

of COVID-19 on social service delivery and provision.  

In  addition,  ESN  acted  as  a  bridge  between  the  EU  and  local  stakeholders  through 
building knowledge on: the European Semester, the EPSR, and their links to the local-
level social service delivery; integrated care and support of adults with mental health 
issues, linking to the EPSR and EU health strategy; procurement of quality long-term 
care for older people and the voluntary European Quality Framework. 

New  partnerships  created:  During  this  period,  ESN  has  worked  extensively  with 
the impact of COVID-19 on social services together with the European Commission, 
in engagement with other EU networks. Also, as a follow-up to ESN proposals on social 
services quality frameworks launched at the end of 2019, and its work on long-term 
quality  in  2020,  ESN  will  conduct  a  round  table  with  partners  in  the  European 
Parliament on this same theme. The aim is to ensure progress in quality frameworks 
on national and European levels.  

Dissemination strategy: ESN publications and activities were disseminated to the 
following target audiences: 
•  ESN Members; 
•  Public  social  services  authorities  and 

local,  regional,  and  national 

policymakers; 

•  The European Commission and MEPs; 
•  NGO‘s and CSO‘s; 
•  Media. 

The means used for dissemination were:  

•  Website76 – all activities and publications are available on the ESN website;  
•  Members' area – members' only content, such as news regarding funding and 
EU  policy  monitoring,  the  members  communications,  resources  from  our 
events and practices;  

•  Twitter  and  LinkedIn  –  used  to  disseminate  activities  and  promote 

publications;  

•  CRM – used to disseminate newsletters, members communications, targeted 

communications and press releases. 

•  Traditional mailings – for each publication, key messages are emailed to ESNs 
entire  database  through  the  publication  of  a  newsletter  article.  Target 
audiences  were  emailed  through  37  communications  and  recipients  were 
segmented based on the following criteria: behaviour (ways of engagement), 
geographic (area), demographic (occupation / education) and psychographic 
(interests). 

European added value: EU funding was instrumental in facilitating ESN platforms 
for exchange and peer learning between the local level, development of reports and 
organisation  of  events.  These actions led to direct  contact between  representatives 
from national, regional and local levels. They have also allowed for exchange between 
European institutions and our members on EU policy frameworks and strategies. For 
example,  through  ESN’s  work  on  the  European  Semester  they  could  benchmark 
national activities in implementing the EPSR for principles 11, 18 and  19. ESN also 

74 https://www.esn-eu.org/sites/default/files/2021-02/Long%20Term%20Care_2021_Interactive.pdf  
75 https://www.esn-eu.org/sites/default/files/2021-
02/ESN_Annual%20Review%202020_Interactive_compressed_0.pdf  
76 https://www.esn-eu.org/  

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raised awareness amongst members on EU policy objectives, highlighting means to 
implement  these  at  local  level.  Furthermore,  ESN  has  also  promoted  innovative 
approaches based on an assessment of the role digitisation can play to improve social 
services management and provision. 

Horizontal objectives: ESN follows a structured process to address social issues of 
importance to our members and European institutions. Person-centred care is at the 
core of ESN’s work and all outputs of this Annual Work Programme put the needs of 
vulnerable  groups  first.  Inclusion  of  public  social  services  are  responsible  for  the 
provision of support for vulnerable people to improve their well-being and help them 
to  become  as  autonomous  as  possible.  This  includes  supporting  families,  homeless 
people,  and  adults  with  disabilities,  children  at  risk  of  harm,  migrants,  and  older 
people. ESN‘s approach to disseminating good practice and facilitating exchange with 
professionals ensures that this focus is adhered to, and that practitioners and people 
using services and carers are involved in the design and evaluation of services.  

4.11.  European  Venture  Philanthropy  Association  –  Strengthening  and 
supporting a European ecosystem for social enterprise finance 

‘A key result is an increased attention all over Europe to social 
investments - which is confirmed by the strong increase in speaking 
opportunities, the number of visits to our website, the high number 
of signatures of the new Charter of Investors for Impact.’ 

Call identification number 

Grant identification number 
Policy area 
Policy sub-area 

Target groups 

Activities implemented 

VP/2019/013 

VS/2020/0094 
Social Protection & Social Inclusion 
Legal and regulatory framework for social economy 
•  National, regional and local authorities; 
•  Non-governmental organisations; 
•  Higher education institutions and research institutes; 
• 
Experts in evaluation and in impact assessment; 
•  Media. 
• 

Exchanges with relevant EU and multilateral authorities 
and EVPA members; 
Policy webinars; 
Policy briefs; 
Policy reports; 
Participation in the conferences; 
EVPA membership survey; 
Training academy courses; 
An industry survey and results dissemination; 
The database of the success stories; 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  Mapping of the Principles of the Charter of investors for 

Implementation country (-ies) 

Belgium 

impact and the steps of the EVPA frameworks. 

