Study supporting the mid-term evaluation of the ESF+ during the programming period 2021-2027

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF)+ brings together four funding instruments that were separate in the programming period (2014-2020): the European Social Fund (ESF), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) and the EU programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). 

The ESF+ is composed of two strands: the shared management strand and the EaSI strand under direct and indirect management. Its total budget amounts to EUR 142.7 billion. 

The overarching objective of the study was to provide the Commission with evidence and analysis for its mid-term evaluation of the ESF+. It assessed both ESF+ strands and covered the period from the ESF+ regulation’s entry into force in June 2021 until the end of 2023. 

The geographical scope of the study was the EU27 Member States, as well as the third countries participating in the EaSI strand. 

The study’s methodology and focus were determined by the low level of ESF+ implementation for the evaluation period. Implementation on the ground of ESF+, particularly its shared management strand, was delayed due to the late adoption of the ESF+ and Common Provisions regulations in 2021 and the priority given to implementing the remaining 2014-2020 funds, REACT-EU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). As a result, 2023 was the first year of implementation for the ESF+ shared management strand. Although some calls for proposals for the EaSI strand were launched from 2021, the implementation of the projects awarded was still ongoing in the study timeframe. 

The study thus principally explored how the design of the fund and the changes from the previous programming period are supporting synergies between the two strands and with other funding programmes and policies. It also examined the continued relevance of the ESF+ to the changing policy context and the needs on the ground, its internal coherence and external coherence with other programmes, and efficiency and effectiveness in initial implementation. 

The study involved a series of research tasks to gather robust evidence including quantitative and qualitative desk research (about 250 documents at EU/national level), surveys targeting ESF+ Managing Authorities (91 responses) and EaSI stakeholders (74 responses), interviews with 41 EU-level, 265 shared management strand and 54 EaSI strand stakeholders, two focus groups and three case studies.

Study supporting the mid-term evaluation of the ESF+ during the programming period 2021-2027 - Annexes