EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND : COURT OF AUDITORS: TRAINING ACTIONS FOR WOMEN NOT SATISFACTORY.

Vocational training actions for women co-financed by the European Social Fund are not selected on the basis of a clear analysis of market priorities, according to the EU Court of Auditors. The CoA's special report, published on 26 January, criticises the lack of clear logic behind the type of vocational training selected and the targeted sectors.

The court's audit, which covers the period 2000-2006, was conducted at the European Commission and in five member states (Germany, Spain, France, the United Kingdom and Italy). The court reviewed whether the measures had been appropriately selected and adequately monitored. These vocational training actions for women, the main ESF-financed means of promoting equal opportunities for men and women in the labour market, cost nearly 3 billion for the period in question.

According to the Court of Auditors, the actions under the programmes audited were not selected as a direct response to an analysis of labour market requirements. It argues that the measures were not sufficiently focused on specific target groups and that, for certain projects, the candidates selected were not necessarily those most in need of support for entering the labour market.

On monitoring, the information available for the programmes audited did not allow an evaluation of whether the training actions for women achieved their stated objectives. The indicators...