European Social Fund

ESF is a redirect to this article. Further meanings are listed under ESF (disambiguation) .

The European Social Fund ( ESF ) is the most important labor market policy instrument of the European Union for promoting employment and social integration of its citizens in Europe. It promotes measures to prevent and combat unemployment; it improves employment opportunities through training and qualification and it helps to reduce disadvantages in the labor market. The ESF would like to give everyone the chance to take their professional future into their own hands - even under difficult circumstances or when making a second attempt. Every citizen should get a professional perspective. The unemployed and jobseekers, schoolchildren transitioning into training and work, employees, but also start-ups and small and medium-sized companies benefit from this. In the last funding period 2007-2013, almost 10 million Europeans found a job with the help of the ESF.

In addition, it helps the member states, especially in a globalized economy, to anticipate and control labor market developments. In terms of sustainability, the ESF concentrates on particularly promising projects in order to increase the effectiveness of the measure through higher financial contributions. Its eligibility criteria are geared towards changes in the labor market.

The ESF places particular emphasis on equal treatment of women and men, the avoidance of any kind of discrimination and sustainability. Therefore, the ESF supports those people who are at risk of being excluded from the labor market, such as: B. disadvantaged young people, the long-term unemployed and migrants.

However, the ESF is not an employment agency and therefore does not advertise any vacancies. Rather, it supports tens of thousands of labor market-related projects across the EU that have a direct impact on the ground.

The ESF is the oldest of the five European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds) of the EU, which from 2014 will be brought together under a common strategic framework and pursue complementary objectives. They are used to improve social cohesion and economic development in the regions of the Union. The ESI Funds are instruments for redistributing financial resources, which are used in the less developed regions in particular to promote cohesion within Europe. The aim of ESF funding is to create new and better quality jobs in the EU, which is done by co-financing national, regional and local projects aimed at increasing the employment rate , improving the quality of jobs and greater integration in the labor market in the Member States and their regions.

history

In the past, the European Social Fund has been reoriented several times in terms of content and structure. It is currently in its eighth funding period, 2014–2020.

First funding period: 1958–1971

Create a balance between the Member States

Founded by the Treaty of Rome on March 25, 1957, the European Social Fund is one of the Community's oldest instruments. At that time the level of employment was high across Europe with the exception of southern Italy. The aim of the ESF was to reduce or eliminate unemployment in the worst affected regions. On the one hand, it promoted the reintegration of the unemployed, underemployed and people with disabilities through retraining and grants, but on the other hand also the job-related relocation. The most beneficiary countries were Italy for the promotion of resettlement and Germany for the promotion of retraining. The ESF therefore made an early contribution to labor migration in Europe. The financial resources from 1961 to 1972 were around 420 million units of account . The concept of the ESF was that of a compensation fund. This means that the federal states implemented measures according to their own decision and then applied for reimbursement (50% cost coverage) from the ESF. The condition for this was a new employment no later than six months after receipt of the measure. There was no control by the commission and the target group was comparatively limited and did not include young people, the self-employed and those with no training. The early ESF was driven by a market-oriented view and a refusal to transfer competences to the community. According to this, the mechanisms of the market would automatically bring about full employment and wage increases, and the task of comprehensive social security should remain in their hands as an important characteristic of the nation states. The fund should only accelerate the qualification adjustment of the workforce to the market.

Second funding period: 1972–1983

Promote adaptation to restructuring

The structural change of the 1970s led to rising unemployment, particularly strong in individual sectors, with a simultaneous shortage of skilled workers. Between 1974 and 1976, an average of 200,000 jobs per year were lost in the textile industry of the EEC alone. The elderly, young people, people with disabilities and women were most affected by unemployment. Because of this deterioration in the labor market, the ESF should be reformed. In addition to an enormous increase in the amount of the fund, it was determined that eligibility criteria should be set by the community, that the target groups should be expanded and that the eligible measures should also be expanded. This strengthened the role of the European Community, but interwoven the funding priorities immensely. There were different interests in the reform. The southern European countries (including Ireland ) stood for a stronger regional orientation (funding of structurally weak regions), France advocated a more group-oriented orientation and other countries such as Germany and Denmark tried to avoid a transfer of competence to the community. The result was a compromise that was reflected in the four types of funding: education measures (approx. 90% of the funds), relocation, easier access to the labor market for certain employees and employment promotion for regions. From 1976 onwards, the focus of the ESF was on combating youth unemployment , which increased as a result of the economic crises (oil crises) of the 1970s.

