The European Commission has adopted the five programmes worth a total of around €1.3 billion investments in Belgium under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).  

These investments, which are allocated for the financial period 2021-2027, will help people to acquire new skills and find better jobs. The funding will also support reforms in employment, and education and training policies, contributing to better social inclusion and addressing skills mismatches and labour shortages in the job market.  

Education and training account for the largest share, nearly € 500 million, with significant investments in skills, notably the up- and re-skilling measures of unemployed and workers. These investments are fully in line with EU level priorities and will help address the existing skills mismatches and labour shortages on the Belgian labour market. 

The ESF+ programmes also have a strong focus on active social inclusion for vulnerable groups, including young people, people with a migrant background, low-skilled workers, long-term unemployed and those who are currently neither in a job, nor seeking employment. Around €400 million are allocated to support their active participation in the labour market and society. There are also dedicated allocations to combat child poverty, for instance by helping children in need to participate in sport and other leisure activities. Furthermore, the funds will support carers and community-based care services.  

Finally, about €300 million are allocated to employment support, much of it focusing on young people. This will help them to successfully apply for jobs, for instance through advice services on career planning or traineeship, including abroad, for some of them, through the “Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve” initiative (ALMA). 

Four of the programmes are regional, focusing on the specific needs and social priorities of the Belgian regions and language communities.  

• The ESF+ Flanders programme will fund activities that can continue to increase the employment rates – including for low-qualified people, newly-arrived migrants, persons with disabilities or other vulnerable groups that may face barriers to participating in both the labour market and wider society; 

• The ESF+ programme covering Belgium’s German-speaking community It aims to improve the link between supply and demand in the labour market and to sustainably increase employment and employability; 

• The Brussels ESF+ programme will continue improving access to employment across Belgium’s capital, assessing and anticipating skills needs, and supporting labour market matching, transitions and mobility; 

• The ESF+ Wallonia Brussels programme will support individuals suffering from long-term employment to find jobs. The programme will focus on individuals with barriers to employment – such as newly-arrived migrants and young people – building social inclusion for the region’s most vulnerable.   

Finally, Belgium will reach the country’s most vulnerable through the Federal Food Aid Programme, worth EUR 50 million, which aims at reducing poverty across the country. This programme will focus exclusively on the distribution of food aid, as well as improving social support measures for the most deprived in Belgian society.