The ESF Operational Programme in mainland Finland
The programme under the European Social Fund (ESF) supports projects that promote employment and knowledge. Financing is used to support groups at a disadvantage and promote equal opportunities. Along with financing from the ERDF programmes, financing from the ESF programme is used for the promotion of employment and competitiveness.
The ESF promotes the development of the world of work and business by improving the knowledge and professional skills of employees and entrepreneurs.
The Social Fund programme provides financing for projects in which, for example, long-term unemployed or disabled people receive training so that they can return to work. The objectives include the promotion of employment, staying at work, and the prevention of social exclusion.
The programme also finances structural-development projects, such as the reform of educational and training systems and on-the-job learning, which affect large groups of people in the long term. The projects help improve the matching of training and the needs of employers, facilitate the transfer from training to work, and enhance the opportunities of the adult population to participate in training.
National actors, such as the State, municipalities, and the private sector, participate in the financing of the Social Fund programme. The programme will receive approximately EUR 1,414 million in public financing, of which the EU’s total contribution is EUR 615 million.
The ESF programme consists of the national section and four regional sections
The programme under the European Social Fund which will be implemented in mainland Finland consists of the national section and regional sections. Approximately half of the ESF financing will be directed to national thematic projects. These will be implemented in different areas, as will projects to be financed from the regional sections. Southern, Western, Eastern, and Northern Finland will each have their own regional sections, which are based on the employment, industrial, and knowledge strategies of the areas.
Eastern Finland has a special position in terms of financing. It has its own financial framework, and it will receive financing separately from the national section. The national programme section will be implemented according to different themes outside Eastern Finland. Actors in Eastern Finland may also participate in the implementation of national themes, but these will be financed from Eastern Finland’s own financial framework.
