Croatia has EUR 2.27 billion available through the ESF+
We introduced Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner of the European Commission for Employment and Social Rights, to the Government's efforts aimed at preventing social fractures in the crisis. We continue to use funds to encourage the creation of new jobs and investments in green and digital skills, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said.
"Croatia has EUR 2.27 billion available from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), so in the new seven-year period the goals will be to increase employment, lifelong education and reduce the risk of poverty," said the Minister of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social politician Marin Piletić after the meeting between Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and EC Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit.
"In the new seven-year period, the goals will be to increase employment, lifelong education and reduce the risk of poverty," he added and pointed out that Croatia is in the last year of using funds from the ESF for the period 2014-2020. whose main goal was the stabilization of the labor market and that the first public calls and the use of funds from the new ESF+ can be expected.
"In the past period, we had 1.9 billion euros at our disposal through the ESF, and considering the negotiations with the European Commission and the results achieved, the Commission predicted almost two billion kuna more for the next program period, which we will have at our disposal until 2027," said the minister.
For the next program period, he announced three program goals for the use of ESF+ funds, the first of which is to reach an employment rate of 75 percent compared to the current 69.9 percent in Croatia.
The second is activation, that is, the inclusion of 55 percent of the adult population in the process of lifelong education, while the third is a reduction for more than 300,000 citizens who are at risk of poverty, in cooperation with other measures and funds.
Vouchers for education and retraining - sufficient allocations for the inclusion of citizens
Tomorrow, at the "European Social Fund Plus for the Development Decade" conference, the Ministry will present the key activities on which these funds will be spent.
2023 is expected to be declared the European Year of Skills, so the Prime Minister and the Minister introduced Schmit to the education and retraining voucher measure that was launched last year, for which there are enough planned allocations to include more than 100,000 citizens in these programs.
Commissioner Schmit, who last visited Croatia in 2020 at the beginning of Croatia's presidency of the Council of the EU, said that at the time no one expected a major crisis, but when looking back, Croatia and the EU managed to overcome it and helped companies through various measures .
He pointed out that investments in the modernization of the economy, digitization and greening of the economy are important, adding that these transformations should occur alongside investments in social cohesion within the Union.
As some of the challenges of the Union and Croatia, he mentioned a large number of young people and persons with disabilities who are outside the labor market and the need to discuss how to introduce them to the market in view of the lack of labor force, for which the training and retraining of workers and funds are key from ESF.