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The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs), which are dedicated to improving social cohesion and economic well-being across the regions of the Union. The funds are redistributive financial instruments that support cohesion within Europe by concentrating spending on the less-developed regions.
It is the European Union's main financial instrument for supporting employment in the member states of the European Union as well as promoting economic and social cohesion, created by merging the existing European Social Fund with the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) in 2021. ESF+ spending amounts to around 10% of the EU's total budget. The particular aim of ESF+ spending is to support the creation of more and better jobs in the EU, which it does by co-funding national, regional and local projects that improve the levels of employment, the quality of jobs, and the inclusiveness of the labour market in the member states and their regions.
The European Social Fund was created in the founding Treaty of Rome in 1957. [1] It is the oldest of the European Structural and Investment Funds. It was established as a "remedial instrument" against the end of nationalist protectionism due to the advent of the European Economic Community. [2]
As of 2015, the main goal is to foster employment, reduce social exclusion and invest in skills. [3] In some EU countries it also supports administrative reform.
It was transformed into the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), which will run for the period 2021–2027 and have a total budget of €88 billion, by merging the existing European Social Fund with the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) in 2021.
The overarching strategy of the European Union is the Europe 2020 strategy,[ needs update ] which aims to promote "smart, sustainable, inclusive growth" with greater coordination of national and European policies. In 2010 this succeeded the Lisbon Agenda which aimed to make Europe the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion, and respect for the environment, by 2010. The objectives of Europe 2020 shape the priorities of the ESF.
In the light of the need to increase competitiveness and employment against a background of globalisation and ageing populations, the European Employment Strategy [4] provides a coordinating framework for the Member States to agree common priorities and goals in the field of employment. These common priorities are then taken up in the Employment Guidelines [5] and incorporated into the National Reform Programmes [6] prepared by the individual Member States. ESF funding is deployed by the Member States in support of their National Reform Programmes as well as their National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRF) which establish a member state's main priorities for spending the EU Structural Funds it receives.
The European Social Agenda [7] also plays a role in shaping the priorities of ESF spending. The Social Agenda seeks to update the 'European social model' by modernising labour markets and social protection systems so that workers and businesses can benefit from the opportunities created by international competition, technological advances and changing population patterns while protecting the most vulnerable in society. In addition, the concept of 'flexicurity' contributes to current ESF initiatives. Flexicurity can be defined as a policy strategy to enhance the flexibility of labour markets, work organisations and labour relations, on the one hand, and employment security and income security on the other. [8] The term flexicurity encompasses a new approach to employment involving 'work for life' rather than the 'job for life' model of the past. It encourages workers to take charge of their working lives through lifelong training, adapting to change and mobility.
The EU is offering a guarantee of up to €13 billion until 2027 as part of the EFSD+ open architecture. In order to help partner nations reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this is implemented through a variety of implementing partners, including international financial institutions and European development finance organisations. [9] [10] [11]
The ESF is managed through seven-year programming cycles. The ESF strategy and budget is negotiated between the EU member states, the European Parliament and the EU Commission. The strategy defines the objectives of ESF funding, which it shares partly or wholly with other structural funding. For the current ESF funding cycle these objectives are:
The strategy also lays down broad priority axes – the actions required to achieve the objectives and which are eligible for funding.
The level of ESF funding differs from one region to another depending on their relative wealth. EU regions are divided into four categories of eligible regions, based on their regional GDP per capita compared to the EU average (EU with 25 or 15 Member States) and split between the two objectives.
Convergence objective includes:
The regional competitiveness and employment objective includes:
In convergence regions, ESF co-financing of projects can reach 85% of total costs. In regional competitiveness and employment regions, 50% co-financing is more common. For the richer Member States and regions, ESF funding complements existing national employment initiatives; for less-wealthy Member States, ESF funding can be the main source of funds for employment-related initiatives. The eligible regions for the current ESF programming round (2007–2013) are shown on the map.
While the allocation of funds to poorer regions intends to work towards the objective of convergence between regions (i.e. inter-regional equality), research has suggested that the funds may amplify intra-regional inequalities with for example in Poland richer municipalities receiving more funds than poorer municipalities within the regions. One explanation may lie in the co-financing procedures with poorer potential applicants being less likely to gather the required co-funding. Another issue with allocation has been that project applications have been rejected purely on minor administrative issues. While this has improved over time, research has shown that information provision and familiarity with application procedures is still a barrier in submitting applications for funds, and may play a larger role in than outright corruption in the selection process. [12]
While strategy definition is done at EU level, implementation of ESF funding is the responsibility of EU Member States and regions. Once the strategy and budget allocation have been agreed, a shared approach to programming is taken. Seven-year Operational Programmes are planned by Member States and their regions together with the European Commission. These Operational Programmes describe the fields of activity that will be funded, which can be geographical or thematic.
