Opinion on possibilities for simplification of cohesion funds

9.4.2025

Mr AdrianDragoş Benea

Chair

Committee on Regional Development

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on possibilities for simplification of cohesion funds (2024/2106(INI))

Dear Mr Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee. At its meeting of 21 November 2024, the committee decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs considered the matter at its meeting of 9 April 2025. At that meeting, it decided to submit the opinion set out below to the Committee on Regional Development, as the committee responsible.

Yours sincerely,

Li Andersson

OPINION

A. Whereas cohesion policy plays a pivotal role in reducing social, territorial and economic disparities; whereas cohesion policy, the European Structural and Investment Funds and, in particular, the European Social Fund+ (ESF+) are strong tools for cohesion between Member States, regions and areas, including urban and rural areas; whereas the different cohesion policies have their own special aims and objectives;

B. Whereas cohesion policy aims to deliver on the European Pillar of social rights, its Action Plan and the headline targets on employment, training and tackling poverty;

C. Whereas the ESF+ supports, complements and adds value to the policies of the Member States in order to ensure equal opportunities, equal access to the labour market, fair and high-quality working conditions, social protection and inclusion, in particular focussing on quality and inclusive education and training, lifelong learning, investment in children and young people and access to basic services;

D. Whereas the ESF+ is the only EU fund primarily focused on social policies, and is therefore unique in itself and is strongly effective and necessary in achieving social inclusion, together with the other cohesion policy;

E. Whereas the access to the cohesion funds can be a disproportionately large burden on beneficiaries, which is especially the case for small organisations; whereas simplification of application procedures can have a positive impact on reducing this burden;

F. Whereas the EU’s recent crises and complex geopolitical landscape put pressure on the EU budget to be rethought in terms of crisis management and increasing spending demands and promoting new priorities, like the EU´s competitiveness and growth; whereas social security plays a vital role in fostering stability and Europe’s overall security whereas we therefore need to invest in quality jobs, preventing youth unemployment, decent, sustainable and affordable housing and ending homelessness and poverty, in particular child poverty; whereas simplification has the risk of a loss of focus and objectives of cohesion policy and this should be avoided;

G. Whereas the cohesion funds have been used multiple times in their current framework to respond to social impacts of crises, such as the COVID19 pandemic, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and recent natural disasters;

1. Calls for a strong and reinforced cohesion policy, including a separate ESF+, with significantly increased public support for instruments in the Member States with the aim of providing for people in vulnerable situations and those most in need in our societies, investing in people and skills, helping to lift people out of poverty and social exclusion, and boosting social investment; insists, therefore, for an significant increase in the ESF+ budget in the 2028-2034 ESF+ financial envelope;

2. Insists that the ESF+ must continue to be the key and primary instrument for supporting the Member States, regions, local communities and people in strengthening the social dimension of the Union and in pursuing socio-economic development that leaves no one behind;

3. Stresses that cohesion policy must address, contribute and adapt to tackling social challenges such as digitalisation and the consequences of climate change, while addressing social challenges such as the rising cost of living and wages that do not increase at the same speed, promoting social resilience, reducing inequalities and protecting people in the most vulnerable situations; insists that the ESF+ should drive long-term investment and growth, focusing on social and territorial cohesion, while supporting structural transformation across the EU and enhancing convergence between the Member States;

4. Insists that the ESF+ must continue to enhance upward social convergence, especially for the most deprived people, and invest in human capital, employment, skills development and social inclusion, while boosting entrepreneurship and social innovation, also supporting SMEs, investing in children, addressing the digital and green transition, demographic challenges and regions impacted by crises;

5. Underlines the role for Cohesion policy and ESF+ in supporting skills and training which can facilitate finding a job or re-and upskilling in view of the green and digital transitions; recalls that timely investments in the reskilling and upskilling of workers that are at risk of losing their jobs can prevent them from falling into poverty;

6. Reiterates that cohesion policy is there for those who need it the most, such as children and women in poverty, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities, the working poor, homeless people and migrants;

7. Stresses that all projects funded under Cohesion Policy must fully comply with Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union to guarantee decent working conditions and prevent wage dumping;

8. Calls for specific measures within Cohesion Policy to safeguard the rights mobile workers, including cross-border and seasonal workers, ensuring fair working conditions, social security coverage, and protection against exploitation, particularly in sectors heavily reliant on temporary and migrant workers;

9. Insists that the development of Cohesion Fund projects must not contribute to the proliferation of precarious employment or non-standard forms of work that undermine workers' rights and long-term job security;

