Joint letter: Protecting ESF and ERDF – building on what works for people and regions
As part of the EUFunds4Social Coalition, EuroHealthNet has signed an open letter launched during the European Council meeting of 18–19 June. The letter calls on EU leaders to protect and strengthen the European social and territorial funds in the next EU long-term budget, and was signed by over 250 organisations.
The letter focuses in particular on the future of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). It underlines that these funds have been central to delivering EU priorities on employment, skills, social inclusion, poverty reduction, social services, and territorial cohesion, and warns against the risks of diluting dedicated funding, weakening earmarking, and reducing the role of local and regional actors and civil society.
The 250+ organisations that signed the letter call for a strong and visible social dimension in the EU budget, including:
- Higher social spending and preservation of ESF+ and ERDF as key stand-alone instruments with clear mandates,
- Protected funding for social inclusion, child poverty, material deprivation, homelessness, youth employment and capacity building,
- Reinforced governance based on partnership, subsidiarity, and rights-based implementation.
The Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Ms Roxana Mînzatu, stated that “a Union that invests in skills, quality jobs and living standards is a Union that can out-compete, out-innovate and withstand any challenge”.
We must ensure that this statement does not remain rhetorical, but is translated into an ambitious Multiannual Financial Framework that provides the architecture for such investments
