# EUR-Lex - 52013DC0447 - EN

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# 52013DC0447

**COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Working together for Europe's young people A call to action on youth unemployment /* COM/2013/0447 final */**

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC
AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

WORKING TOGETHER FOR EUROPE'S YOUNG
PEOPLE

A CALL TO ACTION ON YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT

Young
people hold the key to Europe's future dynamism and prosperity. Their talents, energy
and creativity will help Europe to grow and become more competitive as we move
beyond the economic and financial crisis. Yet young people have been hit particularly
hard by the crisis. At present, nearly 6 million people in Europe under the age
of 25 are unemployed and a total of 7.5 million are not in employment, education
or training. Youth unemployment rates in Europe stood at 23.5% in the first
quarter of 2013, more than twice the - already very high - rate for the
population at large. In some countries, more than half of the young people who
want to work are unemployed.

This
represents both a huge untapped resource that Europe cannot afford to squander
and a social crisis that Europe cannot allow to persist. Youth unemployment has
a profound impact on individuals as well as on society and the economy. Unless current
trends are reversed quickly, today's levels of youth unemployment risk damaging
the longer-term employment prospects for young people, with serious implications
for future growth and social cohesion. Within Europe's broader strategy to
create growth and jobs, helping young people to enter and remain in the labour
market and to acquire and develop the skills that will pave the way for future
employment is therefore a top priority for the European Union.

Throughout
the financial crisis, the Commission has been working with Member States to
address the economic and social consequences of high and rising unemployment.
Some of this work will take time to bear fruit: Europe needs deep structural
reform to become more competitive and this cannot be delivered overnight. Essential
reforms must therefore be flanked by fast-acting measures to boost growth and
to help young people find jobs and acquire essential skills. These measures
will boost confidence and show young people that they have a bright future.

The
Commission has proposed a number of practical and achievable measures that have
the potential to make an immediate impact, most recently in the December 2012 Youth
Employment Package and the March 2013 proposals for the EUR 6 billion Youth
Employment Initiative. Some of these proposals have been agreed at EU level and
must now be translated urgently into opportunities for young people. Others are
yet to be agreed at EU level, in particular those linked to the Multiannual Financial
Framework (MFF) for 2014-2020.

Against
this backdrop, this report sets out steps to be taken without delay to get
young people back into work, education or training. These steps cover:

-
the implementation of the Youth Guarantee;

-
investment in young people through the European
Social Fund;

-
the front-loading of the Youth Employment
Initiative;

-
support for intra-EU labour mobility with EURES;

-
steps to ease the transition from education to
work by boosting the supply of high-quality apprenticeships and traineeships
and addressing skills shortages;

-
an acceleration of reforms to deliver a genuine
EU labour market in the longer run; and

-
measures to support job creation in the
immediate term, especially by SMEs, and to incentivise the hiring of young
people.

In
many of these areas, the groundwork has been done. The priority now is to accelerate
and front-load implementation. Success will depend both on the political will
of the Member States and the capacity of the private sector to create
opportunities for young people. The EU cannot substitute for the work that is
required at national level.  But it can help to make things happen, by pinpointing
the most critical reforms through the Country-Specific Recommendations, disseminating
best practice, channelling investment from the EU budget, and helping young
people to take full advantage of the European single market.

The
European Commission calls upon the European institutions, Member States, the
social partners and civil society to work in partnership to implement the
measures in this report; and on the June European Council to give its strong
political backing to these steps.

1.
Making the Youth Guarantee a reality

As
part of the Youth Employment Package presented in December 2012, the Commission
called on Member States to ensure that all young Europeans receive a good
quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a
traineeship within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed. This
is the Youth Guarantee.

The
Commission's proposal was adopted by the Council in April 2013. The priority now
is implementation. This is reflected in the Commission's Country-Specific
Recommendations for 2013. The Commission has identified urgent steps needed in 19
Member States to combat youth unemployment through inter alia active
labour market policies, reinforcement of public employment services and support
for training and apprenticeship schemes. These steps will all contribute to the
delivery of the Youth Guarantee (see Annex I for a summary of related recommendations).

Implementing
the Youth Guarantee will require sustained investment at national level.
However, experience has shown, for example in Austria and Finland, that this investment pays off and that the economic and social costs of inaction
are far higher than the costs of implementation. It will take time for the
Youth Guarantee to become fully operational, so it is essential that the
process begin now with a clear country-by-country implementation plan explaining
exactly how the Youth Guarantee is going to be put into practice, taking due
account of variations in the scale and nature of the challenges in different national
contexts.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
Council to adopt the proposed Country Specific Recommendations on the
Youth Guarantee and on youth employment more generally and Member States to implement these recommendations swiftly.

