The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is Europe’s main instrument for investing in people.
With a budget of almost € 99.3 billion for the period 2021-2027, the ESF+ will continue to provide an important contribution to the EU’s employment, social, education and skills policies, including structural reforms in these areas.
The Fund will also be one of the cornerstones of EU socio-economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has reversed gains in labour participation, challenged educational and health systems and increased inequalities. ESF+ will be one of the key EU instrument helping Member States to address these challenges.
Priority will be given to:
- Supporting young people to find a qualification, a good quality job, and improve their education and training
- Helping children in need
- Reskilling and upskilling people for the transition to a green and digital economy
- Capacity building for social partners and civil society organisations.
- Transnational cooperation for promoting social innovation across the EU
- Direct support to social innovation through the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand
- As part of cohesion policy, ESF+ will also continue its mission to support economic, territorial and social cohesion in the EU – reducing disparities between Member States and regions.
ESF+: a combination of four funds
The ESF+ brings together four funding instruments that were separate in the programming period 2014-2020: the European Social Fund (ESF), the Fund for European Aid to the most Deprived (FEAD) the Youth Employment Initiative and the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).
How the ESF+ will provide support
Support under the ESF+ takes place through:
- Investments implemented by Member States in partnership with the Commission. A budget of close to EUR 98.5 billion is available for these investments for the programming period 2021-2027. Member States are responsible for developing programmes at national and/or regional level, subsequently adopted by the European Commission. These programmes are the basis for investments to be implemented through calls for proposals/tenders. Please consult the summaries of the national or regional programmes on the dedicated websites of the Member States.
- Investments implemented directly by the Commission under the EaSI strand. A budget of close to EUR 762 million is available for these investments for the programming period 2021-2027. Calls for proposals are regularly published on the Funding and Tender Opportunities website
To apply for EaSI grants, individuals and organisations have to be either from the EU, or from non EU countries which have an agreement for participation in EaSI. International organisations and legal entities created under Union law can also apply.