ABSTRACT
A comparison between EC and Member State measures to combat unemployment reveals fundamental differences in the ability to act between governments and EC institutions. Economic policy is still entirely managed at the national level. Member States still have a capacity to act both in the public and private sector within their territory which is not matched by the EC. In addition, the EC budget is only a fraction of the size of the budget of even the smaller Member States, and nearly two-thirds of this budget is still devoted to the Common Agricultural Policy. Community action has therefore been limited to exhortation on co-ordination of Member State policies, limited funding of infrastructure investment in underprivileged regions and funding of training projects. It cannot be said that the European Community has a comprehensive employment policy. The Community’s role is very much subsidiary to action at local regional and national level. The European Social Fund’s overall contribution to national training programmes has been limited, partly because the ESF is small in relation to the unemployed population of the Community and partly because governments have used ESF funding to finance their own training programmes rather than to create additional training facilities. However ESF has been useful in helping to promote initiatives and innovations in local government and voluntary sector programmes.
