The European Social Fund in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 2007-2013.
Date: 2008-01-18
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Subjects: European Social Fund, Luxembourg, employment policy, job access, labour market, operational programme, vocational training

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg 

The European Social Fund in the Grand 
Duchy of Luxembourg, 2007-2013

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is using ESF funding to 
improve people’s employment opportunities, particularly 
younger and older people and women, and bring more of them 
into the workforce. It also provides workers and businesses with 
the skills to anticipate and adapt to changing market needs and 
to support a more innovation-driven economy.

The European Social Fund in brief

The European Social Fund, created in 1957, is the European Union’s main fi nancial instrument for 
investing in people. It supports employment and helps people enhance their education and skills. This 
improves their job prospects.

Member States and regions devise their own ESF Operational Programmes, in order to respond to the 
real needs ‘on the ground’. Over the period 2007-2013, the ESF will spend over 10 billion euro per year 
across all Member States. This represents more than 10% of the European Union’s total budget. 

These are the fi ve priorities of ESF funding at EU level: 

 Helping workers and enterprises adapt to changing circumstances in the economy 

 Enhancing access to employment and participation in the workforce 

 Improving training and skills, both for individuals, and through better education and training systems 

  Promoting partnerships between actors such as employers, trade unions and non-governmental 
organisations, for reform in the fi elds of employment and inclusion in the labour market 

  Reinforcing the social inclusion of disadvantaged people and combating discrimination in the 
labour market 

In some Member States and regions, the ESF can also support actions to improve the capacity and 

eff ectiveness of public administrations and public services.

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The socio-economic and employment situation in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has a fl ourishing economy and while it had experienced falling growth rates after 
2001, economic growth rose in 2006 to reach 6.2%. Moreover, its population is among the 
wealthiest in the EU – GDP per capita is the highest in Europe at 253% of the EU average. The 
fi nancial services and banking sector are the main drivers of the economy, although the steel 
sector and agriculture make signifi cant contributions. 

Employment has improved marginally since 2000 reaching 63.6% of the 15-64 age group in 2006; 
this is slightly below the EU average, and well below the Lisbon target of 70%. Despite falls in 
2002-2003, employment growth has been rising since, reaching close to 4% in 2006, particularly for 
women. Importantly, non-residents form a signifi cant part of the workforce in Luxembourg, around 
40%. Furthermore, two-thirds of new jobs are taken by cross-border workers who have been the 
main benefi ciaries of rising employment opportunities. Not enough older workers are in work – 
33.2% in 2006 – well below the EU target of 50%. 

The unemployment rate among residents reached a record high of 5.1% in 2004, but this fell to 
4.6% in 2006. The situation is worse for the 16.2% of young people who do not have a job, although 
this rate is less than the EU average of 17.4%.

A potential threat to Luxembourg’s future growth is the relatively rapid rise in wage costs, which 

could progressively reduce economic competitiveness.

Luxembourg’s ESF priorities, 
2007-2013

The principal objectives of Luxembourg’s Operational 
Programme for ESF funding are: to restore full 
employment by bringing more of the resident 
population  into work, to keep them in employment; 
and to support full and continuing employment by 
training job-seekers and workers in the skills that 
employers want. These objectives will be achieved 
through four priorities for funding:

Priority 1: Improving access to sustainable 
employment

  Creating more job opportunities for older workers 
and women, including through appropriate 
work-life balance solutions, the provision of 
childcare facilities, and the promotion of equal 
opportunities. Particular actions will target 
people over 55 years old and support existing 
government initiatives in this area, for example 
through training for new career paths or 
reintegration into working life.

  Helping young people, through guidance, 
preparation and training, to get their ﬁ rst job and 
get on in their ﬁ rst job. Attention will be focused 
on the transition between the school and 
workplace, particularly for those young people 
leaving education with no or few qualiﬁ cations 
who might beneﬁ t from apprenticeships.

  Motivating and supporting people on the 
margins of the labour market to prepare for work 
and get a job, for example lone parents, and 
disabled people. Those with particular diﬃ  culties 
in integrating into the workplace will be guided 
closely and helped through the initial period.

Priority 2: Increasing the adaptability of 
workers and businesses

  Improving the ability of businesses to anticipate 
and adapt to changing circumstances in the 
market place. 

