Launch of Eurocarers’ Position Paper on the European Social and Investment Funds

Since its creation, Eurocarers has been working to support organisations representing informal carers accessing EU funding opportunities to develop innovative projects in the area of care, building on their expertise, in order to contribute to EU policy objectives of social inclusion, access to employment and modernisation of health and long-term care systems.

A large number of Eurocarers’ members are regularly involved in EU transnational projects in the areas of life-long learning and research, respectively funded under the Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 programmes.

However, despite their efforts, they hardly ever access the 5 European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), through which over half of EU funding is channelled. Building on the outcomes of the internal survey completed last November, this position paper shows how carers’ organisations seem left aside of the participation and funding opportunities linked to the ESIF, whereas informal care is a key element in addressing the many pressing challenges in the area of health and long-term care commonly faced by member states.

This is all the most regrettable that these funds, and in particular the European Social Fund, appear as a particularly relevant vehicle to scale up the many outcomes of relevant transnational projects, and address care and caring issues within a wider policy framework in an integrated way.

Read the Position Paper here

On the same issue, see also Eurocarers’ contribution to the European Commission Consultation on the contribution of the European Social Fund to Social Inclusion, available here