French outermost regions will receive an additional €24.5 million under REACT-EU to support employment, education and the green transition.
- 11 January 2023
Martinique will receive €9.1 million from the European Social Fund (ESF), including over €4 million to help around 1,800 young people find jobs. Another €4 million will go towards education to benefit over 3,000 students. The focus will be on allowing young people to gain work experience in companies for up to 8 weeks. The remaining funds will help reduce early school leaving.
Guadeloupe and Saint-Martin will receive €8.2 million from the ESF to help young people learn new skills, thereby increasing their chances of finding a job. As part of this measure, some 800 young people will enrol in a voluntary military training called the Adapted Military Service (Service Militaire Adapté, SMA).
Saint-Martin will also receive €7.2 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to support its public infrastructure, for instance the renovation of a desalination plant, the construction of a centre for health and social services, and a new tourism information office.
In 2021, REACT-EU had already allocated €40 billion to help Member States recover from the pandemic, invest in the digital and green transition, and, as of 2022, to host and integrate people fleeing the war in Ukraine. The Commission has also paid €3.5 billion of pre-financing payments to Member States under REACT-EU since March 2022.
The most recent comprehensive package ‘Flexible Assistance to Territories (FAST-CARE)' further extends the support to Member States by offering additional flexibility in Cohesion Policy funding while also increasing pre-financing payments by an additional €3.5 billion to be paid in 2022 and 2023. The final date of eligibility for REACT-EU expenditures is 31 December 2023.