REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE Evaluation of EU Agencies: Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF and EU-OSHA
Date: 2024-09-27
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: Cedefop, Eurofound, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, European Training Foundation, operation of the Institutions, vocational education, working conditions

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 27.9.2024  COM(2024) 414 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE Evaluation of EU Agencies: Eurofound, Cedefop, ETF and EU-OSHA {SWD(2024) 222 final}  
 
 
This  report  presents  the  main  findings  of  the  2024  evaluation  of  the  EU Agencies  Eurofound, 
Cedefop, ETF and EU-OSHA for 2017 to 2022. 

The European Commission launched the evaluation of the four Agencies in 2022. In line with the 
Commission’s better regulation guidelines, the evaluation looked at the Agencies’ effectiveness, 
efficiency, relevance, coherence/complementarity, and EU added value. 

I. BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The evaluation assessed four decentralised EU Agencies working in the employment and social 
affairs  policy  field,  namely:  the  European  Foundation  for  the  Improvement  of  Living  and 
Working  Conditions  (Eurofound);  the  European  Centre  for  the  Development  of  Vocational 
Training  (Cedefop);  the  European  Training  Foundation  (ETF);  and  the  European  Agency  for 
Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). As regards the European Labour Authority (ELA), due 
to  its  early  stage  of  development  and  its  on-going  2024  evaluation    as  set  out  in  its  Founding 
Regulation, it does not form part of this evaluation. 

The main objective of the  four Agencies is  to  generate knowledge and contribute to  the policy 
process in their respective fields of activity. According to their Founding Regulations: 

1) Eurofound aims to carry out research and share knowledge in employment, industrial 
relations, living and working conditions, to contribute to the objective of shaping and to 
implement policies aimed at improving living and working conditions. 

2)  Cedefop  aims  to  support  the  promotion,  development  and  implementation  of 
evidence-based,  high-quality  EU  policies  in  vocational  education  and  training  (VET), 
skills, and qualifications. 

3) ETF aims to contribute, in the context of the EU external relations policies, to human 
capital  development  of  partner  countries  through  improved  VET  and  lifelong  learning 
systems. 

4)  EU-OSHA  aims  to  provide  reliable  and  relevant  information,  analysis  and  tools  to 
advance  know-how,  raise  awareness  and  share  occupational  safety  and  health  (OSH) 
information and good practice. 

The overall objective of this evaluation was to assess the individual performance of the Agencies 
for the 2017 to 2022 period and to identify possible synergies and efficiency gains. 

II. MAIN FINDINGS  

II.1 Effectiveness 

The four Agencies operated effectively during the 2017-2022 evaluation period, achieving many 
of their objectives to a high degree. There is, however, room for improvement in certain areas, 
as highlighted in Section III on lessons-learned. 

The four Agencies successfully implemented their work programmes despite budget and staff 
limitations.  The  quality  of  the  Agencies’  outputs,  as  well  as  the  use  of  these  outputs  by 

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stakeholders,  was  high.  These  outputs  informed  EU  policymakers  (as  well  as  those  in  ETF 
partner  countries),  contributing  to  EU  policymaking  and  its  implementation  in  EU  Member 
States. 

The Agencies  showed  their  ability  to  adapt  to  challenging  circumstances.  They  responded 
successfully,  within  the  scope  of  their  mandates,  to  unexpected  events  such  as  supporting  the 
EU’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. They 
revised their internal processes and thematic focus and produced relevant and impactful outputs 
in response to these events, to assist stakeholders in facing the new challenges. Additionally, they 
have  increasingly  incorporated  climate  and  environmental  health  considerations  into  their 
activities, ensuring that their outputs contribute to broader sustainability goals.  

While  the  Agencies  have  improved  their  communication  and  dissemination  activities  (e.g., 
increased  social  media  use  and  presence)  the  evaluation  highlighted  that  there  was  scope  for 
improvement in that area. 

II.2. Efficiency 

Overall,  the  four Agencies  were  cost-effective.  They  achieved  most  of  their  delivery  targets 
while lowering costs and maintaining the quality of their work. 

The  Agencies  took  a  variety  of  cost  saving  measures  to  improve  cost-effectiveness  (e.g., 
shared procurement and accounting services, identifying deliverables where costs can be shared, 
and  investing  in  actions  that  lead  to  long-term  savings).  Increased  digitalisation  during  the 
COVID-19 pandemic also contributed to cost-savings. 