May 2022 

 156 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Participating countries 
Coordinator 
Partners 
EU contribution in euro 

Project duration 

- 
European Venture Philanthropy Association 
- 
(initial) 599 669.00 
1 January 2020-31 December 2020 

Project/organisation website 

https://evpa.eu.com/ 

Socioeconomic context: The EVPA believes that European societies need new and 
innovative  models  to  tackle  societal  issues,  social  enterprises  and  social  purpose 
organisations  lack  stable  funding,  capacity  and  partnerships  to  take  up  their  own, 
ever-increasing  challenges.  One  of  the  ways  to  address  such  issues  is  Venture 
Philanthropy and social investments. 

Aims of the project/organisation: With this project, the EVPA aimed at: 

1.  supporting  the  Commission  in  its  outreach  activities  at  the  EU,  national  and 
local level with the aim of ensuring the implementation of European policies in 
the area of social entrepreneurship; 

2.  reinforcing  the  capacity  of  EVPA  members,  including  through  offering  a 
platform for the exchange of good practices and raising awareness on relevant 
EU policies; 

3.  voicing  the  concerns  and  expectations  of  organisations  facilitating  access  to 
finance  to  (potential)  entrepreneurs  from  disadvantaged  and  under-
represented groups / social enterprises; 

4.  providing data / research on developments in the field and on priority topics. 

Results,  impacts  and  lessons  learned:  EVPA  has  executed  its  Annual  Work 
Programme for 2020 in accordance with the four priorities identified by the European 
Commission  in  the  quadrennial  strategic  plan  linked  to  the  FPA,  in  the  area  of 
European  level  networks  active  in  the  promotion  of  access  to  finance.  In  order  to 
reach the objectives above, EVPA targeted a broad community – both geographically 
and in terms of specific target groups. Concretely, this focus translates into targeting 
our  actions  to  social  funding  practitioners  and  policymakers  while  reaching  out  to 
other stakeholders such as academic institutions, social entrepreneurs, consultants, 
grant-making foundations, venture capitalists and financial institutions. 

EVPA  focused  on  the  four  defined  objectives  –  with  a  strong  level  of  activity  and 
deliverables on all of them. A key result is increased attention all over Europe to social 
investments – which is confirmed by the  strong increase in speaking  opportunities, 
the number of visits to our website, the high number of signatures of the new Charter 
of Investors for Impact (i.e., 380 since its launch in November 2019), and the interest 
of new actors, such as the public sector and corporates. 

Identification  of  potential  good  practices:  EVPA  observed  an  increase  in  the 
interest of EVPA members in public–private collaboration and receiving more technical 
and financial support from experts, mainly in translating EU procedures and funding 
opportunities and building their capacity to attract external funding for investments. 
EVPA invested considerable time in analysing the evolving needs of our community 
and  how  we  can  answer  them,  as  well  as  connecting  members  with  core  EU  policy 
developments. They published a series of best practices in public–private collaboration 
within  different  national  impact  investment  ecosystems.  These  five  case  studies 
enhanced the knowledge of other practitioners on public–private initiatives as well as 
policymakers on the initiatives which need attention for scaling-up. 

Transferability  element(s)  of  the  project/activities:  The  EVPA  enlarged  their 
focus  of  interest  by  looking  at  new  initiatives  undertaken  by  the  European 

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Commission. They raised awareness on Just Transition, Climate Neutrality, and Social 
Inclusion,  plus  the  Green  Recovery  and  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights. 
Additionally, considering the COVID-19 pandemic, they closely followed the updates 
linked to the Next Generation EU and incorporated them into their activities. 

Innovativeness of the project/activities: The EVPA addressed the gap between 
the  demand  and  the  supply  of  capital  by  focusing  on  the  role  of  incubators  and 
accelerators but also by continuing to collect data to show where the investments go 
and how they are done. In addition, they explored the way in which the private sector 
engages with the public sector at a municipal, regional and national level. 

Policy evidence generated by the project: In 2020, EVPA launched the 7th edition 
of the EVPA Industry Survey. The report shows a wide range of aggregated statistics, 
covering key aspects of the strategies and practices of investing for impact. 
The EVPA published three industry survey infographics on their website: 

1.  "A Deep-Dive into Foundations and Engaged Grant-making Organisations";  
2.  "A Snapshot of European Investors for Impact"; 
3.  "A Deep-Dive into Impact Funds". 

