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1. For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

(1) ‘lifelong learning’ means learning in all its forms, namely, formal, non-formal and informal learning, that takes place at all stages in life and results in an improvement or an update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society in a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective, including the provision of counselling and guidance services, including early childhood education and care, general education, vocational education and training, higher education, adult education, youth work and other learning settings outside formal education and training and it typically promotes cross-sectoral cooperation and flexible learning pathways (2) ‘third-country national’ means a person who is not a citizen of the Union, including stateless persons and persons with an undetermined nationality (3) ‘basic material assistance’ means goods which fulfil the basic needs of a person for a life with dignity, such as clothing, hygiene goods, including feminine hygiene products, and school material

(4) ‘disadvantaged group’ means a group of people in vulnerable situations, including people experiencing or at risk of poverty, social exclusion or discrimination in its multiple dimensions (5) ‘key competences’ means the knowledge, skills and competences all individuals need, at any stage of their lives, for their personal fulfilment and development, employment, social inclusion and active citizenship, namely, literacy; multilingualism; mathematics, science, technology, arts and engineering; digital skills; media skills; personal, social and learning to learn skills; active citizenship skills; entrepreneurship; cultural and intercultural awareness and expression; and critical thinking

(6) ‘most deprived persons’ means natural persons, whether individuals, families, households or groups of persons, including children in vulnerable situations and homeless people, whose need for assistance has been established according to the objective criteria which are set by the national competent authorities in consultation with relevant stakeholders while avoiding conflicts of interest, and which may include elements that allow for the targeting of the most deprived persons in certain geographical areas (7) ‘end recipients’ means the most deprived persons receiving the support as laid down in Article 4(1), point (m) (8) ‘social innovation’ means an activity, that is social both as to its ends and its means and in particular an activity which relates to the development and implementation of new ideas concerning products, services, practices and models, that simultaneously meets social needs and creates new social relationships or collaborations between public, civil society or private organisations, thereby benefiting society and boosting its capacity to act

(9) ‘accompanying measure’ means an activity provided in addition to the distribution of food and/or basic material assistance with the aim of addressing social exclusion and contributing to the eradication of poverty, such as referrals to or providing social and health services, including psychological support, or providing relevant information on public services or advice on managing a household budget (10) ‘social experimentation’ means a policy intervention that aims to provide an innovative response to social needs, implemented on a small scale and in conditions that enable its impact to be measured, prior to being implemented in other contexts including geographical and sectorial ones, or implemented on a larger scale, if the results prove to be positive (11) ‘cross-border partnership’ means a structure of cooperation between public employment services, the social partners or civil society located in at least two Member States (12) ‘microenterprise’ means an enterprise with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover or balance sheet below EUR 2 000 000

(13) ‘social enterprise’ means an undertaking, regardless of its legal form, including social economy enterprises, or a natural person which:

(a) in accordance with its articles of association, statutes or with any other legal document that may result in liability under the rules of the Member State where a social enterprise is located, has the achievement of measurable, positive social impacts, which may include environmental impacts, as its primary social objective rather than the generation of profit for other purposes, and which provides services or goods that generate a social return or employs methods of production of goods or services that embody social objectives;

(b) uses its profits first and foremost to achieve its primary social objective, and has predefined procedures and rules that ensure that the distribution of profits does not undermine the primary social objective;

(c) is managed in an entrepreneurial, participatory, accountable and transparent manner, in particular by involving workers, customers and stakeholders on whom its business activities have an impact

(14) ‘reference value’ means a value which is used to set targets for common and programme specific result indicators and based on existing or previous, similar interventions (15) ‘cost of purchasing food and/or basic material assistance’ means the actual costs which are linked to the purchase of food and/or basic material assistance by the beneficiary and are not limited to the price of the food and/or basic material assistance (16) ‘microfinance’ includes guarantees, microcredit, equity and quasi-equity, coupled with accompanying business development services such as those provided in the form of individual counselling, training and mentoring, extended to persons and microenterprises that experience difficulties accessing credit for the purpose of professional and revenue-generating activities

(17) ‘blending operation’ means an action supported by the Union budget, including within a blending facility or platform as defined in Article 2, point (6), of the Financial Regulation, combining non-repayable forms of support or financial instruments from the Union budget with repayable forms of support from development or other public finance institutions, as well as from commercial finance institutions and investors (18) ‘legal entity’ means a natural person, or a legal person created and recognised as such under Union, national, or international law, which has legal personality and the capacity to act in its own name, exercise rights and be subject to obligations, or an entity which does not have legal personality as referred to in Article 197(2), point (c), of the Financial Regulation (19) ‘common immediate result indicator’ means a common result indicator which captures effects within four weeks from the day on which the participant has left the operation (20) ‘common longer-term result indicator’ means a common result indicator which captures effects six months after the participant has left the operation.

2. The definitions set out in Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 also apply to the ESF+ strand under shared management.