However, the four Agencies have the potential to further: 

a)  decrease  the  administrative  burden  and  simplify  processes.  This  could  be  achieved,  for 
instance,  by  encouraging  more  inter-Agency  cooperation  (e.g.,  further  joint  procurement 
opportunities, identification of cooperation in areas of research and survey). 

b) improve monitoring systems to better measure the extent of success. This could include setting 
appropriate  Key  Performance  Indicators  (KPIs)  with  targets,  producing  common  indicators 
across agencies, and increasing result monitoring at the national level. 

The  governance  of  the  tripartite Agencies1  offers  significant  advantages  but  also  creates  some 
inefficiencies.  It  offers  advantages  such  as  representation,  strategic  direction,  and  sharing  of 
knowledge  facilitated  by  government  and  social  partner  representatives  from  all  EU  Member 
States.  At  the  same  time,  due  to  their  larger  size,  the  Agencies’  management  boards  have 
relatively  high  operating  costs,  meetings  tend  to  be  long  and  complex  to  manage,  decision-
making can be challenging, and their overall management can be burdensome. 

II.3 Coherence 

1 CEDEFOP, Eurofound, EU-OSHA. 

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Cooperation  between  the  four  Agencies  has  become  more  active,  producing  more  joint 
deliverables,  and  the  number  of  subjects  covered  has  increased.  While  all  four  Agencies 
work in employment and social affairs, close cooperation has avoided duplication of activities, as 
the Agencies have complemented rather than duplicated their work. The current  evaluation has 
not found any example of duplication of activities. The cooperation has led to a higher degree 
of coherence among the Agencies. 

The  conclusions  of  the  previous  evaluation  concerning  a  potential  merger  between  the  four 
Agencies remain valid. Although the Agencies have some common areas of work, duplication of 
activities has been successfully avoided. Merger options represent high-risk scenarios that show 
difficulties  in  balancing  positive  and  negative  effects,  and  efficiency  can  be  improved  through 
better cooperation. 

Close  cooperation  has  led  to  the  work  of  the  four  Agencies  being  closely  aligned  with  EU 
policies  and  the  priorities  of  the  Commission’s  department  for  employment  and  social  affairs 
(DG  EMPL),  although  there  could  still  be  scope  for  even  stronger  cooperation.  The  four 
Agencies have also further developed cooperation with other relevant decentralised EU agencies 
and international organisations. 

II.4 EU added value 

The four Agencies generated EU added value according to each Agency’s mandate. 

Stakeholders  particularly  appreciated  the  EU  added  value  with  regard  to  the  quality  of 
information  produced, specific thematic knowledge not  available  elsewhere  and  EU dimension 
of publications, surveys and data, as well as the specific focus on EU policy needs. 

Overall, most stakeholders indicated that the Agencies’ work would be difficult to substitute, and 
that discontinuing their activities would negatively affect their work. 

II.5 Relevance 

The Agencies’  activities,  objectives  and  mandates  were  highly  relevant  and  responded  to 
both EU policy and stakeholders’ needs. EU policies and priority areas were reflected in key 
programming documents, and the Agencies’ work was often used by stakeholders. 

The Agencies were also  able to maintain their relevance by delivering work on the COVID-19 
pandemic and supporting EU action in response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. 

The Agencies also responded promptly and openly to audit recommendations. 

III. LESSONS-LEARNED 

The evaluation identified lessons-learned both at the level of the four Agencies and at the level of 
the individual Agencies. 

III.1 Overall lessons-learned for all Agencies 

Effectiveness 

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While  the  use  of  and  quality  of  the Agencies’  work  is  high,  communication  and  dissemination 
could  be  further  improved,  including  better  engagement  with  the  national  level  and  producing 
more customized outputs. 

Efficiency 

There  is  scope  to  increase  efficiency  through  a  variety  of  means.  Prioritisation  of  work, 
simplified internal processes, increased hybrid or online meetings, whenever possible, could all 
help. 

Furthermore, while control mechanisms are effective and generally efficient, streamlining could 
reduce  the  administrative  burden.  Monitoring  systems,  especially  KPIs,  could  see  significant 
improvement in accurately gauging the effectiveness of the Agencies interventions. This could be 
achieved by defining SMART objectives, systematically setting targets for all KPIs,  addressing 
data gaps, further harmonising indicators across the Agencies and improving result monitoring at 
national level. 

