eWORK 2000 - European Telework Week

New Ways to Work 2000European Telework2.3 Structural FundsThe European Union intervention in support of structural adjustment through its Structural Funds amounts toalmost 30,000 million € per year. There are four structural funds: the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF), the European Social Fund (ESF), and funds for the agricultural sector and for fisheries, as well asthe Cohesion Fund.Whereas the RTD funds are managed by the Commission, most of the Structural Funds are not. Only 9% isset aside for Community initiatives, the main part being managed by the Member States, and indeed individualregions, themselves. In some of the Community initiatives, attention on new ways of working plays a role, forinstance in Employment NOW (New employment Opportunities for Women). A specific mention ofteleworking is given in the description of one of the four priority themes, i.e. the reconciliation of work andfamily life, where it is explicitly stated that measures for avoiding negative effects, like isolation and loss ofsocial protection, should be included. The main initiatives are, however, to be found in the LEADER, and,replacing the ADAPT and EMPLOYMENT, initiatives a new initiative called EQUAL.In order to bridge the difference between regions in terms of the development of new ISTs, Article 10 of theERDF and Article 6 of the ESF identify the translation of the Information Society concept into real life in theregions as a priority. This is achieved through the demonstration of innovative applications and services as oneof the priority areas for pilot actions, of which telework is often an important component.2.3.1 The LEADER InitiativeLEADER is the French anagram for Links between actions for the development of the rural economy. TheCommunity's participation is 1,755 million ECU of which 900 million ECU are for the regions of Objective 1(lagging behind in development). LEADER I was established to bring the operation of the Structural Fundsinto closer collaboration with the Commission's RTD initiatives, such as ORA in 1990 and 1991. LEADER IIapplies for the duration of the planning period of the Structural Funds from 1994 to 1999. During 2000,further efforts are proposed to bring ICTs benefits to local people in rural areas: innovative aspects of suchprojects will continue to be supported by the next rural development initiative LEADER+ (2000-2006). 12LEADER covers geographical areas of limited size with a strong local identity. It is based on the activeinvolvement of the local people, firms, associations and authorities. It serves as an incentive for developmentstrategies adapted to the area's characteristics using an integrated, multi-sector approach. Among the eight keypoints for rural territories 13 , four of them may concern teleworking: activities and jobs; migrations and socialand vocational integration; technological developments; competitiveness and access to markets. Severalteleworking projects have started under the "rural innovation programmes" (measure B), the "transnational cooperation"(measure C), as well as the European network for rural development (measure D). These areincluded in Annex 3.Rural development is increasingly understood as sustainable integrated development to include social, cultural,economic and environmental dimensions in a context of geographic diversity. Issues about new ways ofworking with ICTs have been tackled by many project holders within the LEADER framework, with somesuccess and many failures. During the European seminar entitled "new technologies and changes in ruralemployment" held in June 1998 in the Hebrides, seven case studies were investigated and four models of bestpractice were identified:i) ICTs in traditional activities, e.g. marketing local crafts, tourism, agricultural produce12 More information on the rural development initiative and its operational projects is available in six languages from the Rural Europe Web sitehttp://www.rural-europe.aeidl.be13 The eight key points identified by the LEADER network are: the mobilisation of the local population and social cohesion; the area's culture andidentity; activities and jobs; the area's image; migrations and social and vocational integration; the environment, management of spaces and naturalresources; technological developments; competitiveness and access to markets.- 17 -