Third funding period: 1984–1988

Setting the course for structural changes

As a result of the crisis, the ESF's expenditure on youth unemployment (especially in Great Britain ) and structural aid for regions (especially in Italy) rose sharply from 1978, which meant that the fund was financially overtaxed. In addition, there was the realization that the market itself was not satisfactorily regulating employment and the fact that the 1972 reform provided for a revision of the ESF for 1982. The conflict of objectives between regional or person-group-related funding reappeared, which was again ended with a compromise. With the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) , a structural fund for regional funding had existed since 1975. Qualification measures for achieving permanent employment, employment opportunities for the long-term unemployed and regional funding were funded. The primarily regional funding extended to Greenland, Greece, the French overseas departments, Ireland, the Italian Mezzogiorno , Northern Ireland and later (from 1986) also Spain and Portugal. In addition, pilot projects and innovative measures were financed with a share of 10% of the fund. These were aimed more at promoting groups of people. One effect of the regionalization of the allocation of funds was the need for an area directory based on socio-economic criteria. The eligible regions were determined according to the unemployment rate and GDP per capita.

Fourth funding period: 1989–1993

Strengthen commitment to economic and social cohesion, support disadvantaged regions

In the 1980s, unemployment and application numbers continued to rise, but institutional changes in the European Community also made it necessary to reissue the ESF. The Single European Act (EEA) stipulated, among other things, the completion of the internal market for 1992 and the improvement of economic and social cohesion using the structural funds. The structural funds should be renewed in a joint overall reform . The structurally weaker countries had concerns about the internal market and asked for greater regional support through the Structural Funds, which resulted in the doubling of the funding to 63.2 billion ECU (of which 20 billion ECU for ESF). The principles of the Structural Funds reform under Commission President Jacques Delors were concentration, programming, partnership and additionality. The concentration envisaged five goals: 1. backward regions, 2. regions in industrial downturn, 3. long-term unemployment, 4. youth unemployment, 5a agriculture and 5b rural areas. The program planning was an administrative relief, after which there was no more individual allocation for projects, but the funds were distributed to national or regional programs on the basis of joint funding concepts and operational programs. The principle of partnership included the cooperation of the Commission in the implementation and monitoring of the programs and the participation of economic and social actors in the eligible regions. Additionality means that the funding is not added as a substitute for national funding, but as a supplement to it. In addition, the Commission was now able to set up Community initiatives on its own responsibility. Around 5% of the fund was earmarked for these specific measures of a supra-regional order.

With the Maastricht Treaty of 1993, which included the establishment of the European Union, a further stage in the merging of the member states was reached. In this context, the launch of community initiatives in Germany was an example of the strengthening of transnational cooperation. Between 1991 and 1994 the joint initiatives EUROFORM, NOW and HORIZON were launched.

• EUROFORM - Development and implementation of qualification measures for new technologies
• NOW - Promotion of women to adapt to structural changes in the labor market
• HORIZON - promoting the integration of people with disabilities and other socio-culturally disadvantaged groups

The reunification of Germany in 1990 created a great need for modernization and restructuring of the economy in East Germany. Around 30% of the funding that East Germany received by the end of the funding period came from the ESF. These funds had to be made available by the Community, as the funds for the funding period 1989 to 1993 are already largely planned. In the area of ​​the ESF, the funds earmarked for the federal government were allocated to the Federal Labor Office to finance measures that would not have been eligible under the Employment Promotion Act. The ESF funds allocated directly to the new federal states supported a labor market policy specially tailored to the needs of the respective state.

