A brand new programme of peer reviews in the field of national social inclusion policies was launched in Stockholm, Sweden on 22-23 April 2004, heralding the start of a new approach to evaluating and - where possible - transferring innovative examples of good practice in different EU Member States. The Swedish government hosted this first meeting, attended by representatives from seven peer countries: Belgium, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. Mr Armindo Silva and Mr Hugues Feltesse took part on behalf of the European Commission (DG Employment).
The Swedish Local Development Agreements form part of the government's Metropolitan Policy, agreed in 1998, aimed at building sustainable development in the more deprived urban areas of the country. The two prime policy objectives are to support long-term economic growth, and break down social and ethnic segregation. Between 1999 and 2001, the government concluded LDAs with seven municipal authorities, covering 24 housing districts, with 250,000 residents. They are evaluated annually.
A key facet of the scheme is the "bottom-up" principle, prioritising the active participation of local people and community groups in designing and implementing projects. Another crucial element is the "holistic" approach, involving cross-sector cooperation among different partners and building horizontal collaboration between the various government or other agencies responsible for employment, education, health care, housing, crime prevention, social security, immigration and culture. The LDAs work towards agreed objectives, which are readjusted each year.
The agreements themselves cover over 1,000 different projects, which vary widely according to local circumstances and needs. The peer group was keen to understand what these measures entail in concrete terms. On Day 1 of the meeting, participants travelled by bus to the SkŠrholmen area of Stockholm, to visit the local Job Centre. The head of the centre explained how the extra finance provided through the Local Development Agreement has enabled staff to start working in a new way, focusing on empowering individuals and developing personal potential rather than highlighting problems. Of the 1,500 new clients who came to the Job Centre in 2003, 75% secured work.
The Swedish government allocated SEK 2.1 billion (EUR 225 million) from 1999-2003 for these initiatives, but with this extra funding coming to an end, the successful measures will have to be sustained in future out of normal budgetary resources. The peer review group questioned whether this would prove to be an obstacle to the long-term continuity that is another key aspect of the policy.
The members concluded that many aspects of the LDAs are relevant to their own efforts to combat social exclusion, although in countries with a strong regional level of devolved government, such as Belgium, Spain and Italy, the exact Swedish model would be difficult to emulate. While most felt LDAs by themselves could not resolve the broader causes of segregation, they were especially interested in the examples of local partnership and cross-sector dialogue. Several participants said they could also learn from the stringent monitoring and evaluation procedures.
The meeting heard that Local Development Agreements conform well to the objectives laid down in Sweden's Action Plan against Poverty and Social Exclusion 2003-2005 (NAP/incl) and in the EU's Community Action Programme (2001) for combating social exclusion, which adopted the Open Method of Coordination for encouraging cooperation between Member States.
The Peer Review Programme in the Field of Social Inclusion Policies involves stakeholder and NGO representatives as well as Member State officials and experts. Representatives from the European Anti- Poverty Network and Eurocities took part in the Swedish review.
The reports and papers from the peer review meeting will be published on the website of the Peer Review Programme. More information and evaluations of the Local Development Agreements can be found at: http://www.storstad.gov.se/english.