Zagreb, Croatia – Representatives of the Western Balkans’ (WB) Public Employment Services (PES) gathered for the Final Regional PES Bench-learning (PES BL) Event in Zagreb, Croatia, organized by the RCC ESAP 2 on 25-27 October 2022.

“The 2022 WB PES bench-learning cycle which included PES from all WB economies and took place between April and October 2022 in multiple locations across the region has proven to be a very useful PES peer- exchange model, as shared with us by our WB partners.  This PES bench-learning cycle provided for structured, operational exchanges between WB PESs on a range of topics (ALMMs, Youth Guarantee, digital and other), day-to-day work and challenges in service delivery. The 2022 WB PES bench-learning cycle, modelled on the EU PES bench-learning model, involved PES representatives from several EU members (Belgium, Estonia, France, Croatia and Hungary) as well as the EU PES Network who contributed to the success of the 2022 WB PES bench-learning cycle”, said Amira Ramhorst, RCC ESAP 2 Team Leader.    

Ramhorst added that the RCC ESAP 2 project was grateful to its WB partners for their hard work, openness, their staff and resource contributions to complete the 2022 WB PES BL cycle, while also appreciating the EU peers’ contributions.

“We are glad that this 2022 cycle has provided opportunities to enhance the work and efficiency of each PES through peer learning from the regional as well as the EU peers and experts, and for sharing of latest developments in the area of service delivery to registered unemployed persons and employers, including preparations for implementation or enhancement of the Youth Guarantee in the region”.

This is what our WB PES partners said about the 2022 WB PES bench-learning cycle. 

Participants of the Regional Final PES BL Event also heard the presentation on classification of ALMPs based on the EU Labour Market Policy Database by the EU expert, Natalija Ziminiene, providing for key overview of the EU LMP database and also links with the PES bench-learning process and for broader context on the quantitative aspects of the indicators and data collected during the 2022 WB PES cycle.   

In addition, at the final event “Mutual Learning and Best Practices”, WB PES partners presented the best practices identified during the PES bench learning cycle, followed by discussions on possibilities and opportunities for their implementation in WB PES. Finally, reports from PES BL for six WB economies with best practises were presented and shared with the partners, as well as the regional summary report.  

Finally, the Final PES Bench-learning Event was an also opportunity for peer exchanges and learning between WB PES and the Croatian PES who shared their experience and adjustments of their operations and practices during the accession process to the European Union (EU) and as a member of the EU PES Network and EURES.

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The Western Balkans PES bench-learning cycle is conducted in multi-annual cycles, and the 2022 cycle is organized by the Regional Cooperation Council’s (RCC) Employment and Social Affairs Platform 2 (ESAP 2) project. This cycle builds on the achievements of the previous cycle conducted by the ESAP 2 predecessor project. This round of bench-learning in Western Balkans, modelled on the EU PES bench-learning model, is developed as a systematic approach, combining performance comparison and mutual learning activities, aimed at continuous performance enhancement of WB PES towards better service delivery.