The EMPLOY project intends to revise the entire European Structural Funds process (from proposal/funding, to funds provision and monitoring of funds usage). An efficient/effective Management of Structural Funds allowed to increase the promotion of initiatives, particularly at regional and local level, to create jobs, extending access to the labour market, and promoting a growth in the competitiveness of local SME.
PROBLEMThe lack of administration efficiency (with most Member States Structural Funds expenditures lagging behind mainly due to the existence of complex procedures and a highly fragmented organisation) and efficacy (no clear picture of achieved results, especially for the number of jobs created) is resulting in serious deficiencies and delays in the deployment of the funded actions.
AIMThe aim of EMPLOY is to develop multimedia integrated tools and services designed to support the Management of the European Structural Funds (EUSF) process, with the objectives to produce a cost reduction in the targeted public services ranging from 30 to 50%, a productivity improvement of 50% and above all, the creation of at least 50,000 new job opportunities, within the project lifetime.
TECHNICAL APPROACHEMPLOY addressed three main streams of work:
Multimedia integrated tools and services to support the redesign of the European Structural Funds (EUSF) process; user-friendly services for the management of the Structural Funds; a Webbased service for citizens and SMEs to interact with administrations; the set up of security features for data protection; testing of the EMPLOY platform by EG/DG Regio for evaluating the potentiality in managing the structural funds, evaluation of possible involvement of the NAS countries in the future use of EMPLOY tool.