The Commission’s staff working document presents the main findings of the evaluation of the four EU agencies (EUROFOUND, CEDEFOP, ETF and EU-OSHA) working in the employment and social affairs policy field for the period 2011-2016.

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The evaluation concludes that all four agencies have been overall successful in fulfilling the tasks stemming from their mandates; these Agencies have provided high value-for money and added-value and their work has been relevant and useful for their stakeholders.

The evaluation also identifies a number of areas for improvement, such as enhancing the quality of outputs in face of the budgetary constraints, more timely delivery of certain outputs, and increasing its accessibility and readability to non-specialists and non-English speakers.

The evaluation also recommends to diversify the communication channels and to increase the use and dissemination of their outputs at national level. It further suggests better aligning agencies activities to the EU policy priorities and improving their ability to respond to requests and emerging needs at the EU-level.

The evaluation recommends as well improving cooperation amongst agencies, as there are opportunities to further reduce costs, increase efficiency and achieve stronger synergies through reinforced cooperation. 

Finally, it concludes that, although the four agencies are predominantly research-centred, unlike the proposed European Labour Authority, they could usefully support and contribute to the proposed European Labour Authority.