Transnational  dimension:  EVPA  worked  closely  with  EU  institutions  to  better 
represent  the  interest  of  its  members  by  strengthening  the  links  between  EU 
policymakers  and  practitioners.  Additionally,  this  partnership  still  represents 
fundamental support to all the research work carried out by the Knowledge Centre, 
including data collection to describe in-depth the sector in which we operate. 

New partnerships created: In 2020, EVPA gained 35 new members, primarily in 
North-Western  Europe  but  also  in  Southern  Europe.  The  EVPA  conducted  a 
membership survey that helped to better understand members' needs and interests 
and therefore improve the effectiveness of venture philanthropy / social investment 
practitioners within EVPA's membership. 

Dissemination strategy: The EVPA engaged its members and a wider community in 
various types of dissemination activities, such as training, events, publications, etc. 
The most notable are the following:  

•  EU webinars. Through 3 EU policy webinars,  the EVPA raised awareness of 
311  members  and  practitioners  in  the  impact  space  about  ESF+,  the  EU 
response to COVID-19 and the Just Transition. 

•  EU  news.  The  EVPA  produced  three  policy  briefs  on  relevant  EU  policy 
initiatives  related  to  social  innovation.  In  addition,  the  EVPA  continued  to 
update their EU funding webpage to inform  our members and social  finance 
providers of EU funding opportunities. 

•  Learning  opportunities  for  members.  Through  31  exchanges  with  EVPA 
members, the EVPA informed them about EU funding opportunities for social 
finance  providers.  The  EVPA  also  organised  a  workshop  on  "Leveraging  EU 
Funding  for  Social  Finance  Providers"  at  EVPA's  online  annual  conference  in 
September 2020.  

•  Training  Academy.  The  EVPA  organised  two  online  courses  aiming  to 
increase the skills and capacities of investors for and with impact: The Social 
Impact  Management  and  Measurement  course  and  the  Crash  Course  on 
Venture Philanthropy and Social Investment.  

•  Bridging  the  gap  between  supply  and  demand.  In  partnership  with  the 
EBN and ART-ER (regional partner in Italy), EVPA organised an online reverse 
•  pitching session for the Italian market, bringing a European perspective to 38 

participants. 

May 2022 

 158 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Annual  Report.  The  EVPA  launched  their  annual  public  report,  highlighting 
EVPA's  main  activities  and  achievements  in  2019,  and  therefore  raising 
awareness  of  investing  for  impact  space  and  attracting  new  actors  to  this 
space. 

•  Awareness-raising. EVPA staff represented the experiences and concerns of 
social investors at 10 different events. They also disseminated relevant policy 
practices and reports through online channels. 

•  Investing  for  Impact  Industry  Survey.  This  survey,  based  on  data 
collected  from  112  investors  for  impact,  is  a  unique  source  of  data  to 
understand the sector's trends and is used to inform data-driven policymaking 
in Europe. The EVPA disseminated three infographics highlighting key insights, 
as well as an overview of two main types of investors for impact: foundations 
and engaged grant-makers and impact funds.  

•  Investing for Impact Toolkit. The EVPA published this toolkit as a guide for 
newcomers  to  the  impact  space  and  early-stage  investors  for  impact.  It 
includes a compilation of research materials developed by EVPA over the years. 
•  Success  stories.  The  EVPA  showcased  new  stories  of  successful  social 
purpose organisations with innovative business models supported by investors 
for  impact.  The  EVPA  also  released  the  documentary  "Investing  for  Impact: 
Ordinary Work for Extraordinary People". In addition, they created the website 
Unitus  Europe,  sharing  best  practices  on  how  investors  for  impact  are 
responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

•  Research webinars.  Through  two  webinars,  The  EVPA  shared  findings  and 
insights from our latest research projects (i.e., the report on incubators and 
accelerators;  and  the  Investing  for  Impact  toolkit)  with  337  members, 
practitioners, academics and people interested in the ecosystem, also inviting 
six external experts to contribute to the discussion. 

•  External  publications.  In  order  to  gather  and  disseminate  knowledge,  63 
research  reports  of  relevance  to  the  sector  were  uploaded  to  their  External 
Library. 

European  added  value:  The  added  value  of  the  EU  support  to  EVPA  is  crucial  in 
different  ways.  A  first  aspect  is  the  increased  credibility  that  EVPA  and  the  social 
investment  market  receive  because  of  the  support  and  interest  of  the  European 
Commission. A second aspect is how the support of the European Commission allows 
EVPA to increase its services to the sector and how it also incentivises EVPA to invest 
in better planning and reporting. A third aspect is the increased visibility of the work 
of investors for impact thanks to the involvement of EVPA in the initiatives led directly 
by the European Commission – such as the GECES. 

