The European Commission provides funding for projects relating to employment, social affairs and social inclusion through the following programmes.
European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)
The ESF+ funds projects designed to help people improve their work skills and job prospects. To apply, public and private organisations should contact the ESF+ managing authorities in their country. The European Commission sets funding priorities but is not directly involved in selecting projects.
More about the ESF+
ESF+ in your country
European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF)
The EGF helps workers made redundant as a result of changing global trade patterns to find another job as quickly as possible. Individuals or companies affected by redundancy and wishing to apply for funding should contact their national authority.
Funding 2021-2027
The Commission has proposed a simpler and more integrated European Social Fund (ESF+) and a revised European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). They are part of the Commission’s proposals for the 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework (MFF) adopted on 2 May 2018. The proposals are currently being discussed by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.
EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)
The EU Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) is a European-level financing instrument managed directly by the European Commission to support employment, social policy and labour mobility across the EU. To apply for funding, eligible organisations must respond to a call for tenders or/and to a call for proposals.
Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD)
The FEAD supports EU countries' actions to provide material assistance to the most deprived. National authorities select the partner organisations that deliver the assistance, based on national programmes for 2014-2020 approved by the Commission.
Prerogatives: social dialogue and other specific competencies
The Commission supports projects in the field of social dialogue and industrial relations, which are part of the “Prerogatives” of the Commission, that is to say tasks resulting from specific powers directly conferred by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
The Commission implements such prerogatives trough specific tenders and calls for proposals in the following areas:
- Free movement of workers, coordination of social security schemes and measures for migrants
- Social policy, including social dialogue, supporting actions undertaken by European social partners to promote social dialogue and to agree on joint actions, including capacity building and analytical activities in the field of industrial relations
- Analysis of and studies on the social situation, demographies and the family to promote better policy responses in the Member States
- Information and training measures for workers' organisation, transnational exchange of information and good practices in matters relevant for social dialogue at company level.
The Prerogatives' annual work programmes are available online.
