The development of civil dialogue has faced numerous developments in the EU over the last decades, which were marked by a growing acknowledgement of the contribution of civil society to the governance process and led to the inclusion of a specific article on participatory democracy in the draft constitutional Treaty, but also the launch of…
DetailsOne of the main ambitions of the revised Lisbon Strategy is to complete the internal market in the area of Services, which provide 75% of EU jobs and 65% of GDP in the EU. This means enabling the Service Sector to operate across member state boundaries. The main interest is in opening up the market…
DetailsThrough the EAPN Services Group, in 2007/8 we have taken action on the following areas: 1) Monitoring the impact of the Services Directive on people experiencing poverty EAPN has developed an EAPN explainer and a Glossary on the Services Directive, explaining the specific relevant of the Services Directive and analysing the likely impact on EAPN…
DetailsThe refusal of the EU to establish a strong horizontal framework on all Services of General Interest as a balance to the liberalization of the market through the Services Directive and other sectoral initiatives. The unwillingness to affirm the overarching priority of a social Europe = guaranteeing the implementation of universal services obligations (accessible, affordable,…
DetailsEAPN actively campaigned against the Services Directive since its inception, (known as the Bolkestein Directive) on three key areas: To get Services of General Interest excluded from the Directive. To get the specificity of social and health services recognized and excluded. To get the “country of origin” principle abolished, which could have led to social…
DetailsThe Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund are intended to narrow the gaps in economic and social development among the regions and Member States of the European Union. Representing more than one third of EU’s budget, the Funds constitute substantial financial assistance that shapes the long-term development of the recipient countries and regions. What can…
DetailsOne of the success stories of the last round of the structural funds was the EQUAL Programme, which operated on the basis of social inclusion, innovation, transnationality, empowerment and the bottom-up approach, with over 2,000 projects, mainly for NGOs. There will be no CIPs in the new round, but these principles should be integrated in…
DetailsTo ensure that the funds deliver on tackling poverty, it is crucial to enable access of those organisations engaged with the most excluded, and to provide tailored mechanisms. Key tools to support NGOs in accessing structural funds, global grants (system allowing the provision of small-scale grants through an intermediary body) and training to NGOs (financed…
DetailsFor the first time, Article 11 of the Structural Funds regulation explicitly recognizes the principle of partnership with civil society organisations, which “shall cover the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of operational programmes”. Implementing partnership across the whole Structural Funds process is an obligation upon Member States, but the quality partnership takes various faces across…
DetailsIn line with the renewed Lisbon Agenda, the emphasis on jobs, competitiveness and growth might hinder a rather holistic approach to socio-economic development. EAPN believes structural funds should be instrumental in meeting the EU’s social inclusion objectives, which implies strengthened focus on the following measures: measures efficiently tackling in work poverty “positive” activation measures measures…
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