Public consultation on the evaluation of the European Social Fund’s support to social inclusion.

The EU Commission has launched an online public consultation that is open to the general public for a period of 12 weeks. The aim of the consultation is to evaluate the European Social Fund’s (ESF) contribution to social inclusion during the 2014-2018 period.

Evaluation criteria include the integration of disadvantaged people into society and the fight against poverty and discrimination by the ESF. Structural reforms and parameters such as visibility, relevance, cost-benefit ratio and effectiveness of ESF measures are also being evaluated.

The Commission is particularly seeking contributions from citizens (whether or not they have received ESF support), organisations involved in the management of European Social Fund programmes, organisations involved as beneficiaries or project partners in the implementation of ESF projects, public bodies, NGOs and municipalities.

Since 2014, the EU has carried out activities to promote social inclusion as well as combat poverty and discrimination. These activities are supported by the European Social Fund. The information collected will be used to assess what has been achieved over the period 2014-2018. The consultation will also provide the Commission with guidance on possible improvements in terms of support, effectiveness and design.

The results of the evaluation will play a key role in the planning of the next programme period. In addition to the consultation, other evaluation procedures will be carried out such as interviews, focus groups and case studies.

An online questionnaire in several official EU languages will allow all interested parties to participate in the consultation. It is open until 19 December 2019.