What is the European Social Fund?
The European Social Fund (ESF) helps people improve their skills and, consequently, their job prospects. Created in 1957, the ESF is the EU's main source of financial support for efforts to develop employability and human resources. It helps Member States combat unemployment, prevent people from dropping out of the labour market, and promote training to make Europe's workforce and companies better equipped to face new, global challenges.
The ESF is one of the EU's Structural Funds which were set up to reduce differences in prosperity and living standards and help areas of Europe which, for one reason or another are suffering difficulties. This is usually referred to as 'promoting economic and social cohesion'.
To do this, the ESF spends European money on the achievement of the goals agreed in the European Employment Strategy. This strategy is bringing together the 27 Member States to work at increasing Europe's capacity to create good jobs, and providing people with the skills to fill them.
The ESF channels its money into strategic, long-term programmes in Member States and regions across the EU. Seven-year programmes are planned by Member States together with the European Commission and then implemented through a wide range of organizations. These organisations include national, regional and local authorities, educational and training institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the voluntary sector, as well as social partners, for example trade unions and works councils, industry and professional associations, and individual companies.
Between 2000-2006, the ESF granted some €70 billion to people and projects across the EU. This money comes on top of Member State funding from public and/or private sectors in the country concerned.
From 1 January 2007, a new programming round for the Structural Funds began for 27 Member States (including Romania and Bulgaria).
The new ESF regulation for 2007-2013 provides a common framework for ESF interventions throughout the Union. Throughout the Union, the ESF will provide support for anticipating and managing economic and social change. Its intervention will focus on four key areas for action:
In the least prosperous regions and Member States, the Funds will concentrate on promoting structural adjustment, growth and job creation. To this end, under the 'Convergence' objective and in addition to the priorities mentioned above, the ESF will also support:
European Social Fund 2007 - 2013 in Malta
The implementation of ESF is based on the Operational Programme: Empowering People for More Jobs and Better Quality of Life. This Operational Programme focuses primarily on employment, education, training and social inclusion. This focus reflects the National Strategic Reference Framework third Strategic Objective: investing in human capital.
The overall objective of this Operational Programme is to invest in human capital in order to raise the overall employment rate. The OP provides the opportunity for Malta to invest in its human capital, not merely through improving the skills level of the current and future workforce but also through the strengthening of labour market structures. The objectives of the OP are supported by five Priority Axes:
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improvements in education and skills;
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investment in employability and adaptability of the workforce;
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support towards an equal and inclusive labour market;
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strengthening of institutional and administrative capacity;
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technical assistance
Priority Axis 1: the main objective of this priority axis is to increase the overall participation rates in education at all levels, thus increasing and upgrading the knowledge and skills levels of the labour force.
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investing in the education system;
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addressing skills mismatches;
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research and innovation;
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information and communication technology
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innovative activities.
Priority Axis 2: investing in human capital to ensure that working age population and enterprises become flexible to respond to the needs of the economy, whilst reducing unemployment levels.
Priority Axis 3: promoting the uptake of stable and quality employment by persons who find difficulties in participating in the labour market.
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female participation in the labour market
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promoting an inclusive society
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addressing labour market distortions and ensuring that work pays
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innovative activities
Priority Axis 4: investing in human resources development and mechanisms in order to strengthen institutional capacity and efficiency of public administrations, local government, social partners and civil society.
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supporting public sector reform
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lifelong learning for the public sector
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strengthening the quality of employment services
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promoting a more effective social and civil dialogue in Malta
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innovative activities
Priority Axis 5: facilitating the overall implementation of the programme in order to optimise the programme’s quality and efficiency, whilst ensuring effective application of regulations and procedures.
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implementation of the programme and capacity building
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information and publicity
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transnational/interregional activities
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innovative activities
Total Budget: €131 million, of which €112 million are EU funds.
Contact details:
Communications Team
Planning and Priorities Coordination Division
Office of the Prime Minister
12, St. Paul’s Street, Valletta, VLT 2000
Tel. 2200 1142/3
email: info.ppcd@gov.mt