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European Social Fund Plus post-2027

TA-10-2025-0027 · P10_TA(2025)0027 · PE765.062

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Parliament's resolution on the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) post-2027 insists the fund remains the key EU instrument for social inclusion, employment, and skills, with a significantly increased budget for 2028-2034. It calls for the ESF+ to keep shared management, involve local actors and civil society, and address challenges like poverty, housing, child poverty, disability inclusion, and the green and digital transitions. It demands higher earmarking for social inclusion, food aid, youth employment, and child poverty, and proposes a separate emergency instrument to avoid using ESF+ for crises. It calls for simpler rules, reduced administrative burden, and better communication to help organisations access funding.

Key points

  1. Insists the ESF+ remains the key EU instrument for social dimension, supporting member states, regions, and people, and addressing social challenges like climate change and digitalisation.
  2. Calls for a strong, reinforced, separate ESF+ with significantly increased budget for 2028-2034, and warns against merging with other funds.
  3. Demands shared management and involvement of social partners, civil society, and target groups in design and implementation.
  4. Stresses the need for quality public services and affordable housing, and notes older people are at risk of poverty.
  5. Calls for a financial reserve instrument for emergencies, separate from ESF+, to avoid using the fund for crisis response.
  6. Insists on targeting disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities, Roma, homeless, and women, with specific measures.
  7. Urges raising earmarking for social inclusion beyond 25% and for food aid to 5%, and asks for significant earmarking for homelessness.
  8. Calls for increased earmarking beyond 12.5% for youth employment and bans exploitative unpaid traineeships.
  9. Supports the European care strategy, investing in care services and deinstitutionalisation, and calls for a Care Deal.
  10. Calls for co-financing rates of at least 90% for measures for the most deprived and 70% for small entities.
  11. Calls for reduced administrative burden and simplified procedures, especially for small organisations.
  12. Calls for information campaigns and a network of national helpdesks to help organisations access ESF+.

Who is affected

  • Member states, regions, and local communities that receive ESF+ funding.
  • People in vulnerable situations, including children, women, persons with disabilities, Roma, homeless, and migrants.
  • Civil society organisations, social enterprises, and not-for-profit social services that implement ESF+ projects.
  • Social partners and trade unions, with funding for capacity-building and counselling services.
  • Workers and employers, with rules ensuring public money goes only to those respecting workers' rights.

Figures and deadlines

  • 25% current earmarking for social inclusion, to be raised.
  • 5% earmarking for food aid and basic material assistance, to be raised.
  • 12.5% current ESF+ resources for youth employment, to be increased.
  • At least 5% of ESF+ resources for tackling child poverty.
  • Co-financing rate of at least 90% for measures targeting the most deprived.
  • Co-financing rate of at least 70% for actions by small entities.

Legal basis: Articles 46(d), 149, 153(2)(a), 164, 175 and 349 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union