Establishing the European Social Fund as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plan

Key points

The EESC:

• calls for raising social spending in National and Regional Partnership Plans from 14% to 20% and earmarking at least 14% for the European Social Fund (ESF) to reinforce the EU’s social dimension;
• insists on preserving the ESF’s distinct structure through mandatory national and regional programmes to safeguard its added value;
• urges substantial simplification of ESF procedures and stronger administrative capacity to improve fund accessibility and delivery;
• calls for dedicating at least 1% of ESF resources to capacity-building for social partners and civil society organisations both at regional and national level;
• demands meaningful, continuous involvement of social partners and civil society, including full voting rights in monitoring committees;
• reaffirms the importance of multi-level governance and direct regional engagement with the Commission to maintain a strong territorial dimension of the ESF;
• supports deeper complementarities between EU funds, particularly through robust multi-fund approaches between the ESF and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF);
• calls for major investment in education, training and lifelong learning, with a strong focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), green and digital skills;
• calls for allocating at least 20% of ESF resources to financing the implementation of the reinforced Youth Guarantee and to support quality youth employment;
• demands increased investment, raising the share from 25% to 30%, in social inclusion, poverty reduction and high-quality social services, including community-based care and affordable housing;
• insists on clearer, more accessible ESF communication and outreach to ensure citizens and stakeholders understand available opportunities.