Note: The number of irregularities reported as fraudulent measures the results of efforts by Member States to counter fraud and other illegal activities affecting financial interests and shouldn't be interpreted as the level of fraud

Read more on how Member States deal with irregularities and on the protection of EU financial interests and the fight against fraud

Source: European Commission

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Graph from the report EU Cohesion Policy contributing to employment and growth in Europe Source: European Commission

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Source: Annual activity reports  DG REGIO and DG EMPL

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Belgium

• Simplify and reinforce coherence between employment incentives, activation policies, labour matching, education, lifelong learning and vocational training policies for older people and youth.

Bulgaria

• Accelerate the national Youth Employment Initiative, for example through a Youth Guarantee.
• Adopt the School Education Act and pursue the reform of higher education, in particular through better aligning outcomes to labour-market needs and strengthening cooperation between education, research and business.

Denmark

• Improve the quality of vocational training to reduce drop-out rates and increase the number of apprenticeships.

Estonia

• Continue efforts to improve the labour-market relevance of education and training systems, including by further involving social partners and implementing targeted measures to address youth unemployment.

The main objective of the study is to provide background information for the preparation of the 2014-2020 interventions in the field of research and innovation in Spain. The study makes the following recommendations:

1. Segmentation according to the different profiles of companies in the national and regional innovation plans;
2. New indicators for innovation are required;
3. Smart Specialisation: analyses of competitive technologies at Spanish level must carried out before designing new strategies;
4. Interventions should include the role of the Spanish General Administration and its responsibility in the coordination of innovation systems;
5. Administrative burden should be reduced;
6. Interventions addressing training activities on how to evaluate and give value to innovation instruments should be addressed;
7. A single ranking on technological centres in Spain should be published;
8. Take into consideration real private sector requirements (including short term and regional requirements);
9. Public Call for Proposals should avoid direct competition between technological enterprises and technological centres.

Read the executive summary (EN) and the full study (ES)

Source: European Commission