Fifth funding period: 1994–1999

Creating structural policy funding instruments, integrating disadvantaged people into the labor market

The change in the institutional framework with the establishment of the European Economic and Monetary Union had similar effects on the Structural Funds as the EEA before. The structurally weaker countries had socio-economic concerns and called for a further increase in the funds, which were then increased to around 141 billion ECU. The objectives of the European structural policy were adjusted, which had an impact on the actions of the ESF. In the program planning, uniform program planning documents were introduced to facilitate approval, in the partnership the circle of participants was expanded and the additionality was adapted to the respective national total expenditure. For the evaluation of the funding, an ex ante, an accompanying and an ex post evaluation was introduced and the fund share for the community initiatives was increased to approx. 9%.

Against the backdrop of the globalization of the economy, the ESF set itself a new goal: through the qualification of the workforce and a change in production systems, to promote adaptation to economic development with foresight. This reform was the result of the development from a pure compensation fund to a structural policy funding instrument.

Two new joint initiatives, Employment and ADAPT, launched in Germany support transnational projects in the field of developing innovative approaches:

• Employment - Promotion of vocational qualification and integration of unemployed young people under 20 years of age.
• ADAPT - Promotion of workers who are at risk of unemployment due to structural changes in their company or branch. The initiative was later expanded to include aspects of the information society.

Another goal was reformulated: the integration of people who are largely excluded from the labor market. This includes, for example, young people and people with disabilities. The latter receive support in the ESF projects with vocational training, reintegration or job design. The Employment Community Initiative brought these objectives together. With the existing action areas HORIZON and NOW from the last funding period and the new areas YOUTHSTART and INTEGRA, it should prevent disadvantaged people from being excluded from the labor market.

Sixth funding period: 2000–2006

Coordinate labor market policy, create new jobs with the support of start-ups

On the basis of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, the European Employment Strategy was adopted, to which the work of the ESF should be oriented in the future. It focused on employability, entrepreneurship, adaptability and gender equality. The fund's resources were increased to € 62.5 billion and the objectives of structural funding were adjusted again. Around 70% of the ESF funding went to Objective 1, the support of the poorest regions, around 11.5% to Objective 2, economic and social conversion in regions with structural problems, and around 12.5% ​​to Objective 3, adjustment and Modernization of education and employment policies in non-Objective 1 regions. The regulation on the operational programs promoted the priorities of active labor market policy, social inclusion and equal opportunities as well as lifelong learning.

Because the issue of employment policy was now at the center of European politics, the ESF became the most important financial instrument to support the member states with measures that became necessary due to changes in the labor market. The ESF channeled around 10% of the total EU budget into innovative projects to give people access to work, to secure their jobs in the long term or to create new jobs. Education and training were one of the main areas of action in this funding period. People of all ages benefited from this focus as part of a lifelong learning policy. The EQUAL joint initiative, which was carried out across Europe, was just as important: it developed new ideas to overcome discrimination of any kind on the labor market, for example on the basis of gender, ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. Successfully tested strategies were enshrined in legislation. This initiative introduced a single EU funding instrument that supported innovative transnational projects in all policy areas covered by the pillars of the European Employment Strategy and the ESF guidelines. At that time, EQUAL was known as the ESF's innovation laboratory.

The focus of the ESF in this funding period was on individual support for qualifications, improvement of education and labor administration, care and integration services and awareness-raising and information measures. Microfunding was introduced as a new element, providing small grants for NGOs .

The ESF funds were aid for individual people. But the positive effects often went beyond the benefits for individuals. Many programs help unemployed people develop innovative business start-up ideas. Further training and advice ensured a high success rate for start-ups. In doing so, you helped to keep these new jobs permanently.

