The Commission presents a summary of the annual implementation reports for the operational programmes cofinanced by the Fund for European aid to the most deprived (FEAD) in 2016.
FEAD supports the most disadvantaged groups in society by providing food and basic consumer items such as school supplies and toiletries or by organising social inclusion activities. Although the situation improved in 2016, the proportion of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (23.5 %) and those affected by severe material deprivation (7.5 %) remained high.
The total available amount of FEAD is EUR 3.8 billion at current prices. The EU provides a maximum of 85 % matching funding to complement resources allocated by the Member States, bringing the total value of the fund to around EUR 4.5 billion.
The summary is based on the information contained in the 2016 implementation reports. All Member States except the UK submitted an implementation report.
Financial implementation of the operational programmes: overall, the financial implementation of FEAD programmes had already accelerated in 2015, and the upward trend continued in 2016. EUR 508.6 million was committed to supporting FEAD operations in 27 Member States in 2016, up from EUR 470.0 million in 2015. The most significant progress was in payment applications submitted to the Commission. In 2016, 24 Member States declared a total of EUR 353.8 million of eligible public expenditure, which represented a more than seven-fold increase compared to 2015 (EUR 46.3 million).
OP I – Food and basic material assistance: 18 Member States delivered food aid in 2016. 5 countries provided more than 90 % of the food aid in terms of weight: ES, FR, RO, PL and IT. 6 Member States provided basic material aid such as school supplies and hygiene products. Except for AT, all did it in addition to food aid. AT and GR accounted for around
80 % of the total monetary value of goods distributed (EUR 7.6 million). The total monetary value of goods distributed in 2016 showed a strong increase compared to 2015.
OP II – Social inclusion: in 2016, 4 countries used OP II to launch social inclusion activities: DE, DK, NL and SE. The 4 countries together reached around 23 000 people in 2016. In terms of target groups (that overlap), migrants (or people with a foreign background, minorities), women and the homeless were the most frequent users of social inclusion programmes. Overall, target groups were well reached. DE was particularly effective at reaching newly arrived adults and children from the EU (mostly Roma people), as well as homeless people.
Obstacles to implementation: several Member States were unable to distribute aid in 2016 or started delivery late. Most delays can still be attributed to the late designation of managing authorities. In all Member States concerned, delivery is now underway, bringing the total to 27 Member States.
Areas for improvement include speeding up implementation in a number of countries, integrating food donations in the delivery and improved reporting on accompanying measures. The share of donated food integrated in the programme is still low. The Commission has ensured that Member States will therefore be able to define flat rates, lump sums or unit costs (simplified cost options) and use them as the basis for payments to partner organisations that collect and distribute donated food.
Conclusion: despite its limited scope, the report states that FEAD has shown that it truly complements national efforts to address material deprivation and combat poverty and social exclusion. FEAD support reached almost 16 million people in 2016, and in many cases it was able to reach specific groups within the most deprived who would otherwise not receive any assistance. The main success factor in reaching the target groups and providing relevant assistance was the strong cooperation and collaboration established with partner organisations. FEAD has helped to leverage resources and mobilise assistance provided by partner organisations e.g. by distributing food obtained from other sources (such as dairy farmers who had unsold products), which had broader environmental benefits (fulfilling horizontal principles) and linked producers to other supply chains.
The Commission will continue to monitor progress, in particular regarding those Member States where programme implementation was under review or was delayed. It will focus on further progress being made in implementing basic material assistance within OP I programmes. Despite significant progress in 2016, it is still lagging behind food support implementation. Dedicated annual review meetings between each Member State and the Commission are being conducted to address these concerns.