ESF+

ESF+ in general / ESF+ under shared management (ROP and NOP)

The ESF+ aims to address one of the EU’s key challenges, namely achieving a more social and inclusive Europe, as envisaged in the European Pillar of Social Rights, by complementing the Member States’ own competence in employment, social affairs, education and skills strengthening. It is one of the cornerstones of the EU’s socioeconomic recovery from the Coronavirus pandemic and contributes (with the other Structural Funds) to economic, territorial and social cohesion policy in the EU by reducing disparities between member states and regions. Consistent with other Structural Funds, ESF+ shared management actions are co-financed by national budgets. More specifically, ESF+ pursues the following objectives, divided into three main areas:

1. Employment

• Improve access to employment for all, particularly young people (including through Youth Guarantee), the long-term unemployed, disadvantaged groups, and inactive people, and promote self-employment and the social economy;

• Modernize labor market institutions and services to ensure convergence of needs and skills, occupational transitions, and labor market mobility;

• Promote gender balance, fair conditions and work-life balance in the labor market;

• Promote adaptation to change by workers, businesses and entrepreneurs, active and healthy aging and a healthy work environment;

2. Education, training and skills

• Improve the quality, inclusiveness, effectiveness and labor market relevance of education and training;

• Promote quality access, equality and full inclusiveness of education, training and learning systems, particularly for disadvantaged groups during various stages of life;

• Promote lifelong learning, particularly flexible retraining opportunities in line with labor market needs (e.g., entrepreneurial and digital skills) to facilitate occupational mobility;

3. Social inclusion and social protection

• Promote active social inclusion, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, active participation and employability, particularly for disadvantaged groups;

• Promote the socio-economic integration of non-EU citizens (including migrants) and marginalized communities (such as Roma);

• Improve equitable and timely access to sustainable, affordable, and quality social care and social protection services (housing, personal care, health and long-term care services, etc.), with special attention to children, disadvantaged groups, and people with disabilities;

• Promote the social integration of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion;

• Addressing material deprivation through food, basic material assistance, and support for social inclusion of the indigent.

The ESF+ provides some thematic concentration criteria, to be applied to the part of the ESF+ implemented under indirect (or rather, shared) management:

• Fighting social inequality and poverty: min. 25% of resources (+ min. 5% for child poverty in most affected countries)

• Food assistance and basic materials: min. 3% of resources

• Targeted actions and structural reforms to support youth employment (15-29 years): min. 12.5 percent of resources

• Capacity building of social partners and civil society: min. 0.25% of resources

As mentioned earlier, ESF+ is an important tool for addressing the socioeconomic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, for the EU’s green, digital and resilient recovery, and for boosting investment in jobs, skills and services.

Specific initiatives dedicated to the economy, employment and social innovation also fall under ESF+.