SUMMARY of the European Social Fund
The European Social Fund + (ESF+) is the European Union (EU)’s main instrument for investing in people.
With a budget of almost € 99.3 billion for the period 2021-2027, the ESF+ provides an important contribution to the EU’s employment, social, education and skills policies, including structural reforms in these areas.
Support under the ESF+ is mainly managed by the EU Member States, with the European Commission playing a supervisory role.
Funding therefore takes place through:
- The shared management strand – implemented by Member States in partnership with the Commission. These resources have a budget of roughly EUR 98.5 billion for the programming period 2021-2027 ;
- The Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) Strand – implemented by the Commission with a budget of close to € 762 million for 2021-2027.
*The EU Member States are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