Eurofound, Cedefop and EU-OSHA could consider how to address the balance between research 
needs and budgetary restrictions. For instance, through extra-budget funding, as was successfully 
done by the ETF. 

Coherence 

The cooperation between the Agencies and DG EMPL could be reinforced further, including on 
relevant thematic areas and at operational level.  

The  Agencies  could  continue  to  explore  sharing  services  and  facilities.  Cooperation  between 
them on policy work could be further developed and could also benefit from discussions with the 
Commission about where cooperation brings the most EU added value. 

In  the  case  of  skills  forecasts  and  labour  shortages,  better  coordination  between  Cedefop, 
Eurofound,  and  the  ELA  could  be  needed  to  avoid  duplication  and  ensure  completeness  and 
consistency, while the development of joint products in this area should be considered. 

The Agencies could explore a joint approach to engage with national stakeholders and compare 
their experiences. 

EU added value 

To  increase  further  their  added  value,  the  Agencies  could  strengthen  their  visibility  among 
additional  stakeholders  (e.g.  non-governmental  organisations  (NGOs))  and  boost 
the 
dissemination of the Agencies’ work. 

Relevance 

The  Agencies’  mandates  were  found  to  be  relevant.  However,  while  they  already  work  on 
‘megatrends’ (e.g. digital and green transitions and demographic change), they could focus more 
on the implications of an ageing population. 

III.2. LESSONS-LEARNED BY AGENCY 

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Eurofound 

Eurofound could use more interactive and visual content in digital formats. It could provide more 
methodological  guidance for stakeholders, together with  increasing  stakeholder participation  in 
its services and activities. 

Eurofound  could  also  further  reflect  on  cost/quality  trade-offs  between  online  and  face-to-face 
survey methods. Together with the Commission and the social partners, Eurofound could review 
the  approach  to  conducting  representativeness  studies,  as  also  mentioned  in  the  2023 
Commission Communication on strengthening social dialogue. 

Formal  guidelines  and  a  more  systematic  approach  could  also  be  employed  to  further  improve 
staff training. 

Cedefop 

The Cedefop Management Board’s working arrangements could benefit from being reviewed to 
increase  efficiency  and  effectiveness,  including  a  clearer  orientation  of  agenda  items  towards 
policy topics rather than administrative matters.  

Cedefop  could  cooperate  and  align  with  other  agencies  on  KPIs  and  introduce  a  KPI  on  a 
quantitative work programme delivery that would be reported on in agency annual reports. 

Cedefop  could  consider  providing  more  possibilities  for  stakeholders  outside  the  Management 
Board  to  provide  input  on  its  activities  (e.g.  VET  providers)  and  explore  how  to  improve  the 
extent to which its services correspond to the needs of its stakeholders. 

ETF 

The  ETF  could  further  tailor  its  support  to  the  needs  of  partner  countries  and  those  of 
stakeholders, including businesses and the social partners. This could be achieved through user 
satisfaction surveys. The ETF could also reflect on how to better support partner countries that 
do not participate in the voluntary strand of the Torino Process (in-depth system-wide monitoring 
of progress in the VET). 

Cooperation with the Commission could be refined by developing a joint long-term approach to 
focus  efforts  and  resources  on  areas  of  greatest  impact  and  need.  The  ETF  could  further 
cooperate with the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) on gender equality, and with 
the ELA in areas of relevance. The ETF could also develop cooperation with international human 
capital development actors. 

The ETF could  also  work to  improve the geographical  and gender balance among  its  staff and 
look into ways to improve its performance monitoring. 

EU-OSHA 

EU-OSHA could refine its work in a number of specific areas and target audiences. It could also 
increase its impact by exploring how to further support countries that are less advanced in OSH. 

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EU-OSHA could further develop its cooperation with the Commission, increase efforts to share 
research  findings  in  the  Commission’s  publications,  and  increase  the  visibility  of  its  work 
through the Commission’s DG GROW Europe Enterprise Network. 

EU-OSHA could also strengthen its cooperation with the other three Agencies covered by the 
evaluation and the ELA. It could also improve a number of specific internal processes to improve 
cost-effectiveness, notably in relation to translation and procurement. 

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