Seventh funding period: 2007–2013

Strengthen transnational cooperation, professional and social participation for everyone

In response to the EU's eastward expansion , the ESF was changed again. Initially, the funds were increased to around € 75 billion. Structural policy objectives have been focused on convergence, regional competitiveness and employment, and territorial cooperation. The ESF's fields of action were the first two goals, but not the third goal, which emerged from the former INTERREG community initiative . Gender mainstreaming in the labor market should also be promoted through ESF funding . This generalization of the objectives made the ERDF and ESF Structural Funds theoretically accessible to all European regions. This represented a compromise between net contributing and net recipient countries. Due to the statistical determination of the eligibility and the structural weakness of the newer acceding countries compared to the old, especially net contributing countries were excluded from the funding and thus a more group-related goal was strengthened with regional competitiveness and employment.

The motto was “Invest in people”. From 2007 to 2013 around € 75 billion from the ESF - almost 10% of the EU budget - was used for projects to promote employment. Funding was granted for six specific priority areas:

ESF grants per country

• Promotion of human capital (34% of total funding)
• Improved access to employment and sustainability (30%)
• Improving the adaptability of workers and firms, companies and entrepreneurs (18%)
• Better social inclusion of disadvantaged people (14%)
• Strengthening institutional capacities at national, regional and local level (3%)
• Mobilizing for reforms in employment and inclusion (1%)

In each region, the actual distribution of funds varied according to local and regional priorities. All six priorities applied to both the convergence and regional competitiveness and employment objectives. In the convergence regions, however, the focus was mostly on “promoting human capital”.

In Germany, numerous target group-specific programs improved the employment situation of 1.5 million people. The focus was on disadvantaged people such as the long-term unemployed, people with a migration background, single parents or young professionals, because equal opportunities have been one of the central aspects of the ESF for years. Equal opportunities for women was another priority that should be taken into account in all ESF actions.

Since transnational cooperation continued to play an important role, the approaches of the EQUAL joint initiative, which had been successfully tested since 2000, were also included in the program planning for 2007 to 2013. Professional participation was not a matter of course for everyone. The transnational program "IdA - Integration through Exchange" therefore offered disadvantaged young people and young adults the opportunity to gain practical work experience in other EU countries. With Germany, seven other EU member states carried out transnational mobility programs for disadvantaged young people. These were based on a project call with minimum standards for transnational mobility programs developed in the European learning network "TLN Mobility".

Eighth funding period: 2014–2020

Ensure sustainable growth, secure success and reduce disadvantages

After the financial crisis, the rise in unemployment and poverty in particular presented Europe with new challenges. The role of the ESF will be further strengthened: As one of five European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), it is intended to help boost growth in the member states and create numerous new jobs.

The current funding period is closely aligned with the Europe 2020 strategy for intelligent, sustainable and inclusive growth in the EU, the country-specific recommendations of the Council and the goals of the National Reform Program. This should create more and better jobs and a society without social exclusion. One of the main objectives is to combat youth unemployment. The employment initiative for young people supports young people in regions with a youth unemployment rate of over 25% who neither have a job nor are completing school or vocational training. Efforts by Member States to put their Youth Guarantee into practice plans will be funded with at least EUR 6.4 billion. In addition, 20% of the ESF funds are used for social inclusion. Support is given to people with particular difficulties and members of disadvantaged groups so that they have better chances for integration into society.

The thematic goals are:

A: Promote sustainable and quality employment and support labor mobility

B: promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and all forms of discrimination

C: Investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and lifelong learning

D: Improving the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders and efficient public administration.

What is new is that, in accordance with European law, the member states must set their financial and material goals in a binding performance framework and back them up with indicators. In other words, every ESF program must define its goals (e.g. number of participants) and achieve them. The so-called performance test on the achievement of the goals will take place in 2019; a final examination in 2023. Failure to meet targets can lead to financial sanctions.

The ESF in Germany 2014–2020

The federal ESF logo. The federal states have their own ESF logos.