 
 
 
 
  Better matching – by training and education – the 
skills and capacities of workers to the needs of 
the labour market, and the changing needs of the 
labour market. 

  Supporting innovative approaches to helping 
workers change their career paths.

Priority 3: Reinforcing human capital

  Upgrading the capacities of workers and 
businesses by building closer links between 
education institutions, research and development 
centres and businesses, particularly in the areas 
of innovation and research. These activities will 
support economic structural reforms 

and the move towards a more knowledge-
based economy.

  Modernising the ways and conditions of working 
to allow more people to hold down a job and to 
perform it more eﬃ  ciently.

  Bringing social partners, such as trade unions and 
employers organisations into initiatives to raise 
the skills and capacities of workers and businesses 
in Luxembourg.

In addition to the three main priorities, there is 
also a technical assistance priority to support the 
implementation and evaluation of the 
ESF Operational Programme. 

Financial plan for the 
European Social Fund in 
Luxembourg, 2007-2013 
(euro)

4.00%

38.40%

19.20%

38.40%

Priority axis

Community 
funding

National/
Regional 
counterpart

Total funding

Improving access 
to sustainable 
employment

Increasing the 
adaptability of 
workers and 
businesses

Reinforcing 
human capital

Technical 
assistance and 
evaluation

9 693 568

9 693 568

 19 387 136

9 693 568

9 693 568

 19 387 136

4 846 783

4 846 783

 9 693 566

1 009 747

1 009 747

 2 019 494

Total

25 243 666

25 243 666

50 487 332

 
 
 
 
 
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Some earlier ESF projects in Luxembourg, 2004-2006

  Employability for all: training for young job-seekers
Unemployed young people, many with no or few qualifi cations, followed a six-month training 
programme to acquire the skills that employers demand – and of the 48 who completed the 
fi rst-round course, 24 are working a year later, 17 with permanent contracts. The FORWARD 
programme was run by the Inter-Actions association which has a long history of working with 
unemployed youth. It equipped a maximum number of youngsters with the tools to compete for 
jobs in the open market, without further help from job support measures. Originally foreseen as a 
six-month training course, it proved so popular that it was reduced to three months to give even 
more young people a better chance of fi nding work.
  Closing the gap through networking
Almost 400 individuals facing varied and multiple diffi  culties, causing them to suff er exclusion 
from the job market, were helped in their eff orts to go back to work. The six partners in the 
project each brought their own speciality into a support network – for example, psychosocial 
support or counselling – and gave these individuals the special attention they needed to return 
to work and again feel they were part of society. Participants included the long-term unemployed 
and ex-off enders who were helped to break out of the cycles of dependency they seemed 
trapped in. They were helped by a range of measures, for example, improvements in living 
conditions, building self-confi dence and improving their social skills.
  Professional training for unemployed women
For many women in Luxembourg a professional career and fi nancial independence can seem 
out of reach in a society that keeps strongly to the traditional family model. Yet more and more 
women want to enter the labour market or return to work. To create more opportunities for 
these women, the NAXI project helped many with training in the caring professions, catering 
and information technologies – with the aim of easing their path into the job market. 
Of the 89 participants, 40% went on to fi nd work and 25% into further training.

Eligible regions 2007-2013

ESF contacts

In Luxembourg  

Autorité de Gestion FSE
Département Emploi du Ministère du Travail 
et de l’Emploi
26, rue Zithe, 
LU-2939 Luxembourg

Ms Maryse FISCH
Tel.: +352 478 61 19
Fax: +352 478 61 08
E-mail: maryse.fi sch@mt.etat.lu   

Mr Jeannot BERG
Tél: +352 478 61 30
Fax: +352 478 61 08
E-mail: jeannot.berg@mt.etat.lu

   In Brussels

Information service of DG Employment, 
Social Aff airs & Equal Opportunities
Communication Unit
BE-1049 Brussels
Fax: +32 (0)2 296 23 93
E-mail: empl-info@ec.europa.eu
http://ec.europa.eu/esf

The level of ESF funding diff ers from one region to another 
depending on their relative wealth. 

  Luxembourg, with a GDP per head of more than 75% of the 
EU-25 average, is eligible under the regional competitiveness 
and employment objective.