EU Funds for the Socio-Ecological Transition: Lessons from the MFF 2021-2027
This research examines the extent to which the European Union’s 2021–2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) has supported eco-social policies – defined as public policies explicitly pursuing both environmental and social policy goals in an integrated manner – across Member States. Through documentary analysis of fund regulations and case studies of Bulgaria and Italy, five major funding instruments are analysed: the Just Transition Fund (JTF), the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund.
Our findings reveal significant variation in eco-social potential across instruments. Only the JTF explicitly earmarks resources for just transition policies, supporting measures from skills development to energy efficiency improvements in social housing. The ESF+ allocates resources to green skills and jobs, with considerable cross-national variation. The ERDF and the Cohesion Fund contribute primarily indirectly through energy efficiency investments in social infrastructure and housing and skills development linked to smart specialisation strategies.
Critical implementation gaps emerge. There is structural asymmetry: activation-oriented measures – training, reskilling, employability support – dominate, while redistributive and protective instruments addressing income loss, job displacement or transition-related social risks remain only weakly developed. Administrative capacity, political stability and governance quality function as decisive mediating factors. Policy integration across funds remains uneven and depends on deliberate cross-fund coordination mechanisms, sufficient administrative capacity and stable governance arrangements. Stakeholder involvement, although procedurally mandated, has proved to be substantially limited; consultations tend to occur late in programming cycles and exert little influence over strategic choices.
The research concludes that while there are institutional frameworks for eco-social policy within the current MFF, their operationalisation is driven by a social investment logic that prioritises workforce adaptation over welfare compensation. Recommendations for the post-2027 MFF include: conduct comprehensive eco-social policy stocktaking; earmark adequate resources for just transition; strengthen administrative capacity; establish dedicated eco-social transition benefits; and explore earmarked funding for national welfare state reforms aligned with green transition objectives.
Keywords: just transition, EU policy, EU fund, EU Cohesion Fund, financialisation, social dimention, ESF, EU countries