In the current funding period, around 1/3 less structural funds and therefore less ESF funds are available for Germany than in the last funding period. The reason is the increased relative prosperity in Germany in the EU-28 measured by indicators such as GDP per capita, unemployment, etc. The ESF funds are administered separately by the federal government and the federal states. As a result of the positive development of the economy and the labor market, the federal and state governments are receiving ESF funds of approx. 7.5 billion euros, which are distributed as follows:

• Federal ESF programs: approx. 2.689 billion euros (35.9%).
• ESF programs of the federal states: approx. 4.8 billion euros (64.1%)

The 25 federal ESF funding programs are implemented by four other federal ministries under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, Federal Ministry for Education and Research, Federal Ministry for Family, Seniors, Women and Youth, and Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and reactor safety.

Motto of the ESF funding period 2014–2020 © BMAS

In Germany, the ESF programs focus primarily on securing the need for skilled workers, social inclusion and combating poverty. Equality between women and men, non-discriminatory equal opportunities and sustainable development are all taken into account as cross-sectional goals. The motto of the ESF funding period 2014 to 2020 in Germany is therefore "Together. Future. Shaping."

Main target groups are

• disadvantaged young people, especially those without school or vocational qualifications,
• Long-term unemployed,
• Women and workers, especially those with low qualifications or low incomes, as well
• People with a migration background, especially in difficult life situations (e.g. refugees).

Finally, another focus is on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Start-ups and entrepreneurs are advised and supported in connection with competitiveness, securing stocks and demographic change as well as securing skilled workers. The ESF thus helps to increase or restore the employability and adaptability of SMEs and to secure jobs.

The role of the ESF in the political and strategic direction of the EU

The overarching strategy of the European Union is the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The European growth and employment strategy EUROPA 2020 replaces the previous Lisbon strategy, which expired in 2010. EUROPA 2020 contains concrete goals that must be achieved in the next few years in areas such as employment, education, energy consumption and innovation in order to overcome the effects of the financial crisis and make Europe fit for the future for the next few years.

A number of fiscal instruments are used to support the Europe 2020 strategy. This includes cohesion policy, which aims to reduce economic and social inequalities between the countries and regions of the EU. To this end, financial resources (structural funds) from the EU budget - including the ESF - are used to promote the economic and social development of less developed regions. In order to support the increase in competitiveness and employment, which is necessary against the background of globalization and the aging of the population, the European Employment Strategy provides the EU Member States with a coordination framework for the coordination of common priorities and objectives in the field of employment. These common priorities are then set out in the employment guidelines and taken up in the national reform programs of the individual member states. ESF funding is used by the Member States to support their National Reform Programs as well as their National Strategic Reference Frameworks (NSRF), which define the main areas of application for the EU Structural Funds in the Member States.

The ESF: defining the strategy

The ESF is implemented over seven-year programming periods. The basic strategic direction for the use of ESF funds and the financial resources of the ESF are negotiated between the EU member states, the European Parliament and the EU Commission. The strategy sets out the objectives of the ESF funding, which are partly or wholly in line with those of the other structural funds. The objectives of the 2007-2013 ESF funding cycle are:

The aim of regional competitiveness and employment serves to strengthen regional competitiveness, employment and investment locations.

The aim of convergence is to promote growth and jobs in the least developed regions. More than 80% of the ESF funding is used for this purpose.

The strategy also contains broader “priority axes”, which contain the actions necessary and eligible for the achievement of the objectives.

Allocation of ESF funding

The level of ESF funding varies from region to region and depends on their relative wealth. The EU regions are divided into four funding categories on the basis of their regional GDP per capita compared to the EU average (EU with 25 or 15 member states) and divided between the two objectives.