10. Highlights the crucial role of social economy actors in job creation and social inclusion, particularly in deprived regions; notes that nearly 14 million people work in the social economy and not-for-profit sector in Europe, which should be further supported through Cohesion Funds to promote sustainable employment and social inclusion; stresses that social economy enterprises work in close cooperation with local authorities, which facilitates and simplifies the implementation of cohesion projects, ensuring that funding reaches in an efficient way those who need it most;

11. Recalls that in 2023, 24.8% of EU children were in or at risk of poverty or social exclusion and that the child poverty rate is on the rise again and is concerned about its further worsening in coming years; recalls the role of the ESF+ in supporting the European Child Guarantee and the fight against child poverty, as well other cohesion funds, thus synergies are of utmost importance, as well as an important increase in funding;

12. Emphasises that it has become clear that the implementation of the cohesion funds, including the ESF+, is often accompanied by unnecessary administrative burdens and complicated or ineffective rules and calls therefore on the Commission to assess whether the application processes could be made more accessible;

13. Warns that the possible simplification of the cohesion funds should not lead to a loss in focus and objectives of the cohesion policies; underlines in this regard that the ESF+ is the only EU fund primarily focused on social policies, is therefore unique in itself and is strongly effective and necessary in achieving social inclusion; points out that revising the objectives and governance of cohesion policy too often can also cause complications and uncertainty for beneficiaries;

14. Reiterates that Cohesion policy is a long-term, sustainable investment policy strictly connected to the implementation of the EPSR principles and its Action Plan; consequently opposes any tendencies to re-design Cohesion policy as a “catch-all“ policy;

15. Recalls that simplification must not undermine the principles of good administration, public procurement and financial control while ensuring the enforcement of social conditionalities and rule of law;

16. Maintains that a strong Cohesion policy that is based on effective partnership principle and tailored to the needs and challenges of each region, remains the best instrument for reducing regional disparities and helping an upward economic and social convergence; recalls that regions must retain a central role to ensure that, through a multi-level governance system, programming remains close to the territories and people; reiterates, therefore, the need to provide that cohesion policy funds are largely allocated to the implementation of regional programmes drawn up, owned and managed directly by the regions;

17. Supports a place-based and people-centered approach to cohesion policy, ensuring that funding to support employment and social inclusion effectively reaches regions and communities that need the funding the most; highlights the importance of integrated territorial investment (ITI) and community-led local development (CLLD) in addressing employment disparities across different territories;

18. Takes note of the significant disparities in digital connectivity, IT skills, administrative capacities, and available resources across EU regions; calls to advance the digital transition and underlines that simplifying the application processes and access to Cohesion Funds would particularly benefit less developed regions and ensure more efficient use of the funds;

19. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the participation, provision of information to and consultation of social partners and civil society organisations (CSOs) in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of the Cohesion funds;

20. Underscores that local communities are the direct beneficiaries of the cohesion policy, and it is a precondition that regional and local stakeholders are directly involved in shaping of the cohesion policy;

21. Underlines the importance that the principles of shared management, clear objectives and thematic concentrations should be maintained, and that most of the fund should be spent as close as possible to those using the fund in close cooperation with local and regional authorities and organisations;

22. Underlines that Cohesion policy must remain a long-term policy, based on the objectives set up in Articles 174 and 175 of the TFEU; expresses its concern that the Union's cohesion policy, including as provided for by the ESF+, is often used as an emergency response tool, and underlines that this approach forms a risk for the longer-term policy and investment objectives of cohesion policy and a risk that the people for who the Cohesion policy is meant cannot be sufficiently reached;

23. Insists that job creation and social inclusion must remain a priority, ensuring that all regions, particularly those facing transitions, benefit from the opportunities of the cohesion funds;

24. Calls on the Commission to protect the budget allocation of the cohesion policy so that it can be used for its main objectives and beneficiaries and to propose a financial reserve instrument that enables the EU to respond rapidly and in a flexible manner to social emergencies and crisis situations, complementing the ESF+ and other cohesion funds, either built on the success of the ‘Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)’, or be it an EU unemployment reinsurance scheme, or based on the EU Solidarity Fund, designed to be mobilised to repair damage caused by natural disasters specially those due to climate change or public health emergencies; calls on the Commission, therefore, to ensure its sufficient funding with a view to the increased risks in these areas;

25. Calls for rules governing the cohesion policy to allow public money to be allocated only to those employers and organisations that respect workers’ rights and the applicable rules on working conditions; calls, further, for more effective social conditionalities in rules on public procurement and concessions.

ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

The rapporteur for the opinion declares under her exclusive responsibility that she did not receive input from any entity or person to be mentioned in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.