Recently, the European Commission launched a 12-week public consultation to evaluate the support for social inclusion by the European Social Fund (ESF) in the 2014-2018 period. The information collected will be used in assessing what has been achieved during the 2014-2018 period. It will also help the Commission to draw lessons on how to reinforce this support in the future, making it more effective and focused.
The ESF is Europe’s main instrument for supporting jobs, helping people get better jobs and ensuring fairer job opportunities for all EU citizens. It works by investing in Europe’s human capital – its workers, its young people and all those seeking a job. It is now time to assess what the fund has achieved in the past four years. In particular, the evaluation will asses:
- how the ESF promotes social inclusion (integrating disadvantaged people into society and ensuring fairer life opportunities for all) and how it combats poverty/discrimination;
- structural reforms;
- the visibility, usefulness, relevance, value for money and effectiveness of ESF measures.
All citizens and organisations are invited to contribute to this consultation. A separate ESF consultation will, on the other hand, focus on receiving feedback on ESF support for education. The consultation seeks to assess the success and effectiveness of EU initiatives for
- reducing and preventing early school leaving,
- promoting equal access to education and lifelong learning for all,
- supporting vocational training,
- improving the quality, efficiency and access to university education.
Eurodiaconia will participate in the consultation, and since the ESF is particularly useful for our members, we strongly encourage all organisations that are part of our network to participate. This is an excellent opportunity to provide feedback on the fund and to engage in conversation with national authorities on the future shape of the ESF, which will become ESF+ in the next funding cycle.
To learn more about the ongoing consultations please visit this website for the consultation on social inclusion, and this other website for the consultation related to education.
If you would like to learn more about Eurodiaconia’s work on funding, please visit our dedicated section.