The goal of convergence includes:

• Convergence regions with a GDP per capita below 75% of the EU-25 average
• Phasing-out regions with a GDP per capita greater than 75% of the EU-25 average but less than 75% of the EU-15 average

The objective of regional competitiveness and employment includes:

• Phasing-in regions with a GDP per capita less than 75% of the EU-15 average (2000-2006) but more than 75% of the EU-15 average (2007-2013)
• Competitive and employment regions, which refers to all other EU regions

In convergence regions, projects can be co-financed by the ESF up to 85% of the total cost. In regions of regional competitiveness and employment, the co-financing is usually 50%. In the more affluent Member States and regions, ESF funding complements existing national employment initiatives, while in the less affluent Member States it may be the main source of funding for employment initiatives.

Implementation of the ESF

While the strategy is set at EU level, the implementation of ESF funding is the responsibility of the Member States and regions of the EU. Once the strategy and the budget have been agreed, the programming is carried out according to a common basic principle. The Member States and their regions plan the seven-year Operational Programs (OP) together with the European Commission. In the operational programs, the funded fields of activity, which can be geographically or thematically determined, are described (example: " Federal operational program ").

Member States appoint national ESF Managing Authorities, which are responsible for project selection, funding disbursement and evaluation of the progress and results of the projects. In addition, certification and testing authorities are appointed to monitor and ensure compliance with the provisions for the use of ESF funds. For the disbursement of funds from the fund, a member state has to submit a Community Funding Concept (GFK), which has to be approved by the Commission. The CSF contains the state's strategy and priorities for actions with the fund, their objectives and a proportionate share of the fund's resources, among other sources of funding. At least one operational program must be drawn up for the implementation of the CSF, which must also be approved by the Commission. The OP defines multi-annual measures that can be financed from several funds. To simplify administration, the CSF and OP can be combined in a single programming document.

ESF projects

The implementation of the ESF measures on site takes place i. d. Usually about projects that - depending on the ESF funding program - are applied for and carried out by various public and private sector bodies. These include national, regional and local authorities, educational and training institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and voluntary associations, as well as social partners such as trade unions, works councils, trade and professional associations or individual companies. A current project in Austria is demographic advice for employees and companies.

further reading

• Julian Dörr: The European Cohesion Policy. An economic perspective. De Gruyter, Berlin 2017, especially chapter 5.4.3 A brief history of cohesion policy: regional problems become European, ISBN 3-11-048012-3 .
• ESF program brochure 2014-2020
• 60 years of the ESF - investing in people
• Publications on the ESF
• Press release from the EU Commission: Almost 10 million Europeans found a job in the period 2007-2014 with the help of the European Social Fund
• Press release by the Representation of the EU Commission in Germany: Commission presents white paper on the future of Europe: Ways to preserve unity in the EU27

Web links

• ESF portal in Germany
• ESF on Facebook
• ESF on YouTube
• Information page of the Federal Ministry of Economics on the ESF
• Information page of the Federal Environment Ministry on the ESF
• Information page of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs on the ESF
• Information page of the Federal Ministry of Education about the ESF
• Portal of the Representation of the EU Commission in Germany
• European Commission's ESF portal
• Information page of the EU Commission on the European Structural and Investment Funds
• European Commission website: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities; responsible for employment matters in the EU institutions.
• EU regulations for the funding period 2014–2020
• The history of the ESF

Individual evidence

1. ^ Julian Dörr: The European cohesion policy. An economic perspective . De Gruyter, Berlin, ISBN 3-11-048012-3 , pp. 172-217 .
2. ↑ Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs: 60 Years of the European Social Fund - The History of the ESF
3. ↑ Tanja Malek: The development of structural funds as a cumulative political process In: Beate Kohler-Koch (Ed.) (2005): Regieren in Europa. Vol. 8. Baden-Baden.
4. ↑ European Employment Strategy.Retrieved March 8, 2018
5. ↑ Employment guidelines. Accessed March 8, 2018
6. ↑ National Reform Programs. Accessed March 8, 2018
7. ↑ Operational Program of the Federation in 2014 - 2020. Accessed on March 8, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Official Journal of the European Community: Council Regulation (EC) No. 1260/1999 (PDF) Art. 9
9. ↑ Demographic advice | for employees + companies. Retrieved March 27, 2019 .