The Commission can endorse the Council’s common position because it considers it an appropriate compromise that meets the objectives of the amended Commission proposal, which accepted a large number of the European Parliament’s amendments.
In relation to the amended Commission proposal one change of substance was requested by Council. Member States indicated unanimously their objection to the provisions of article 5 (3) providing an allocation of at least 2% of ESF resources under the "Convergence" Objective to "capacity building and activities jointly undertaken by the social partners". After consultation with the European Parliament, the Presidency has proposed that the text be adapted to state that "an appropriate amount of ESF resources shall be allocated to capacity building, which shall include training, networking measures, strengthening the social dialogue and activities jointly undertaken by the social partners." The other modifications, requested by the Council, do not change the substance of the Commission proposal.