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Recommendations for action
1. The discussion revealed that the instrument “Small Grants” has been a success in
all three countries and will definitely be continued.
2. At the beginning of the new ESF subsidy period, the EU Commission has
continued to recommend the payment of 100 % grants, but a 100 % funding on a
national level cannot be guaranteed. What is certain is that a co-financing obligation
on a micro-project level is not practicable, but would have to be realised on another
higher level. In England for example, co-financing is provided among others by job
agencies. An advantage of co-financing is the involvement of new partners, but the
disadvantage here is the dependency on the financial backers. For this reason, the
retention of 100 % funding would be preferable! If co-financing is necessary, it
should only be provided on a programme (i.e. national) level.
3. Both socio-environmental and addressee-based approaches have proved to be
successful; the combination of the two approaches would be particularly promising.
4. The advantage of programme coordination through an NGO is the better
accessibility of target groups, provided that the relevant NGO has sufficient
experience within this field (this is for example the case in Italy, where cooperatives
are particularly supported: social consortia which have provided consultancy
services for cooperatives for over 30 years function as coordinators). The advantage
of coordination undertaken by local authorities is the assumption of responsibility
and the improved coordination of the various strategies, excluding the possibility of
redundant funding. In an addressee-based approach, it would be advantageous if
the NGO undertook the coordination but in close cooperation with regional
authorities – this will however only function if the decision-making power is in the
hands of a committee in which civil society actors are explicitly represented.
5. Finally, we would like to underline that due to the preparatory measures undertaken
within the employment field, target groups not previously accessed were able to
participate in these projects. An overemphasis on the employment market does
however risk the exclusion of especially disadvantaged persons. The aim of support
must be to stabilise these particularly disadvantaged persons and pave their way
towards the employment market. In a second step, a more direct approach towards
employment can be targeted on the basis of these preparatory measures.
In Germany, there were several examples in which a qualification gained led to the
establishment of a new business.
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