Blog Articles

A couple of years ago we devoted a lot of work, together with our members, to ensure that the structural and investment funds provided adequate funding for social inclusion and the fight against poverty for the period 2014-2020.

For the first time in the history of cohesion policy a minimum share for the European Social Fund (ESF) was set at 23.1% for 2014-2020 (the original Commission’s proposal amounted to 25%). Another positive element was that the final negotiations among member states confirmed that 20% of the total amount of the ESF would be devoted to social inclusion and fight against poverty. We know that it was a strong battle to stick to this percentage.

Last week we heard very good news from the Commission. As a result of the programming phase of the ESF 2014-20, the actual ESF share is now 24.8% or over 86 billion euros, meaning well above the minimum. According to April 2015 data about the distribution of ESF allocations between thematic objectives, members states have allocated over 25% to social inclusion and fight against poverty , while the minimum share was 20%. Above 37% has been devoted to employment, a bit more than 32% to education and training and finally above 4% to administrative and institutional capacity.

In the previous period 2007-2013, 13% (i.e. EUR 10 billion) of the ESF was dedicated to social inclusion. During the implementation this amount was then increased up to 18% due to the economic crisis.

We therefore welcome this shift in the programming of 2014-2020 expenditure that translated into more money for the promotion of social inclusion and the fight against poverty. We will work with our members and the European Commission to monitor the implementation of this expenditure.