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Evaluating the European Social Fund support to Roma inclusion

European Commission's DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion released an evaluation of the ESF support for enhancing access to the labour market and the social inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities, including Roma.

Carried out by the Centre for Strategy & Evaluation Services (CSES) for the European Commission, the research aimed to examine the role of the European Social Fund (ESF) in promoting access to the labour market and the social inclusion of migrants and minorities and includes a thematic report on Roma.

This study included an extensive desk and field research across a representative sample of 15 EU countries the production of country reports setting out the baseline situation of these groups, and an analysis of the major barriers that they face in accessing the labour market. The research was carried out with the participation of many relevant stakeholders including ESF Managing Authorities, Implementing Bodies and Agencies, as well as NGOs and representatives of civil society,

The publication also includes a Roma Thematic Report on the extent of challenges faced by this minority in the European Union, and on the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of the European Social Fund as an instrument in addressing these challenges.

EURoma Network is mentioned on several occasions as a key ESF-financed instrument that faciliatates peer review and the transfer of good practices at the expert level. The report “EURoma Network, Roma and the Structural Funds” is also considered as a source of information on issues relating to the linkages between ESF and national Roma integration programmes.

Key findings from the Roma thematic report are as follows:

There is increased attention in ESF to promoting the labour market and social inclusion of the Roma in 2007-2013 compared with the 2000-2006 programming period.
ESF expenditure to promote Roma inclusion through specific actions has increased between the 2000-2006 and 2007-2013 periods, but the number of EU countries which support such measures has not increased, due to the transition towards an ‘explicit but not exclusive’ targeting approach.
In some countries, there was insufficient aggregation at programme level about expenditure on ESF disaggregated according to whether individuals had a Roma background.
The research identified initiatives to improve reporting on the use of Structural Funds to promote Roma inclusion. The EURoma network has encouraged ESF MAs to report on expenditure at national level and across regional MAs (e.g. Italy).
Participation in the ESF by people with a Roma background has increased between programming periods.
While the ESF has made a positive contribution to promoting Roma inclusion, the nature and scale of the results achieved and the longer-term impacts on strengthening employability are difficult to assess.
Through multiannual programming, the ESF has encouraged a long-term approach to promoting Roma integration and the adoption of a more integrated approach through EQUAL.
Despite ESF interventions persistent disparities in employment and educational attainment between the majority population and Roma.
Insufficient focus on capacity building for Roma NGO.

The Report on the role of ESF in promoting access to the labour market and the social inclusion of migrants and minorities (synthesis report and national case studies) is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=6948&langId=en

The evaluation of ESF support for Roma inclusion (executive summary, full report and annexes) can be downloaded at: http://ec.europa.eu/esf/main.jsp?catId=63&langId=en#opt3

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Evaluating the European Social Fund support to Roma inclusion

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