theadaptandemploymentcommunityinitiatives.docVIP

THE ADAPT and EMPLOYMENT COMMUNITY INITIATIVES INNOVATIONS N°3 EMPLOYMENT-HORIZON Employers, Employment and People with Disabilities What is the European Social Fund? The European Social Fund (ESF) invests in people. Its purpose is to improve the prospects of those who face the greatest obstacles in finding, keeping or regaining work. In this way the ESF enables millions of people throughout the European Union to play a fuller role in society and thus improve their quality of life. The ESF provides European Union funding on a major scale for programmes which develop or regenerate people’s employability. This task centres on providing citizens with the right work skills as well as developing their social interaction skills, thereby improving their self-confidence and adaptability in the job marketplace. The ESF channels its support into strategic long-term programmes which help regions across Europe, particularly those lagging behind, to upgrade and modernise workforce skills and to stimulate entrepreneurial initiative. This encourages domestic and foreign investment into the regions, helping them to foster greater economic competitiveness and prosperity. The ESF is the main tool through which the European Union translates its employment policy aims into action. In the six years 1994-1999 the ESF, which operates in all Member States, will have made available ECU 47 billion, accounting for almost ten per cent of the European Union’s total budget. The ESF also helps unlock funding at national level, through the use of a joint-funding principle which permits ESF support to be made available only for active measures already being undertaken by Member States to increase people’s employment prospects. The ESF’s aims are both preventive and remedial. To help prevent future long-term unemployment, the ESF focuses its support on programmes which prepare young people better for working life, which help those in employment adapt or