In a vote held in the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs Committee on the report by Verónica Lope Fontagné (EPP, Spain) on the future European Social Fund, on Monday 3 December, MEPs anchored the Fund in the framework of the shared cohesion policy funds.
As a reminder, during this vote, MEPs introduced an increase from 101 billion to 120 billion in the current price of the Fund in line with the positions adopted by Parliament on the next multiannual financial framework, by allocating more resources on youth employment and social inclusion (see EUROPE 12151, 12121).
But there is another point to emphasise: MEPs have insisted in many compromise amendments on the need to help Member States at all levels of decision-making, with an emphasis on the local, regional level.
In addition, MEPs have written in black and white the reference to Article 174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enshrines "the harmonious development of the Union as a whole (...) its action to strengthen its economic, social and territorial cohesion".
This was an express request from Parliament's Regional Development Committee, as well as from many regions, who feared that the European Social Fund would gradually be detached from cohesion policy (see EUROPE 12089) and the shared management method. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)