The new European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is the EU’s main instrument for investments for building a more social, resilient and inclusive Europe the period 2021-2027 with a budget of 88 billion €. The ESF Plus thereby contributes to financing the implementation of the principles from the European Pillar for Social Rights.

The ESF+ aims at supporting EU Member States to recover from the consequences of COIVD-19 with regards to the areas of employment, education and skills as well as social inclusion enabling the transition to a green, sustainable and digital economy.

In detail, the ESF+ will:

► Invest in young people, who have been particularly hard hit by the socio-economic crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak.

► Promote social inclusion by supporting the most vulnerable suffering from job losses and income reductions.

► Provide food and basic material assistance to the most deprived.

► Invest in children who have suffered the effects of COVID-19.

► Support social innovation, social entrepreneurship and cross border labour mobility, via the new Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) pillar of the ESF Plus with a dedicated financial envelope of €676 million.

• EaSI will fund analytical activities, capacity building and transnational/cross-border cooperation to strengthen social protection and social inclusion, fair working conditions, equal access to the labour market and to enhance labour mobility.

Calls for proposals in ESF+ will be published
on the EU’s Funding and Tenders Portal.