COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Preliminary evaluation of the support provided by the ESF and FEAD under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (CRII...

EUROPEAN COMMISSION COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Brussels, 14.7.2023 SWD(2023) 261 final Preliminary evaluation of the support provided by the ESF and FEAD under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiatives (CRII and CRII+) {SWD(2023) 249 final} EN EN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The aim of this document is to present the main findings and lessons drawn from the preliminary evaluation of the support provided by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus (CRII and CRII+). The evaluation focused on the process of reacting to the crisis caused by the COVID- 19 pandemic as it was too early to assess the effects of the response. The document is based on the results of an external study completed in December 2022. BACKGROUND As an immediate response to the public health crisis and its emerging socio-economic impacts, the Commission adopted two initiatives in March and April 2020: the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative and the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative Plus. They granted Member States unprecedented flexibilities to plan and implement COVID-19 anti-crisis operations and address the acute needs of the population, by using resources unspent during the 2014-2020 programming period from the European Structural and Investment...