Ø Member
States with regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25% to submit a
Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan by October 2013. These plans should
set out how the Youth Guarantee will be implemented at national level, the
respective roles of public authorities and other organisations, how it will be
financed, how progress will be monitored and the timetable. Other Member States
are encouraged to submit similar plans by spring 2014.

2. Putting
the European Social Fund to work for young people

The
EU structural funds have proven over many decades to be a powerful driver of
job creation and social cohesion in Europe. The European Social Fund (ESF)
amounts to almost EUR 80 billion for the 2007-13 period. This has provided extensive
support for activities throughout Europe designed to help integrate young
people into the labour market and to develop human capital.

Looking
ahead to the 2014-2020 period, the European Structural and Investment Funds
(ESIF) will have a crucial role to play in supporting young people and
implementing the Youth Guarantee. An agreement on the next MFF and the
programmes implementing it is urgently required to ensure that the ESF and
other ESIF can be mobilised immediately in January 2014. This agreement must
reflect the priority that the EU attaches to fighting and preventing youth
unemployment:  a minimum share of 25% of cohesion policy funding for the ESF would
help to ensure that at least EUR 80 billion remains available for investment in
 Europe's human capital.

In
parallel, Member States are working intensively with the Commission to design
the next generation of Operational Programmes that will govern how this funding
is put to use. This is a golden opportunity to gear the new programmes to the
most pressing reform priorities for growth and jobs, as set out in the Country-Specific
Recommendations, and in particular to delivering the Youth Guarantee.

The
Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
European Parliament and Council to agree swiftly on the Multiannual
Financial Framework and new ESIF regulations, which should ensure that a
25% minimum share of cohesion policy funding (at least EUR 80 billion) is
allocated to the European Social Fund. Member States with particularly high
levels of youth unemployment should earmark a fixed share for priorities linked
to combating youth unemployment.

Ø Member
States to accelerate work with the Commission on the Partnership Agreements
and Operational Programmes for the ESIF and to maintain a very sharp focus
on youth employment, investment in human capital and the adaptation of
education and training systems to labour market realities.

3. Kick-starting
the Youth Employment Initiative

To
focus financial support still further on the regions and individuals struggling
most with youth employment and inactivity, the European Council agreed in
February to create a dedicated Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) to be
supported by EUR 6 billion from the EU budget. This will target individual
young people aged 15-24 not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and complement
the support provided by the ESF for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.

The
Commission has fast-tracked the necessary legal proposals and presented them to
the European Parliament and Council in March 2013.[1] The priority
now is for the European Parliament and Council to agree these proposals and to
make this funding available as soon as possible.

3.1 Focusing
and front-loading the YEI

The
Commission has proposed to concentrate support from the YEI in regions
experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25%, and within these regions on
young people (NEETs) aged between 15 and 24. These criteria should be maintained:
any reduction in the threshold would spread funds too thinly to the detriment
of those regions in greatest need.[2]
It is also vital that the YEI be used above all to support the implementation
of the Youth Guarantee. Other target groups will be supported by other sources
of funding from the ESIF and in particular from the ESF.

To
ensure that the money from the YEI starts flowing quickly once the legal framework
has been agreed, the Commission proposes to adjust the profile of the next MFF
to make available the entire amount of EUR 6 billion in commitments within the
first two years of the next MFF. This will be achieved by changing the
implementation profile of other programmes so as to leave the overall annual
levels of commitments unchanged.

Member
States will need to be ready to hit the ground running with their Operational Programmes
and a pipeline of projects to help get young people into good quality jobs,
apprenticeships or education. Implementation should begin without delay, even
before the Partnership Agreements are in place and before the legal framework has
entered into force. This depends on Member States being ready with their
programmes in time: the Commission will process them rapidly.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
European Parliament and Council to agree the Youth Employment Initiative
to target support to regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25%
and to young people (NEETs) aged between 15 and 24, and with a strong focus on
actions to support the Youth Guarantee.

Ø The
European Parliament and Council to agree to commit all EUR 6 billion of the
YEI in 2014 and 2015 by adjusting the commitment profile of the next MFF and
to adapt the ESIF regulations to allow expenditure under the YEI to be deemed
eligible as of the date of submission of the YEI operational programmes, even
before the Partnership Agreements are in place and before the legal framework
has entered into force.

Ø Member
States to accelerate the preparation of the specific YEI programmes and
to submit these programmes during 2013 for immediate implementation.

