The European Social Fund (ESF) supports policies and priorities aiming to achieve progress towards full employment, enhance quality and productivity at work, increase the geographical and occupational mobility of workers within the Union, improve education and training systems, and promote social inclusion, thereby contributing to economic, social and territorial cohesion. Each Member State, in partnership with the European Commission, agrees on one or more Operational Programmes for ESF funding for the seven-year programming period. Operational Programmes describe the priorities for ESF activities and their objectives. The EU distributes ESF funding to the Member States and regions to finance their operational programmes.

The ERDF aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. The ERDF supports regional and local development by co-financing investments in R&D and innovation; climate change and environment; business support to SMEs; services of common economic interest, telecommunication, energy and transport infrastructures; health, education and social infrastructures; and sustainable urban development.The mechanism proposed provides that: 

• At least 80% of resources are focused on energy efficiency and renewables, research and innovation and SME support in more developed and transition regions of which20% for energy efficiency and renewables. Given the ongoing restructuring needs in those regions phasing out from the Convergence objective, the minimum percentage shall be reduced to 60%;
• At least 50% of resources are focused on energy efficiency and renewables, research and innovation and SME support in less developed regions of which 6% for energy efficiency and renewables.