€ 44.2 billion EU investment allocated to support skills from EU cohesion funds
The European Year of Skills might be over, but its ripple effects on EU investment in skills are not. The European Commission published a report that reviews the European Union (EU) cohesion funds’ investment in skills, with the ultimate goal to better understand the proportion of planned investments by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and Just Transition Fund (JTF) dedicated to labour-market focused education, training and skills.
How much does the EU invest to support skills development?
The three programmes mentioned above account for a total of € 44.2 billion. The ESF+ alone accounts for € 40.4 billion, i.e. around 91.5% of the total estimated EU investment in skills. And this is only EU money, these programmes, in combination with national co-financing across all Member States, bring the total investment in skills under EU cohesion funds to more than € 67.7 billion.
How many people in the EU benefit from these funds?
As many as 38 million people are estimated to be participating in skills activities. The programmes with the largest budgets also have the largest participation figures. When it comes to Member States, demographics play an important role: Italy anticipates participation of between 4.5 and 9.7 million, Spain between 4.8 and 8.2 million, and Poland between 2.0 and 4.4 million people. And in terms of services funded, skills counselling and training for individuals make the cut among the priorities for all 27 Member States!
Adults are the main target group
Since EU funds for skills development aim to reduce the skills gap, it is no surprise that the working-age population is the segment that benefits the most from these activities. However, young NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training, aged over 15 years old) are also regularly targeted.
