Proposal for a Regulation on the European Social Fund

Summary:

The European Social Fund (ESF) contributes to the economic and social cohesion objective set in article 158 of the EC Treaty, by supporting policies and priorities aimed to achieve progress towards full employment, improve quality and productivity at work, and promote social inclusion and cohesion, in line with the guidelines and recommendations under the European Employment Strategy (EES).

In order to achieve this objective, the ESF needs to address three major challenges: addressing the considerable employment disparities, social inequalities, skills gaps and labour shortages in an enlarged Union; an increasing pace of economic and social restructuring due to globalisation and the development of the knowledge-based economy; and demographic changes, which have resulted in shrinking and ageing workforce.

Official

EUR-Lex: C234: Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Regulation on the European Social Fund https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2005:234:0027:0031:EN:PDF

---