This document reports on phase 1 of the Special Preparatory Programme for the European Social Fund (SPP-ESF), which was undertaken to gather information on the transfer and exchange of experiences from the European Union (EU) to the 10 accession countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The 2 chapters constituting the first 15% of the report examine the SPP-ESF study visits to 11 Eastern European countries and the Brussels SPP follow-up conference that reviewed the latest developments in Structural Fund reform, the European Employment Strategy and the influence these are having on the European Commission's pre-accession strategy. Among the topics discussed are the following: study methodology; criteria for selecting study countries; case study findings; and conference logistics, contents, agenda, and the evaluation questionnaire survey. The remaining 85% of the document consists of reports on the EU countries visited (Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) and reports on the state of readiness in 10 candidate country administrations for future access to the European Social Fund (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia). Lists of abbreviations and participants in the study visits and Brussels conference are appended. (MN)