Lidstaten akkoord over aanpak jeugdwerkloosheid (en)

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 17 April 2013 (OR. en) PRESSE 151

Agreement on Council recommendation on youth guarantee

schemes

The Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) today agreed to a recommendation () establishing "youth guarantee" schemes. The recommendation will be formally adopted by the Council at a later stage. Although not a legally binding act, the recommendation reflects a strong political commitment by the member states

It aims to ensure that all young people under the age of 25 who lose their job or do not find work after leaving education quickly receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship. They should receive such an offer within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education

The "youth guarantee" is intended to provide for a smooth transition between school and work, support labour market integration and make sure that no young person is left out. This measure comes in response to the worsening youth employment situation across Europe, with an increasing number of young people who are not in employment, education or training. The investment required for such guarantee schemes should be set against the high social and economic costs which wide-spread youth unemployment would entail in the longer term

The recommendation sets out guidelines for the implementation of youth guarantee schemes, focusing on a number of key strands of action, in particular:

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  partnerships between public and private employment services, employers, social partners and youth representatives;

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  outreach strategies towards young people, especially the most vulnerable ones;

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  support for the integration of young people into the labour market by enhancing skills, encouraging employers to offer young people jobs and promoting labour mobility;

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  assessment and continuous improvement of the schemes;

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  use of the available EU funds to support the establishment of the schemes

Member states are called upon to implement the schemes as soon as possible, preferably as from 2014. In member states with the most severe budgetary difficulties and higher rates of youth unemployment, however, a gradual implementation could be considered

The financial resources available under existing EU funds, such as the European Social Fund and other cohesion policy funding instruments, will be reinforced by a new youth employment initiative decided by the European Council at its meeting on 7-8 February (see European Council conclusions, EUC, p. 23). This new initiative will make EUR 6 billion available for the period 2014-2020 with the aim of helping regions with youth unemployment rates above 25 % to implement measures that favour youth employment, such as the youth guarantee; half of that amount will come from the European Social Fund and the other half from a dedicated youth employment budget line