News

In its latest episode Euronews Real Economy magazine travels to Spain, a country that has seen the number of persons with disabilities in the job market rise by more than 20 percent over the past six years. The episode shows how in 2021 the ONCE Foundation’s 'Digital Talent' programme, funded by the European Social Fund, allowed 5000 young people with disabilities to learn new skills.

Today, the Commission presents its Communication on Decent Work Worldwide that reaffirms the EU’s commitment to champion decent work both at home and around the world. The elimination of child labour and forced labour is at the heart of this endeavour.

The Sixth High-Level Meeting of the European Battery Alliance took place in Brussels to discuss the progress in developing the battery value chain in Europe and to address the most pressing challenges on the way forward. The Commission also presented priority areas for the work of the European Battery Alliance in 2022.

Supported by the Commission, the agricultural and food industry has presented a skills partnership under the EU Pact for Skills.

The Commission has granted an additional €1.1 billion to Spain under the Recovery Assistance for Cohesion and the Territories of Europe (REACT-EU). The new resources for the Spanish operational programme on Employment, Training and Education of the European Social Fund support short-time work schemes ("expedientes de regulación temporal de empleo"). This helps more than 125.000 people to keep their jobs, and supports businesses.

A family-therapy service project, funded by the European Social Found, is offered to families who experience issues. Families with complex needs do not often engage with office-based support: that’s why the project aims at working with families in their homes, along with offering services at a number of community centres.

Four new Flash Reports prepared by the European Social Policy Network (ESPN) are now available and provide information on recent social policy developments in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.

An housing scheme, co-funded by the European Social Fund, provided a permanent home for vulnerable people in the Municipality of Trieste. This project is called ‘Housing First’ because it treats housing as the start (rather than the end) point in the journey out of homelessness. It was awarded the Ending Homelessness Award which is given to outstanding projects that aim to reintegrate homeless people into society.

The Commission has allocated a total of €285 million to the European Social Fund (ESF) Operational Programs (OPs) of France, Germany and Romania as recovery support for cohesion and territories of Europe (REACT-EU). The additional resources will help unemployed people find new jobs, strengthen education, employment and healthcare systems and help accelerate recovery from the pandemic crisis.