A historic breakthrough in the EU’s legislative landscape

The European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-Based Care (EEG) has today released a detailed response to the Regulations on the use of European Structural Funds for the next seven years which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union in December.

The Regulations constitute the key rules that will govern the European Structural Funds for the next seven years and for the first time include specific references to support the “transition from institutional to community-based care”.

The statement calls on the European Commission to:

  • provide guidance to the Member States, in order to ensure that the priority of supporting the transition from institutional to community-based care, as clearly stated in the Regulations is fully implemented in the new programming period;
  • ensure that the commitments to transition from institutional to community-based care are clearly described in the Partnership Agreements and Operational Programmes of all Member States;
  • ensure that implementation of these commitments is effectively monitored at the national level and by the European Commission, with a meaningful involvement of all the relevant stakeholders, in line with the European Code of Conduct on Partnership.
  • ensure that the Country Specific Recommendations (CSR)  based on National Reform Plans are coherent with and used as instruments to achieve the objectives outlined in the new regulations.

The EEG is a broad coalition which brings together stakeholders representing people with care or support needs, as well as service providers, public authorities and intergovernmental organisations. It is a key stakeholder in the joint effort to eradicate institutional care in Europe and its membership includes Eurochild, a leading partner of the Opening Doors campaign.

Read the full statement.