Emphasising the needs of youth and children, the new European Social Fund+ will support EU Member States in tackling unemployment and alleviating poverty.
In late January 2021, the Council and the European Parliament (EP) reached a provisional political agreement on the next generation of the European Social Fund (ESF+) for the period 2021-2027. With a budget of close to €88 billion (2018 prices), the ESF+ aims at boosting investment not only in the creation and protection of employment, education and training opportunities, but also in measures aimed at enhancing social inclusion and tackling poverty. Thus, the ESF+ acts as a key instrument for the implementation of the principles under the European Pillar of Social Rights.
Originally proposed by the European Commission (EC) in 2018, the draft regulation for the ESF+ has been aligned with the EU’s recovery plan presented in May 2020 in order to support the economic and social recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic (see SwissCore article). The draft regulation focuses on a fair and inclusive recovery that supports investment in people, and youth in particular. It further highlights the need for a skilled and resilient workforce in order to contribute to the green and digital transitions. In addition, the draft mentions that temporary measures may allow extending the scope of the ESF+ to respond to exceptional circumstances.
A minimum of 12.5% of the ESF+ resources shall be allocated to youth support actions in Member States (MS) with a high rate of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET). While 25% of the ESF+ will have to be devoted to promote social inclusion of vulnerable groups, 3% will be dedicated to provide food and basic material assistance. MS with a high child poverty rate will have to use 5% of the funds to combat this issue. Moreover, €676 million of the budget are earmarked to support social innovation and labour mobility.
Apart from building on synergies with Erasmus+ to support investments in disadvantaged groups, the ESF+ also ties in closely with initiatives such as the European Skills Agenda or the Youth Guarantee to support youth employment and the up- and reskilling of the European workforce. As a reinforcement of its predecessor and merging several programmes, the new ESF+ will constitute the main programme for investing in people. While the formerly integrated EU Health Programme has become a stand-alone programme due to its size and scope, the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) as well as the Employment and Social Innovation Programme (EaSI) have been incorporated into the new ESF+ in order to achieve better coherence between different funding instruments.
As one of the five main funds of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the ESF (2014-2020) is already a crucial instrument to support economic development and social cohesion across the EU. The positive, long-term impact and the potential of the ESF are also reflected in the main findings of the recently published EC evaluation of the ESF and the YEI from 2014 to 2018. Through their participation in different ESF projects, 3.2 million people have found a job and 3.9 million gained a qualification through up-and reskilling as well as education and training actions. More than half of the participants were women and 70% below 25 years. This achievement is also owing to systemic changes created through ESF projects to improve labour markets and educational institutions. Whereas projects addressing early school leaving and lifelong learning proved to be successful, efforts directed towards the digitalisation of education and labour mobility should be strengthened further. The evaluation suggests that additional improvements can be achieved through the active involvement of stakeholders, adequate financial and human resources and specific actions aligned with regional and national priorities. According to the evaluation, one long-term effect of ESF projects could be reflected in an overall GDP growth of up to 0.33% by 2023 (not taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic).
Before its entry into force, the ESF+ regulation still has to be formally approved by the EP and the Council. The final adoption of the new EU programmes under the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027 is expected to take place in spring 2021.