Sustainability  measures:  The  EVPA  sees  the  need  to  support  the  growth  of  the 
sector in the future through investing in it on two fronts. First, they foresee the need 
to continue playing a crucial advisory role for the EC on the social impact investing 
ecosystem, providing more data and practical evidence for each policy area directly 
linked  to  the  EU  investing  space  and  beyond,  as  many  EU  EVPA  members  are 
deploying their investments in developing countries. As such, it is important to invest 
in broadening our communication strategy, as well as reinforcing our advocacy work 
in order to bring the investors  for impact narrative closer to the mainstream. Also, 
their  activities  will  include  more  targeted  activities,  more  networking  and  sharing 
opportunities through a stronger local presence and a stronger digital presence. The 
EVPA  claims  to  further  diversify  their  approach  in  policy  work  –  as  there  is  now  a 
group of more experienced and well-informed practitioners, in a more mature stage 
of the market, whose policy needs and interests are different to those of newcomers. 

May 2022 

 159 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The EVPA also sees an increased demand for better communication on public–private 
collaboration  and  co-investment  opportunities  at  the  EU  level,  which  should  be 
explained  to  practitioners  in  an  even  more  concrete  and  clear  language.  It  will 
therefore continue to showcase how practitioners have successfully implemented the 
venture  philanthropy  approach  and  how  social  enterprises  have  benefited  from  the 
financial and non-financial support provided by investors for impact. They will expand 
these interactions in live round tables and dialogues, enhancing direct collaboration 
among all the actors. 

Horizontal objectives: In all the activities that EVPA showcases best practices and 
impact strategies (e.g., online gatherings, webinars, research projects, training, policy 
work,  etc.),  there  is  always  a  common  denominator,  which  is  to  make  the  social 
finance  sector  more  effective  in  addressing  diverse  societal  challenges.  The  issues 
discussed  include  employment  and  youth  unemployment,  sustainability,  migration, 
diversity, fighting against poverty and social exclusion. 

Through EVPA activities, the members and other practitioners interested in learning 
and sharing were brought together to discuss, take the first steps towards cooperating 
to  eventually  come  up  with  solutions  for  these  issues.  The  variety  of  actors  pulled 
together helped to draw attention to the importance of collaborating towards the same 
goal, across disciplines and across sectors. 

May 2022 

 160 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Afterword 

This  report  has  provided  a  review  of  projects  and  organisations  funded  by  the  EU 
Programme for Employment and Social  Innovation (EaSI) that were completed in the 
period 1 May 2020 - 28 February 2021. A total of 30 project and organisation fiches, 
which can be read as stand-alone documents, were produced by the research team and 
presented in the report. 

Analysing  and  disseminating  information  about  the  results  of  supported  projects  and 
organisations  form  part  of  EaSI  performance  monitoring  for  2014-2020.  The 
programme’s  monitoring  approach  foresees  biannual  reports  presenting  projects  and 
organisations supported by EaSI and its predecessor programme PROGRESS. This is the 
thirteenth such report. It follows the first 12 issued between 2014 and 2020. 

It  is  expected  that  this  report  will  be  beneficial  to  public  authorities  of  the  Member 
States, civil society organisations and private actors in at least two ways. First, it will 
serve  as  guidance  for  public,  private  and  civil  society  actors  wishing  to  apply  for  EU 
funding in the future. Second, it will provide  policymakers with ideas  that can inform 
the design and implementation of new policy interventions in the policy areas covered. 

In  addition  to  these  key  aims,  the  results  are  expected  to  contribute  to  further  EaSI 
monitoring  and  evaluation  activities.  The  project  and  organisation  fiches  which  have 
been  developed  will  feed  into  preparing  the  EaSI  Performance  Monitoring  Report  for 
2019-2020.  Finally,  the  report  team  believes  that  the  results  will  be  useful  for  the 
evaluators of the programme. 

