Funding for companies by German Länder

Many Federal States (Länder) in Germany became important providers for cost-sharing schemes in the ESF funding period from 2007 to 2013, where ESF and national funds are used for providing various types of vouchers for further education. Instruments targeted partly only individuals, partly only enterprises, yet, partly both individuals and enterprises. Co-funding schemes are continued under the ESF funding period (2014-2020), however, schemes are adapted on the one hand to introduced federal funding schemes, on the other hand, to reduce available ESF funds for further education (estimated to be EUR 300 000 000 to EUR 400 000 000 per year across all Federal States). Examples for countries with voucher schemes for or also open for individuals include Schleswig-Holstein, Hessen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Bremen. Beyond voucher schemes, the Federal States may provide co-funding for further education and training as part of other initiatives, for example, in the field of innovation policies. An overview of all cost-sharing schemes is available in a database (http://www.foerderdatenbank.de). There is no recent overview on funding volumes and beneficiaries.