European Social Fund
The European Social Fund is active everywhere people are striving to improve their job prospects.
Language courses for Turkish women who are looking for a job, special training to teach bus drivers additional services they would need during the Football World Cup in Germany and a multi-million immediate action programme for unemployed youths: The European Social Fund is active everywhere people are striving to improve their job prospects. Yet few people know how the funds from Brussels get to those places where they can do good.
The European Union has promoted employment and labour policies in the Member States through the European Social Fund (ESF) for 50 years now. The ESF assists people in Europe in their efforts to improve their chances in the job market and contributes to the creation of new jobs.
9 billion for Germany
The ESF will allocate a total of - 9.38 billion for Germany between 2007 and 2013. These funds are being provided to help the Germany's federal and state governments better achieve the objectives set forth in the European Employment Strategy. The Federal Government has developed its own programme - the Operational Programme of the Federal Government for the European Social Fund (OP) - for achieving these objectives.
Nearly 40% of the ESF funds for Germany go to the Federal Government's ESF programme. Some 60% go to the 17 state programmes. And since a prerequisite for receiving funding from Brussels is that part of the costs for the projects must be borne by the Member States themselves (co-financing), a total of nearly - 16 billion will be additionally allocated for workers, job seekers and businesses in Germany over the seven years from 2007 to 2013 as a result of the ESF.
The German government's ESF funding is aimed at:
- Raising the employment rate,
- Increasing the share of the population that participates in continuing education,
- Lowering the long-term unemployment rate,
- Improving the prospects of the younger generation,
- Raising the employment rate among women.
Please click on the following links for further information about current funding programmes and the Federal Government' Operational Programme.