14/10/2016
The unemployment rate in Greece is the highest in Europe.
Greece has an obligation to implement community service programmes, as a priority, within the framework of active labour market policies and an integrated strategy to promote employment.
The first phase of the pilot community service programmes in 17 municipalities has begun, while they are expected to start in a further 34 municipalities, which have had funding approved from the European Social Fund (ESF).
However, 274 other municipalities go without community service programmes and, probably, without any secure funding.
— Why is the ESF funding only 42 000 places through community service and not the total which was identified by the mechanism for diagnosing community service requirements? — What is the mechanism for assessing the community service programmes? When should this be done for the 17 and 34 municipalities which are to apply the programmes initially, so that it may be rolled out to the other 274 municipalities in Greece? — Why has the Commission approved training, within the framework of the community service programmes, only in the IT and social economy specialisms, and, what is more, without any training allowances for the beneficiaries?
