The Lisbon European Council of March 2000 asked Member States and the European Commission to make a decisive impact on the eradication of poverty by 2010. Building a more inclusive European Union is an essential element in achieving the Union's ten year strategic goal of sustained economic growth, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.

Member States co-ordinate their policies for combating poverty and social exclusion on the basis of a process of policy exchanges and mutual learning known as the 'Open Method of Coordination' (OMC).

In March 2006  the European Council adopted a new framework for the social protection and social inclusion process. There is a new set of common objectives: Three overarching objectives and objectives for each of the three policy areas of social inclusion, pensions and health and long-term care.  It aims to create a stronger, more visible OMC with a heightened focus on policy implementation, which will interact positively with the revised Lisbon Strategy where economic, employment and social policy have to reinforce each other, while simplifying reporting and expanding opportunities for policy exchange.

http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/social_inclusion/index_en.htm

To support and advance the implementation of the OMC on social inclusion, a Community Action Programme (2002-2006) has been agreed upon by the European Parliament and the Council. The European Commission has brought the Network management and the Peer Reviews together in a new Sub-Programme labelled Peer Review and Assessment in Social Inclusion. Since 2007, the Community Action Programme has been replaced by the PROGRESS Programme (for the period 2007-2013) which combines existing Community programmes and budget lines in the fields of employment, social inclusion and protection, working conditions, gender equality and anti-discrimination.

The Network of non-governmental social inclusion experts assesses the national policies collecting regularly a considerable quantity of information on the changes made to the contents of the national policies and on the innovative practices. It provides DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (DG EMPL) independent analyses and up-to-date information.

Peer Reviews are a key instrument of the OMC. A Peer Review is an event where a host country presents a policy or institutional arrangement (good practice) or a policy reform to a selected group of decision-makers and experts from other countries (peer countries) and to stakeholders' representatives and European Commission officials.

It  allows for an open discussion on social inclusion policies.

The aim is to create mutual learning processes based on existing evaluation or monitoring data and on frank -and objective exchange of experiences about not only what works well, but also what does not work as intended.

The Peer Reviews are programmed regularly over the year and are hosted by a Member State. After each Review a summary, minutes and a synthesis report are produced and published on the website.

The consortium which was selected through a public tendering process to assist the European Commission in carrying out the ‘Peer Review and Assessment in Social Inclusion’ programme is composed of three partners:

• ÖSB Consulting, Austria
• Centre d'Etudes de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques/International Networks for Studies in Technology, Environment, Alternatives, Development (CEPS/INSTEAD), Luxembourg)
• The Institute for Employment Studies (IES), UK

For further technical information on the implementation of the Programme, please consult the

Operational Guide | en | de | fr |

socialinclusion@oesb.at