The Member States designate national ESF management authorities that are responsible for selecting projects, disbursing funds, and evaluating the progress and results of projects. Certification and auditing authorities are also appointed to monitor and ensure compliance of expenditure to the ESF regulation.
Until 2007, approximately 5% of ESF funds were allocated to 'Community Initiatives' to support transnational and innovative actions. They have addressed such issues as employment for women (NOW), disabled people (INTEGRA) and young people, new professions and qualifications (EUROFORM) and adaptability (ADAPT). The most recent of these, the EQUAL Community Initiative, saw in the admission of 10 new Member States in 2004 but ended in 2008.
The implementation of the ESF on the ground is achieved through projects which are applied for and implemented by a wide range of organisations, both in the public and private sector. These include national, regional and local authorities, educational and training institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the voluntary sector, as well as social partners, for example, trade unions and works councils, industry and professional associations, and individual companies.
The beneficiaries of ESF projects are varied, for example, individual workers, groups of people, industrial sectors, trades unions, public administrations or individual firms. Vulnerable groups of people who have particular difficulty in finding work or getting on in their jobs, such as the long-term unemployed and women, are a particular target group. As an indication, it is estimated that over 9 million individuals from these vulnerable groups are helped each year through participation in ESF projects – see chart 1.
In the 2007 to 2013 cycle, ESF ran under the banner "Investing in People". Over this period, it invested around €75 billion – close to 10% of the EU budget – on employment-enhancing projects. Funding was given to six specific priority areas:
In any given region, the actual distribution of funds varied to reflect local and regional priorities. All six priorities were applicable to both the convergence and regional competitiveness and employment objectives; however, convergence would normally place an emphasis on the 'improving human capital' priority.
The 2014–2020 cycle had a total budget of €70 billion, [13] 20% of which was dedicated to promoting social inclusion and decreasing poverty. [13]
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), created by merging the existing European Social Fund with the EU Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI), will run for the period 2021–2027 and have a total budget of €88 billion. [14]
The Trans-European Networks (TEN) were created by the European Union by Articles 154–156 of the Treaty of Rome (1957), with the stated goals of the creation of an internal market and the reinforcement of economic and social cohesion. To various supporters of this policy, it made little sense to talk of a big EU market, with freedom of movement within it for goods, persons and services, unless the various regions and national networks making up that market were properly linked by modern and efficient infrastructure. The construction of Trans-European Networks was also seen as an important element for economic growth and the creation of employment.
The Regional Policy of the European Union (EU), also referred as Cohesion Policy, is a policy with the stated aim of improving the economic well-being of regions in the European Union and also to avoid regional disparities. More than one third of the EU's budget is devoted to this policy, which aims to remove economic, social and territorial disparities across the EU, restructure declining industrial areas and diversify rural areas which have declining agriculture. In doing so, EU regional policy is geared towards making regions more competitive, fostering economic growth and creating new jobs. The policy also has a role to play in wider challenges for the future, including climate change, energy supply and globalisation.
The European Structural and Investment Funds are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. They aim to reduce regional disparities in income, wealth and opportunities. Europe's poorer regions receive most of the support, but all European regions are eligible for funding under the policy's various funds and programmes. The current framework is set for a period of seven years, from 2021 to 2027.
In the European Union education is at the responsibility of its Member States and their Ministries of education that they have; in such, the European Union institutions play only a supporting and overseeing role. According to Art. 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Community
shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States, through actions such as promoting the mobility of citizens, designing joint study programmes, establishing networks, exchanging information or teaching languages of the European Union. The Treaty also contains a commitment to promote life-long learning for all citizens of the Union.
Flexicurity is a welfare state model with a pro-active labour market policy. The term was first coined by the social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.
The European Research Area (ERA) is a system of scientific research programs integrating the scientific resources of the European Union (EU). Since its inception in 2000, the structure has been concentrated on European cooperation in the fields of medical, environmental, industrial, and socioeconomic research. The ERA can be likened to a research and innovation equivalent of the European "common market" for goods and services. Its purpose is to increase the competitiveness of European research institutions by bringing them together and encouraging a more inclusive way of work, similar to what already exists among institutions in North America and Japan. Increased mobility of knowledge workers and deepened multilateral cooperation among research institutions among the member states of the European Union are central goals of the ERA.