3.2  Relaunching
the Youth Employment Action Teams

In
2012, the Commission established joint Youth Employment Action Teams
with the Member States experiencing particularly high levels of youth
unemployment. These teams worked to help ensure that the EU structural funds
are being used to maximum effect to support young people. Through this work,
about EUR 16 billion of EU funding has already been targeted for accelerated
delivery or reallocation. This will eventually help more than one million young
people and the results are already being felt on the ground (see below and Annex
II).

Examples of results of the work of the
Youth Employment Action Teams

-
In Portugal, the 'Impulso Jovem'
initiative has entailed a comprehensive reprogramming of EU structural funds
and will benefit 90 000 young people and support 4 500 SMEs by the end of 2015.
For example, EUR 143 million of EU funding has been reallocated to finance
measures that include traineeships in key economic sectors, as well as support
for the contracting of people aged 18-30 years old via reimbursement of
employers' social security contributions.

-
In Spain, over EUR 286 million in ESF
funding has been reallocated to actions related to youth. Actions implemented
so far include workshop schools and employment workshops, with about 9 500
young participants. Subsidies in the form of reductions in social security
contributions for companies recruiting young people have been implemented for 142 000 young people. The new Entrepreneurship and
Youth Employment Strategy sets out 100 further measures to combat youth
unemployment. EUR 3.485 billion has been earmarked for these actions, some of
which will be co-funded by the ESF. Several specific measures are being funded
by the ERDF in regions where the youth unemployment rates are highest.

-
In Italy, as part of the Cohesion Action
Plan, EUR 1.4 billion has been allocated to actions aimed at young people,
including a Youth Employment Plan in Sicily worth EUR 452 million, education
activities for 65 300 students from Southern regions and 13 000 new mobility
opportunities. In a second phase, a further EUR 620 million has been dedicated
to new actions supporting young people and NEETs, including child care, support
for entrepreneurship and combating early school leaving. The ESF will also
co-finance actions to support apprenticeship schemes (EUR 100 million) and to provide
guidance and placement for pupils and young graduates (EUR 36 million).

Building
on this positive experience, the Commission is ready to relaunch and expand the
Action Teams to work with the Member States eligible for financial support
under the Youth Employment Initiative.  At the initiative of the Member States
in question, teams will be set up to support and accelerate work on the
preparation of the Operational Programmes and to advise on how EU funding from
the ESF and YEI can best be used to implement the Youth Guarantee.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø Member
States eligible for the Youth Employment Initiative, at their request, to work
with Commission experts through dedicated Youth Employment Action Teams to
assist with the implementation of the Youth Guarantee scheme and the mobilisation
of the ESF and YEI to this end. To support this process and upon request by a Member State, the Commission will coordinate technical assistance, for example through Member State twinning.

4.
Boosting mobility with EURES and the ESF

The
single market offers a wealth of job, apprenticeship and training opportunities
for Europe's young people. All the evidence indicates that young people are
eager to seize these opportunities.  However, identifying and taking advantage
of opportunities in other Member States in real time can be daunting. The Commission
has therefore long been working to make mobility easier both for the benefit of
the individuals, employers and the European economy at large.

The
EURES portal gives access to over 1.4 million job vacancies and nearly
31 000 registered employers. However, the EURES network is not yet operating to
its full potential. The Commission has begun a major reform to make the EURES
system more responsive to labour market realities and to strengthen the focus
on the mobility of young people by offering jobs as well as opportunities to
combine work with learning, such as apprenticeships. The EURES portal is also
being revamped to make it more user-friendly and a EURES Charter providing
commonly agreed EU guidance for national EURES delivery measures will be tabled
before the end of this year. In addition, the Commission is working on new legislation
to strengthen EURES services for both employers and job-seekers. The objective
is to supply more job vacancies and improve the matching of job vacancies with
applications while deepening the integration of EURES within national Public Employment
Services.

For
a young person, identifying opportunities to work or learn abroad is one thing;
taking advantage of them is another. The Commission is currently piloting a new
system to help young people seize the job opportunities advertised on EURES,
while helping SMEs to recruit young job-seekers from across Europe. 'Your first
EURES Job' helps young people to find jobs in other Member States by providing financial support for language courses and other training needs, travel
expenses and integration programmes in the case of recruitment by an SME. The 'Your
First EURES Job' pilot will help to place around 5 000 people in the six
participating Member States and will be extended in 2013 to cover
apprenticeship and traineeship placements. Initial results have been very
encouraging and some Member States, for example Germany, have based their own
mobility schemes on this model.

