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On 17 September, the European Commission proposed guidance to Member States to better help the 12 million long-term unemployed in Europe back into jobs. The proposal looks into the role services play in this process and puts forward specific actions as to how Member States can strengthen them. The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) welcomes the efforts made by the EC in this direction. Improvements, however, remain necessary to maximize the impact of the proposals.

EASPD is glad that the European Commission recognises that persons with disabilities are often excluded from the labour market and are particularly vulnerable to long-term unemployment. Based on the expertise of thousands of employment support providers for persons with disabilities within our membership, EASPD is particularly pleased to see that the recommendations include several key aspects of its STAR recommendations and Employment Declaration.

EASPD fully welcomes that the Commission’s proposals include many of these facets, including: individualised and holistic service offer, single point of contact; on-the-job support, partnerships between stakeholders, support for employers, linking proposals to European Funds and the development of monitoring indicators & guidelines for evaluations, including a reporting mechanism.

EASPD also welcomes the fact that the European Commission has already identified how the proposal could strengthen specific weaknesses in several EU Member States: poor continuity in support delivery, poor amount of individualised support and little employers’ engagement.

Nonetheless, the proposals include several flaws which should be tackled in order to maximize their potential. EASPD recommends the European Commission and the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament (in their upcoming opinion) to consider the following improvements:

• Top up national funding: a EU budget should be developed to facilitate effective implementation of the recommendations, similarly to with the Youth Guarantee.
• Incentives for earlier assessment: reward Member States who offer individual assessments before 6 months of unemployment to maximize success.
• Promotion of appropriate ongoing support: clearly state that support should not be cut off abruptly without assessment of individual needs.
• Involve Support Providers: ensure that support providers bring in their expertise at earliest stage possible in the setting up and monitoring of indicators and guidelines for national evaluations.
• European Semester: ensure that the Recommendations are streamlined in the European Semester, in particular for the countries with specific weaknesses as mentioned above.
• Lead by example: Establish an action plan to improve the recruitment of disadvantaged groups and long-term unemployed within the European Institutions; in line with the UN Concluding observations for the EU on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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