News
Social Platform calls on the European Parliament and Council to keep pre-conditions of the new Structural Funds
[18/05/2012]

On May 18 we addressed the rapporteurs of the European Parliament and the Council on the proposal for the EU's next Structural Funds. We called on them to uphold the General Ex-Ante Conditionalities in the proposal on the General Regulation - so there are clear pre-conditions in place for the beneficiaries to be able to receive funding. These include:
  • Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty
    • uphold the inclusion of “measures for the shift from residential to community-based careâ€
  • Anti-discrimination
  • Gender equality
  • Disability
Why?
The general ex-ante plays a central role in bringing the EU closer to the Europe 2020 goals by supporting the impact of the Structural Funds on employment, education and social inclusion. The EU Structural Funds are capable of activating the full participation of the most vulnerable people living in Europe, in particular those at risk of discrimination, poverty and social exclusion.

The general ex-ante on anti-discrimination, gender equality and disability can help member states comply with EU commitments on the;

    • Principles of the Lisbon Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights
    • Headline targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy

Uphold the inclusion of “measures for the shift from residential to community-based care†as residential settings can sometimes be segregating, deny the users’ fundamental right to self-determination, and can have a negative impact on their self-confidence and autonomy. It is also a more costly form of care service provision as it will prolong the time people require support. During the Current and past Structural Funds programming periods it has been shown that an appropriate combined use of the ERDF and the ESF can play an important role in supporting member states' efforts in moving from institutional to community-based care (‘deinstitutionalization’) and in extension to reach the social inclusion objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Social Platform is supported in the call by:

Read our full letter.