EQUAL - Final report - eng - navreme

EVALUATION OF CIP EQUAL TRANSNATIONAL CO-OPERATION PRINCIPLE
2. BACKGROUND AND THE NATIONAL STRATEGY
Evaluation of the CIP EQUAL transnational cooperation principle was conducted within the framework
of the whole programme, its objectives and context of national and European policies. The mentioned
wider framework is outlined in this chapter; the following chapter explains then how the evaluation
was interconnected with this wider context in particular. The Community Initiative EQUAL is one of the
four Community initiatives, which were co-financed from the structural funds in the 2000–
2006 programming period. The Community Initiative EQUAL co-financed from the ESF is one of the
tools to achieve the objectives of the European Employment Strategy (EES).
The Community Initiative EQUAL is implemented in the whole territory of all Member States and
differs from the main forms of aid from the ESF (operational programmes for Objective 1 and
programme documents for Objective 3) due to inclusion of innovativeness and transnational
cooperation.
CIP EQUAL supports the transnational cooperation in development and promotion of new tools of fight
against all forms of discriminations and inequalities in the labour market in the whole EU territory. The
objective of the Initiative is thus to develop and promote the tools to support the members of
disadvantaged groups (long-term unemployed, low-qualified, school graduates, older citizens, disabled
persons, ethnical minorities, women, asylum seekers and the like), who encounter discrimination or
unequal treatment either directly at work or when searching for it. One of the thematic areas of the
Community Initiative EQUAL is focused on the issues of social inclusion and career opportunities of the
asylum seekers.
2.1 EU and ESF aid to the Czech Republic in the 2000–2006
period
In the 2000-2006 EU programming period two rounds of calls to submit CIP EQUAL grant applications
took place in the EU-15 Member Countries. The Czech Republic, as one of two candidate countries,
took part also in the first round announced in 2001 in the Phare Programme.
Since the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU, the ESF it has been a tool of direct EU aid to the
Czech Republic in the area of human resources development, labour and employability; the aid was
implemented by means of the operational programmes of the 2004-2006 programming period and by
means of CIP EQUAL. Drawing of the ESF funds in the Czech Republic and in the Capital City of
Prague was enabled by the following operational programmes:
Human Resources Development Operational Programme (OP RLZ), managing authority (MA)
MoLSA;
Joint Programme Document for Objective 3 for Prague (JPD3), MA MoLSA and three
Intermediate Bodies (IB).
Further the ESF, together with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), co-financed the
Joint Regional Operational Programme (JROP) in the amount of EUR 47.28 million, i.e. ca 11.5 % of
the total ESF allocation for the 2004–2006 period, i.e. EUR 409,713,575.
The Czech Republic participated in the second round of the CIP EQUAL calls, financed by the ESF, on
the basis of the Community Initiative Programme EQUAL CZ (CIP EQUAL CZ) after the accession of
the Czech Republic to the EU in May 2004, together with partners from other Member Countries.
The Community Initiative Programme EQUAL CZ, the MA of which became MoLSA and which was
financed of 73 % from the ESF and of 27 % from the state budget of the Czech Republic, was
approved by the European Commission in June 2004, namely for the 2004-2006 period; its
implementation took place from June 2004 till the end of August 2008; MoLSA is responsible for the
CIP EQUAL CZ management.
Navreme Boheme, s.r.o. 15