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News2024-01-11

Ambitious 2024 work programme for employment and social innovation

Illustration of the employment and social innovation strand

The European Commission has published the 2024 work programme of the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). This ambitious programme allocates €127 million to promote social inclusion within the European Union.

Towards a more socially inclusive EU

The Employment and Social Innovation strand, an important part of the ESF+, is dedicated to enhancing employment opportunities, fostering social inclusion, combating poverty, and improving working conditions across the EU. 

The 2024 programme underlines the Commission's commitment to creating a socially inclusive EU, paving the way for a future that is both more sustainable and equitable, in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights

Key initiatives for 2024

  • Social investment market and microfinance ecosystem: €20 million is dedicated to enhancing the social investment market and microfinance ecosystem through improved collaboration between the EaSI strand and InvestEU. This will provide much-needed support to microfinance institutions, microenterprises, and social enterprises, and will facilitate the funding of projects that are typically considered too risky.
  • Advancing social innovation and impact accountability: With €4.5 million, this focuses on refining social impact measurement to better inform sustainable investments, an essential part of the Commission's sustainable finance package.
  • Fair transition towards climate neutrality: An allocation of €0.8 million supports the goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. This includes implementing and monitoring the Fair Transition Recommendation and establishing a fair transition observatory.

Funding opportunities