EU funding for employment and social rights

Employment and social rights - loans and grants from the European Union

Employment - EU loans and grants

Are you considering applying for European Union funding? Do you want to see examples of projects that have received financial support from the EU? The European Commission's Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion is responsible for a number of funding instruments, including the European Social Fund (ESF).

European Social Fund

ESF funding is available through the Member States and regions. The ESF does not fund projects directly from Brussels. Each Member State, together with the European Commission, agrees on one or more Operational Programmes for ESF funding for the 2007-2013 period, as do those regions that have their own Operational Programmes (not all do). Operational Programmes set the priorities for ESF intervention and their objectives. The Operational Programmes are implemented through individual projects run by participating organisations (known as ‘beneficiaries’). A beneficiary designs a project, applies for funding and, if this is granted, implements the project.

Social affairs and equal opportunities

Are you considering applying for European Union funding? Do you want to see examples of projects that have received financial support from the EU? The European Commission's Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion is responsible for a number of funding instruments, including the European Social Fund (ESF).