03/07/2020 (Agence Europe) – The Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) and the Federal Association for Non-statutory Welfare (BAGFW) are deeply concerned about the budget cuts of €3.43 billion at current prices proposed by the European Commission for the European Social Fund + (ESF+) in a paper published earlier this week. The trade unions stress that giving a budgetary boost via React-EU does not in any way compensate for the losses to the ESF+, as the two funds have different objectives. They also reject the lowering of EU co-financing rates and any compulsory transfer from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and ESF+ to the Just Transition Fund (JTF). They call for both further simplification of the Fund and a strengthening of the partnership principle. To view their recommendations: https://bit.ly/3irqCau (PH)