Governments and MEPs endorse Casa’s European Social Fund

All the 27 Governments and the overwhelming majority of the Members of the European Parliament in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee (EMPL) have endorsed the deal reached by Rapporteur David Casa on the new €90 billion European Social Fund Plus for the upcoming seven years. This is an important step towards the implementation of this huge amount of money towards those in need across the continent.

Reacting to this endorsement, Parliament’s Rapporteur David Casa said: “It is of great satisfaction that the agreement I reached with the Council after intense negotiations, has been now endorsed by the 27 European Union Member States, as well as, by my colleagues within the EMPL Committee. The balance reached in the deal was crucial for this endorsement. I now look forward to having the agreement approved by the whole European Parliament’s plenary and signed into law.”

The 27 EU Governments approved the deal worth almost €90 billion during a COREPER meeting yesterday, whilst the MEPs endorsed it during a vote within the EMPL Committee today.

The European Social Fund Plus is the European Union’s main financial tool used to address unemployment, improved training for employees, youth and child poverty, those who are most deprived, social inclusion, education as well as social innovation. In Malta, this money is used by a number of Government entities, local councils and NGOs through various schemes mainly administered by Jobs Plus. This fund is of utmost importance for Member States to address the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those related to employment.

The next and final step will be the vote taken by all the Members of Parliament in one of the upcoming plenary sessions.