Under
the next MFF, the European Programme for Social Change and Innovation will
provide additional direct funding of around EUR 5 million annually to support
this type of targeted scheme.  However, in view of the scale of the challenge the
onus will be on Member States – working through their Public Employment
Services – and employers to step up their financial support for employment
through intra-EU mobility, drawing on the experience of Your First EURES Job.
The ESF is there to help:  from 2014, financial support will be available for
language and career-orientation training, travel costs and integration in the
host country.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø Member
States to make use of ESF funding opportunities and national funding sources to
promote intra-EU labour mobility, including using EURES, and to reinforce
the capacity of national Public Employment Services in this regard.

Ø The
European Parliament and Council to consider rapidly the forthcoming legislative
proposal from the Commission to strengthen EURES, which will be tabled
by the end of 2013.

5.
Easing the transition from education to work

Helping
young people to integrate into the job market after leaving school or
university is an indispensable part of delivering the Youth Guarantee. In this
year's Country-Specific Recommendations, the Commission has recommended to 16
Member States to focus on reforming vocational and educational training (VET) programmes
by increasing their labour market relevance through a stronger work-based
learning component and accelerating the reform of apprenticeships. The EU
budget can support this process: Member States can use the ESF, the YEI and the
'Erasmus +' programme to help improve the quality and efficiency of education
and training systems.

The
transition from education to work was a central theme of the Youth Employment
Package, which launched two specific initiatives to facilitate this
transition:  the European Alliance for Apprenticeships and the Quality
Framework for Traineeships.

5.1  Implementing
the European Alliance for Apprenticeships

Experience
has shown that countries with strong, attractive VET systems and especially
those with well-established apprenticeship systems and strong work-based learning
tend to perform better in terms of facilitating the transition from school to
work and keeping youth unemployment down. Improving the supply and quality of
apprenticeships is therefore an important part of the youth employment
strategy.

As
announced in the Youth Employment Package, the Commission is launching a
European Alliance for Apprenticeships to help improve the quality and supply of
apprenticeships and to change mind-sets towards work-based learning. The
Alliance will bring together Member States, social partners, businesses, the
Commission and other relevant actors to develop high quality
apprenticeship-type training and excellence in work-based learning in VET, and
to promote national partnerships for dual learning.

The launch of the Alliance on 2 July 2013 is an
opportunity to galvanise the private sector and to give new impetus to the
supply of and demand for high-quality apprenticeships and work-based learning. Businesses
have everything to gain from access to a huge pool of potential candidates for
apprenticeships and from investing now to create a highly-skilled workforce for
the future.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
Member States to implement the proposed Country Specific Recommendations
on apprenticeships and on vocational education and training.

Ø Member
States to include apprenticeship reform within their Youth Guarantee
Implementation Plans and to mobilise EU funding to support this objective;
and to set up strong partnerships at national level for dual learning bringing
together authorities responsible for education and employment, social partners,
chambers, VET providers, youth and student organisations, employment services and
agencies managing EU funding.

Ø The
private sector to support fully the Alliance and to commit to increasing
the supply of high quality apprenticeships, building on recent industry-driven
initiatives.

5.2  Delivering high-quality
traineeships

Traineeships
also have an important role to play in smoothing the transition from education to
work, particularly in the context of the crisis. High-quality traineeships help
boost the employability of young people and are important stepping stones in
the progression to regular employment.

However,
despite the broad consensus on the importance of traineeships, there are
serious concerns about the quality of traineeships on offer and their
added-value.  These concerns relate to insufficient learning content,
inadequate working conditions and repeated traineeships that in reality are
used as substitutes for real jobs. To address these concerns, the Commission
announced as part of the Youth Employment Package a new European initiative for
a European Quality Framework for Traineeships. The Commission has consulted the
social partners and work on this framework will now be accelerated in order to
present a proposal by the end of 2013.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
Council to work quickly on the forthcoming Commission proposal on a Quality
Framework for Traineeships with a view to having the new Framework in place
in early 2014.

5.3 'Erasmus
+': opening up cross-border education and training opportunities

Dedicated
EU programmes also make an important contribution to the development of VET and
to helping young people take full advantage of the single market. Increased
mobility of students increases labour mobility and contributes to the creation
of a more integrated labour market. For example, the current Lifelong Learning
Programme - and in particular the 'Leonardo Da Vinci' sub-programme for VET - has
already allowed 500 000 VET learners and 225 000 higher education students to
take advantage of work-based training in another Member State, enabling them to
develop both the job-relevant and cross-cutting skills that employers are
seeking.

Examples of how European VET mobility programmes
have helped young people

-
In 2012, Lili from Romania participated in a 'Leonardo
da Vinci' mobility project entitled 'Applying modern healthcare systems'. She
spent four weeks developing nursing skills during a training course at the Barmherzige Bruder Hospital in Vienna in Austria. This gave her the opportunity to acquire new
knowledge regarding nursing techniques and modern research techniques and to
develop her German language skills. This experience and the Europass Mobility
Certificate obtained at the end of the placement helped her to find a new job
abroad.

