The European Social Fund is the EU’s principal instrument for promoting employment and social inclusion, focusing particularly on the most vulnerable. It is based on four main thematic objectives:
(1) promoting employment and labour mobility;
(2) investing in education, training and vocational training for skills and life-long learning;
(3) promoting social inclusion and combating poverty and discrimination; and
(4) enhancing the institutional capacity of public authorities and stakeholders, and efficient public administration.
The agreement reached with the Council includes the S&D Group’s main points and is very satisfactory. The main achievements of the agreement include an increased ESF budget (minimum 20%) for the fight against poverty and social exclusion; positive criteria for the youth employment initiative, with specific reference to implementing the youth guarantee; more indicators to measure the impact of projects on social inclusion; inclusion of asylum seekers and refugees; five investment priorities instead of four; and clear reference to the involvement of social partners and non-governmental organisations at all levels.