Europese Rekenkamer: ESF-bijdragen ter bestrijding van vroegtijdig schoolverlaten niet altijd effectief en efficiënt (en)

ECA/06/9

Luxembourg, 20 April 2006

Information note by the European Court of Auditors on Special Report No 1/2006 on the contribution of the European Social Fund in combating early school leaving[1]

In March 2000 the European Council agreed on a new objective for the European Union: to transform Europe into a competitive, dynamic and knowledge-based economy characterised by a greater degree of social inclusion. An important aspect of the social inclusion agenda was the recognition of the need to reduce the percentage of young people leaving school prematurely from the average rate of 19,3 %. To this end it established a benchmark which required that "By 2010, all Member States should have at least halved the rate of early school leaving[2], in reference to the rate recorded in the year 2000, in order to achieve an EU average rate of 10 % or less". The audit examined the nature of actions co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF), aimed at combating early school leaving (ESL), in six Member States (Spain, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom).

The audit examined whether:

• - 

  The Commission had ensured the sound financial management of ESF funding in this area;
• - 

  an appropriate analysis of expected economic benefits was performed by Member States;
• - 

  beneficiaries were targeted and resources allocated in cost-efficient manner;
• - 

  projects addressed the specific objective of combating ESL;
• - 

  appropriate monitoring and evaluation activities took place.

The audit identified the need for the Commission to make better use of the management information it receives to ensure that economic, efficient and effective use is made of ESF funding. The examination of Member States' management decision-making showed that ESL activities were not always initiated following an adequate analysis of the problem in Member States and regions or the definition of intended results. Some Member State authorities could not sufficiently justify the overall level of funding allocated to ESL actions, or the basis on which the ESL funding was allocated to different regions. Finally, apart from annual statistics on the level of ESL, little quantitative evaluation information was generally available on the impact of such activities.

While a European definition and benchmark exists for ESL, the use of varying definitions of ESL within a Member State has not facilitated the targeting of geographic areas for assistance nor the measurement of the impact of initiatives. On a wider level, efforts to adopt the Eurostat definition would assist Community efforts in tackling the problem of ESL. Nevertheless, the audit also identified some good management practices as in the development of national databases to monitor the incidence of ESL; the formation of consortia of schools to develop projects; innovative actions, and self-appraisals by projects.

The Court recommends that the Commission should:

• - 

  where necessary, give appropriate guidance to Member States, so as to ensure that Community funding is efficient, effective and economic;
• - 

  verify that Member States' management systems adhere to the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness in conformity with Community regulations.

The Court also recommends that Member States authorities should, in cooperation with the Commission:

• - 

  properly define and identify the incidence of ESL;
• - 

  establish or strengthen existing procedures within co-financed measures for identifying and targeting those most at risk of leaving school prematurely;
• - 

  encourage the exchange of information and best practice between all local and national organisations responsible for tackling ESL, where permitted by law;
• - 

  actively promote the innovative use of ESF funding in tackling ESL.

Special Report No 1/2006 :

http://www.eca.eu.int/ http://www.eca.eu.int/audit_reports/special_reports/docs/2006/rs01_06en.pdf

[1] The sole purpose of this Information note is to provide a summary. The Special Report as adopted by the Court of Auditors, is available on the court's website (http://www.eca.eu.int) and will shortly be published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union.

[2] Early school leaver was defined in terms of the number of 18 to 24-year olds with only lower secondary education or less who were not in education or training.