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BUDGETARY ASSESSMENT (COM(2025)0558 – C100172/2025 – 2025/0239(COD))

On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Social Fund as part of the National and Regional Partnership Plan set out in Regulation (EU) […] [NRPPlan] establishing conditions for the implementation of the Union support to quality employment, skills and social inclusion for the period from 2028 to 2034

BUDG-AD-787632

Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Giuseppe Lupo

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The Committee on Budgets gives its budgetary assessment of the proposed European Social Fund (ESF) regulation for 2028-2034, which would sit inside national and regional partnership plans. It finds no dedicated financial allocation for the ESF in the Commission proposal and says the exact level of resources cannot be determined in advance. It asks that the ESF remain a stand-alone programme with a dedicated envelope of EUR 124.19 billion in current prices, and that the basic act set defined shares and dedicated budget lines for specific objectives. It calls for a more detailed budgetary nomenclature, for substantive policy choices to be settled in the ESF Regulation, and for safeguards on complementarity, performance monitoring, rule of law and fraud control.

Committee position. The Committee on Budgets finds no dedicated ESF allocation in the Commission proposal and asks the lead committee to amend it so the ESF stays a stand-alone programme with a dedicated envelope of EUR 124.19 billion in current prices, defined shares for specific objectives, a detailed budgetary nomenclature and stronger governance and oversight.

Key points

  1. The Committee on Budgets carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposed ESF regulation under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure.
  2. It says the proposed NRP Regulation merges policies into one plan per member state, creating uncertainty for beneficiaries, competition between policies and weak transparency, and criticises the discretion left to member states.
  3. It notes that the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework allocated EUR 98.5 billion in current prices to the European Social Fund Plus, while the Commission's proposal for 2028-2034 had no ring-fenced ESF allocation.
  4. It welcomes Parliament's call to make the ESF a stand-alone and separate programme within the NRPP framework.
  5. It stresses that no dedicated envelope in the basic act means the resources for ESF objectives depend on member states' programming choices, hampering the budgetary authority's ability to assess and monitor social investment.
  6. It asks for a dedicated ESF envelope of EUR 124.19 billion in current prices (EUR 110.73 billion in 2025 constant prices) and for the lead committee to coordinate amendments so the NRP and ESF regulations do not contradict each other.
  7. It says sufficient human, technical and IT resources must be available from the outset and throughout the 2028-2034 programming period.
  8. It deplores the lack of a budget breakdown and recommends defined shares for specific objectives, including social inclusion, the Child Guarantee, homelessness, material deprivation and the Youth Guarantee, with dedicated budget lines and reference amounts.
  9. It deplores the aggregated budgetary nomenclature in the Legislative Financial and Digital Statement and recommends a more detailed nomenclature reflecting ESF objectives and structure.
  10. It says the nomenclature must follow Article 47(2) of the Financial Regulation, recommends an annex defining it, and insists it form part of Parliament's negotiating position and of the final political agreement.
  11. It insists on detailed legislation and sound governance, recommends provisions strengthening control over budget mobilisation, and says the 'steering mechanism' cannot substitute for Parliament's legislative and budgetary powers.
  12. It says all substantive policy choices must be determined in the ESF Regulation, and calls for traceable complementarity with other instruments, consistency with the performance regulation, rule of law conditionality, and harmonised anti-fraud and audit frameworks.

Who is affected

  • Final beneficiaries of EU funding, who need predictable resources to implement the funds.
  • Member states, which would design national plans and decide programming choices under the Commission proposal.
  • The budgetary authority, whose ability to assess, monitor and steer social investment would be hampered.
  • Low-skilled persons, persons with disabilities and adults with limited qualifications, whom ESF support should particularly help.
  • Children in need, covered by the European Child Guarantee's aim to prevent and combat poverty and social exclusion.

Figures and deadlines

  • 14 % horizontal target for social expenditure for the entire NRP Fund.
  • EUR 98.5 billion in current prices allocated to the European Social Fund Plus in the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework.
  • EUR 124.19 billion in current prices proposed as the dedicated ESF envelope.
  • EUR 110.73 billion in 2025 constant prices, equivalent to the proposed ESF envelope.
  • Period 2028-2034 for the ESF and the multiannual financial framework.

Legal basis: Article 162 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which establishes a European Social Fund.