Background information

Russian attacks have damaged or destroyed thousands of educational institutions. Many children do not have a class to attend and online education is dependent on access to energy and technology. To ensure the continuity of education, the renovation of school buildings and the provision of school buses is a top priority for the EU.

On 16 December 2022, the European Commission and the Government of Ukraine signed a support package for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of school facilities destroyed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The support will go to Ukraine through EU humanitarian partners and budget support to the Government of Ukraine.

This is part of the implementation of the President of the Commission's announcement to support Ukraine's reconstruction in the State of the Union report presented in September 2022.

Content of measure

The €100 million support package includes:

• €34 million for humanitarian assistance. This regards light and medium repairs, including repairs to windows, roofs, doors, sanitation and heating, as well as retrofitting classrooms in learning spaces and bomb shelters. This aid will be channelled through UN agencies.
• €66 million directly transferred to the Ukrainian government as budget support. It is expected that most of the educational facilities that will benefit from this grant will be refurbished before the start of the next school year.
• €14 million of this package will be channelled through Polish bank BGK for the procurement of school buses in co-operation with Polish Solidarity Fund. The Commission has also launched an EU-wide solidarity campaign to donate school buses to Ukraine through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Use of measure

Not available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Does not apply to businesses	Children (minors)

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
EU (Council, EC, EP)	European Funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	No involvement	No involvement
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

The social partners were not involved in the designing and implementation of this measure.

Views and reactions

There was no reaction from the European social partners. It should be noted that the trade unions (European Trade Union Confederation) have set up their own solidarity fund with Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

On the employers' side, the European association of crafts and small medium-sized enterprises SMEunited has consistently developed its own programme of support for Ukraine.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 16 December 2022: EU and Ukraine sign €100 million for the rehabilitation of war-damaged schools (ec.europa.eu)
• 13 January 2023: School buses for Ukraine (eu-solidarity-ukraine.ec.europa.eu)