mr president i welcome this report
i think there is much to commend it
as a strong believer in cohesion policy and structural funds i particularly welcome the comments about how crucial these funds are in helping people back to work
in south wales for example i have seen the european social fund going to provide schemes for skills training and many other schemes to help people back into work
mr andor might not like my saying this but that is one of the reasons why i believe that the european social fund should remain with regional development and not go to employment
that is a discussion we will no doubt have sometime in the future
i also welcome the recognition in the report of the importance of social partners
of course when i say social partners i mean trade unions but i also mean local authorities and regional government as well
these are big deliverers of services but they are also big employers and therefore should be included in any social dialogue on employment policies
