Youth Employment

The European Parliament today called for concrete initiatives promoting youth access to the labour market and the strengthening of traineeships, internships and apprenticeships. Commenting on the vote of her report, which was adopted by a large majority, rapporteur Danish MEP Emilie Turunen said:

"I'm very satisfied that the European Parliament gave such strong support to enhance the access of young people to the labour market throughout the European Union. It is high time to act. Today more than 5.5 million young people under 25 are unemployed; equivalent to one out of every five young person. This is twice as high as the overall unemployment rate. And even worse: the rate is expected to rise even further. This makes youth unemployment one of Europe's most pressing problems.

We risk losing a generation to social exclusion while gambling with the economic and social future of the EU. Youth unemployment imposes heavy social and economic costs on our societies. We risk loosing opportunities for economic growth and the erosion of the tax base, which undermines investment in infrastructure and public services. A large majority in the parliament today called for some very concrete initiatives. Now it is up to the Commission to put it into practice. 5.5 million young people are waiting for action."

Background:

The report calls for:

• A European Youth Guarantee securing the right of every young person in the EU to be offered a job, an apprenticeship, additional training or combined work and training after a maximum period of 4 months' unemployment;
• A European Quality Charter on Internships that sets out minimum standards for internships
• An expansion of the European Social Fund and an earmarking of a minimum of 10 % of this fund for projects targeting young people
• A permanent EU youth taskforce to monitor developments on youth employment, enable cross-section policies, share best practice examples and initiate new policies;
• A non-discriminatory policy towards young people;