The budget of the European Union is used to finance EU funding programmes and other expenditure at the European level.
Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union (EU), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The first Interreg started in 1989. Interreg IV covered the period 2007–2013. Interreg V (2014–2020) covers all 27 EU member states, the EFTA countries, six accession countries and 18 neighbouring countries. It has a budget of EUR 10.1 billion, which represents 2.8% of the total of the European Cohesion Policy budget. Since the non EU countries don't pay EU membership fee, they contribute directly to Interreg, not through ERDF.
The Directorate-General for International Partnerships is the European Commission department responsible for international development policy. It operates under the authority of the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, currently Jutta Urpilainen.
EQUAL was a Community Initiative within the European Social Fund of the European Union. It concerned “transnational co-operation to promote new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in connection with the labour market”. It ran from 2001 till 2007 with a budget of some €3 billion of EU resources, matched by a similar sum from national resources.
The European Observation Network for Territorial Development and Cohesion, often shortened as ESPON, is a European funded programme under the objective of "European Territorial Cooperation" of the Cohesion Policy of the European Union. It is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund - Interreg.
The Alpine Space Programme is a transnational cooperation programme in the framework of the European Union cohesion policy. In this programme national, regional and local stakeholders from the participating countries in the Alpine space cooperate on various transnational projects.
Europe 2020 is a 10-year strategy proposed by the European Commission on 3 March 2010 for advancement of the economy of the European Union. It aims at a "smart, sustainable, inclusive growth" with greater coordination of national and European policy. It follows the Lisbon Strategy for the period 2000–2010.
Cross-border cooperation is the collaboration between adjacent areas across borders. In the European Union this is one of the forms of territorial cooperation. The European model is very diverse with cooperation between border regions or municipalities, or through specific cooperation structures. These structures are usually composed by public authorities from different countries organized in working communities, euroregions or EGTCs.
The Cohesion Fund (CF), one of the five European Structural and Investment Funds of the European Union, provides support to Member States with a gross national income (GNI) per capita below 90% EU-27 average to strengthen the economic, social and territorial cohesion of the EU. Common regulatory provisions apply to the five ESIF funds, along with the Just Transition Fund, the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy.
The European Commission's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund is a funding programme managed by the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs which promotes the efficient management of migration flows and the implementation, strengthening and development of a common approach to asylum and immigration in the European Union. All EU Member States except Denmark participate in the implementation of this Fund. Most of the funds are provided to the EU Member States for activities addressing previously agreed upon themes. A part of the funding is reserved for emergency assistance. A final part is reserved for Union Actions, which are European Commission managed projects that are developed as either calls for proposals, direct awards, procurements, or delegation agreements.
Andrey Grishev Novakov, Bulgarian: Андрей Гришев Новаков is a Bulgarian politician who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament. A member of the GERB party, which is affiliated with the European People's Party on a European level, he was previously a leader of a youth wing of his party.
Since its accession in the European Union in 2007, Bulgaria has been part of the EU's Cohesion Policy. This program introduces financial instruments, also known as the European Structural and Investment Funds, which aim to reduce the gap between different regions of the EU and improve their economic wellbeing.
The European Semester of the European Union was established in 2010 as an annual cycle of economic and fiscal policy coordination. It provides a central framework of processes within the EU socio-economic governance. The European Semester is a core component of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and it annually aggregates different processes of control, surveillance and coordination of budgetary, fiscal, economic and social policies. It also offers a large space for discussions and interactions between the European institutions and Member States. As a recurrent cycle of budgetary cooperation among the EU Member States, it runs from November to June and is preceded in each country by a national semester running from July to October in which the recommendations introduced by the Commission and approved by the Council are to be adopted by national parliaments and construed into national legislation.
Next Generation EU (NGEU) is a European Commission economic recovery package to support the EU member states to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular those that have been particularly hard hit. It is sometimes styled NextGenerationEU and Next Gen EU, and also called the European Union Recovery Instrument. Agreed in principle by the European Council on 21 July 2020 and adopted on 14 December 2020, the instrument is worth €750 billion. NGEU will operate from 2021 to 2026, and will be tied to the regular 2021–2027 budget of the EU's Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). The comprehensive NGEU and MFF packages are projected to reach €1824.3 billion.
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