European Social Fund
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The European Social Fund (ESF) is one of the four European Structural Funds that provide grants to support economic development within the European Union. The ESF is the oldest one. It was created by the Treaty of Rome in 1957 and became operational in 1960.
Its purpose is to increase employment, especially through funding vocational training.
Following a review in the early 1980s, the ESF concentrated on combating youth unemployment. Later, a stronger focus was given to employment development in regions with low incomes and weak economies.
The ESF also funds the EQUAL Community Initiative.
The ESF provides grants for running costs. Unlike the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), it does not provide capital grants for infrastructure. If there is a need for a new vocational training centre, the ERDF would be able to provide a capital grant to assist with construction costs and the ESF could provide a grant towards the running costs.
