The European Commission has adopted on 11 September 2019 a proposal to prolong the PES Network until 2027. As the Decision that formally established the PES Network in 2014 will expire by the end of 2020, the European Commission undertook an evaluation and based on the positive results and the strong call from the Network, issued a prolongation of the PES Network.
In order to assess the impact of the PES Network the European Commission launched an evaluation coving the period from 2014 until 2018. This evaluation included a public as well as a targeted consultation, a set of case studies as well as a study.
The Evaluation highlighted the positive impact of the PES Network
The evaluation concluded that the objectives of the Network are relevant for instance supporting vulnerable groups with high unemployment rate, considering their persisting difficulties to (re)enter the labour market. The evaluation also highlighted the effectiveness of the PES Network in delivering its initiatives above all the Benchlearning project, which was seen as a key success factor for establishing a structured process for learning and sharing of practices. Benchlearning is therefore considered a prime example of systematic evidence-based learning, transferable to other policy fields on EU level.
Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour mobility:
The EU PES Network is a successful example of European collaboration at its best.
In summary, the evaluation demonstrated several important impacts, outputs and results that would not have been achieved by voluntary cooperation of national PES: greater ownership, the provision of individual learning and collective mutual learning, ensuring a collective voice and formal platform in policy making at EU level and contributions to EU2020 objectives.
The PES Network welcomes the Commission’s proposal
For the PES Network, the present Commission’s proposal is a confirmation of the commitment of the 32 Member PES to further engage in the cooperation. Johannes Kopf, chair of the PES Network underlines the importance of the Network:
We have all benefitted from the knowledge and the exchange within our Network. The world of employment is changing fast. We have many challenges ahead of us and I am confident that the PES Network is the right format to find the common responses to these challenges.
The text of the proposal, the evaluation and the study are available here.
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