CARES III

CARES III is a project run under a 4-year Framework Partnership Agreement (2022-2025) and co-financed by the European Commission’s Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand of the European Social Fund Plus “ESF+”.

Context

The European Commission provides financial support to European NGO networks like Caritas Europa to advance on the social agenda. On the one hand, European NGO networks need to be fully aware of the EU’s social policy shaping mechanisms. On the other hand, the European Commission needs to know what is happening on the “ground” in the EU Member States. Through our contact with people experiencing poverty, we are best placed to monitor the national situations and the effects of national policies on the most vulnerable in our societies. Caritas Europa then feeds this important information back to the Commission.

Activities

Caritas Europa implements different kinds of activities, such as developing policy documents, organising conferences, seminars and other capacity building events in different technical or thematic areas, in order to reach the objectives of the CARES III project. For instance, the reports of the Caritas Cares series, which focus on combating poverty and social exclusion, were published as part of CARES (2014-2017) as well as CARES II (2018-2021) and will continue to be produced under the new project.

Through CARES III, we contribute to the objectives of the European Social Fund Plus, such as:

• Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty by fostering the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan, ensuring just transitions, protecting livelihoods, boosting employment, reducing poverty and inequalities and creating opportunities for all;
• Supporting the EU policy initiatives proposed by the Commission to put the Pillar’s principles into practice. The Action Plan contains proposals for initiatives in the respective fields of the 20 principles (e.g. support to children, minimum income, access to essential services, combatting homelessness, quality and affordable long-term care, access to healthcare, social economy). Progress in turning the principles of the pillar into action will be monitored through the European Semester;
• Delivering on the European Pillar of Social Rights:
  • support the implementation of the Pillar at EU, national and local level notably by collecting and exchanging data and good practices and cooperating with public authorities in the design and implementation of relevant policies;
  • organise communication and engagement activities to raise awareness of the Pillar and promote social rights in Europe;
• The ultimate goal is to build a stronger social Europe: modernise and strengthen the welfare states to protect people, combat poverty and inequalities, and to face the green, digital and demographic transitions.

Framework

The project is financed by the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), which has a budget of € 762 million. The EaSI strand builds on the former EaSI programme 2014-2020, maintaining the focus on evidence-based policy-making and social experimentation, support to job mobility and the non-financial instrument activities related to the former microfinance and social entrepreneurship axis.

As part of ESF+, it follows the same policy objectives as ESF+ with the European Pillar of Social Rights as main framework.

EaSI is centred on the following main policy priorities:

1. Employment and skills;
2. Labour markets and labour mobility;
3. Social protection and active inclusion;
4. Working conditions.

For more information see: ESF+ direct (EaSI) | European Social Fund Plus (europa.eu).