May 2022 

 161 

 
 
 
 
 
 
6.  Annex  I  –  List  of  projects  and  organisations  in  this 

report 

Title of the project/organisation 

ECMIN  3.0  –  Workers'  information 
and  portal  website  on  applicable 
working conditions 

Action ‘Promoting fair treatment of 
posted workers via increasing 
transnational cooperation’ 

No. in 
the 
report 
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3.1.5   Con3Post -Posting of third country 

CAREurope – Enhancing 
transnational administrative 
cooperation among social partners 
from EU and candidate countries 
and securing better information 
prospects for all posted workers in 
the care sector 
FAIR WORKING CONDITIONS – 
Access to fair working conditions 
for posted workers through sector-
specific information and 
cooperation 

nationals: Mapping the trend in 
the construction sector 
Tackling undeclared work in the 
construction sector (TUWIC) 
RIAC - Regional Integration 
Accelerators 

Funding 
source 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

EU 
contribution in 
euros (initial) 
122 166.87 

Website 

https://promotingfairtreatment.eu  

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

293 043.00 

https://www.constructionworkers.e
u/en  

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

165 424.90 

www.careuropeworkers.com  

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

433 789.93 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 
EaSI-
PROGRESS 

419 018.55 

https://www.zrc-sazu.si/en  

243 296.67 

2 027 203.14 

https://www.cfdt-construction-
bois.fr/  
http://riac-project.eu 

ALMIT project - Acceleration of 
labour market integration of 
immigrants through mapping of 
skills and training 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

979 177.50 

https://almit-project.eu 

The development of an adaptive, 
web-based assessment tool for 
evaluating the literacy, numeracy 
and digital skills levels of low-
skilled/low-qualified adults in 
Turkey 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

260 665.00 

https://onlinebeceri.com 

BASIC - Building Alternative Skills 
Innovative sChemes 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

353 567.10 

https://www.easibasic.gr/en/home
/  

May 2022 

 162 

3.1.6 

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found
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3.2.5 

Support for upskilling pathways in 
the Netherlands 
A Data-driven bridge towards 
ESCO using AI algorithms – 
AI4ESCO 

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3.3.2.  EURES: ESCO under Regulation 

(EU) 2016/568, Article 19 

3.4.1.  SEFEA IMPACT 

3.4.2.  Building an open, pan-European 
pipeline of early-stage, 
investment-ready social 
enterprises with customised deal-
by-deal support 
SEED CAPITAL – FEIS 

3.4.3 

3.4.4 

3.4.5 

Increasing the number of quality 
impact investments into 
investment-ready early-stage 
social enterprises in Spain and 
Portugal 
FSSE - Financing Small Social 
Enterprises 

3.4.6 

EaSI Transaction Cost Support 
Project   

The European Federation of 
National Organisations Working 
with the Homeless (FEANTSA) – 
2019 Work Plan: Leaving no-one 
behind 
EUCLID Network – Empowering 
Social Enterprises for a vibrant 
social enterprise finance market 
2021 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 
EaSI-EURES 

271 363.50 

64 613.39 

EaSI-EURES 

100 000.00 

EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
Microfinance 
and 
Social 
Entrepreneur
ship 
EaSI-
PROGRESS 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

500 000.00 

https://sefeaimpact.it/ 

700 000.00 

www.fa-se.de/en/ 

109 699.54 

www.seedcapitalbizkaia.com 

351 439.79 

https://www.bolsasocial.com/ 

327 361.80 

https://inco-group.co/ 

535 250.05 

https://www.ship2b.org/en/ 

976 160.16 

https://www.feantsa.org/en 

256 025.00 

https://euclidnetwork.eu/ 

CARITAS – Cares II Actions 
Reinforce the European Social 
Dimension 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

744 229.66 

https://www.caritas.eu/ 

COFACE – Families online and 
offline – protection of human 
rights in the digital age 
PICUM Network – Strategic 
advocacy, collaboration and 
activation to address the social 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

490 435.40 

http://www.coface-eu.org/ 

480 605.94 

https://picum.org/ 

May 2022 

 163 

4.1. 

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4.4. 

4.5. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
exclusion of undocumented 
migrants 
EUROCARERS – Towards care(r)-
friendly societies in Europe 
European Microfinance Network – 
Microfinance for social and 
financial inclusion in Europe 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 
EaSI-
PROGRESS 

244 873.77 

https://eurocarers.org/ 

411 937.82 

www.european-microfinance.org 

EUROCITIES – EaSI Programme – 
‘Inclusive cities for All: Social 
rights in my city’ 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

521 851.62 

https://inclusivecities4all.eu/ 

Fundacja Microfinance Centre – 
Financial inclusion for inclusive 
growth in Europe II 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

205 130.14 

https://mfc.org.pl/ 

European Social Network – 2020 
European Social Network Annual 
Work Programme 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

918 374.91 

https://www.esn-eu.org/ 

European Venture Philanthropy 
Association – Strengthening and 
supporting a European ecosystem 
for social enterprise finance 

EaSI-
PROGRESS 

599 669.00 

https://evpa.eu.com/ 

4.6 

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May 2022 

 164 

 
 
 
 
 
 
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH THE EU 

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