-
Joanna, from Poland, took part in 2008 in a
one-month vocational placement in Germany through the 'Leonardo da Vinci'
programme, working for a local seed company, Appels Wilde Samen. The placement
allowed her to acquire skills in the cultivation of many species of plants as
well as to work in a different language and cultural environment. This
experience paved the way for her to open her own farm in Poland, where she maintains strong links with the host company in Germany.

-
Matthias, from Germany, undertook initial
vocational traineeship at Munich International Airport to become a mechatronics
specialist and then went for three weeks to Vienna Airport to gain experience
abroad through the 'Leonardo da Vinci' programme. A placement abroad allowed
him to gain new insights into differences in working practices and culture and
gave him a new perspective concerning working processes in his home company.

Under the next MFF, as part of the 'Erasmus +'
programme proposed by the Commission, support for mobility will be scaled up significantly
to help almost 5 million young people in total, including over 700 000 VET placements.
Cooperation between employers and education providers will be deepened through
strategic partnerships and sector skills alliances to support higher quality
education programmes and cross-border mobility.

The impact of this cooperation can be increased
by the injection of national and EU funds - in particular the ESF – to provide
opportunities for an even larger number of young people. It is clear that the
demand for cross-border mobility is high and that the
number of placement opportunities abroad therefore has significant growth
potential. To help exploit this potential, the Commission will accelerate the
implementation of this part of the 'Erasmus +'
programme and Member States should use their ESF allocations
for this purpose.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø European
Parliament and Council to agree rapidly on the new 'Erasmus +' programme.
The Commission will accelerate the implementation of the VET component of this
programme once it launches in 2014.

Ø Member
States to use the ESF to develop and support mobility in VET to help
young people acquire the skills necessary to find their place in the labour
market.

5.4  Investing
in skills and addressing skills mismatch

Europe's
competitiveness, innovative capacity and productivity depend critically on the
availability of highly-educated and well-trained workers. The long-standing
trend towards ever higher skill requirements means that young people without
the skills that the economy requires will find it increasingly difficult to
find employment. Tackling youth unemployment therefore requires action to
tackle skills shortages and mismatches.

The
process of acquiring skills begins at school and continues through higher
education and work-based learning. However, today the performance of many
education systems is inadequate as they display unacceptably high drop-out rates
and may fail to provide young people with essential skills. There is therefore an
urgent need to make education systems more responsive to current and future
skills needs so as to avoid skills mismatches and bottlenecks.

Addressing
skills mismatch in sectors with recognised job creation potential, such as ICT,
healthcare and the green economy is a particular priority. The Commission
launched in March 2013 an EU-wide multi-stakeholder partnership – the Grand
Coalition for Digital Jobs - to tackle the shortage of ICT skills in the EU and
to fill the projected several hundred thousand vacancies requiring these
skills. As part of its action plan for the EU health workforce, the Commission
launched in April 2013 a Joint Action to help improve health workforce
forecasting and planning, bringing together the Member States and shareholders
to exchange best practice. The Commission is also carrying out a cross-country
mapping study on innovative recruitment strategies such as the use of social
media to attract young people to take up a career in healthcare. The Commission
will launch similar coalitions or broader action plans to unleash the job
creation potential of the "green economy".

Entrepreneurial
skills are also key for young people seeking employment and starting their own
businesses. Practical entrepreneurial experiences for all young people help to
make the link between education and the real world, turning creative ideas into
entrepreneurial action. To support change across the education system, the
Commission will provide more detailed policy guidance on entrepreneurship in
education. A collaboration action with the OECD on Guiding Frameworks for
Entrepreneurial Education at the levels of schools, VET and universities, will
encourage entrepreneurial teaching and learning.

To
further help young people taking up jobs abroad, the Commission is working in
close cooperation with Member States and stakeholders towards the creation of a
European Area for Skills and Qualifications. This will ensure that skills and
qualifications can be easily recognised across borders and facilitate labour
mobility.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø Member
States to modernise and improve their education systems by addressing
the gaps in basic skills, stepping up efforts to tackle early-school leaving,
improve the provision of transversal skills such as digital, entrepreneurial
and language skills and scaling up the use of ICT-supported learning.

Ø All
stakeholders to step up their support for the Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs
with a view to addressing the projected shortfall of 900,000 ICT professionals
in Europe by 2015.

6.
Building a European labour market for the longer
term

Most
of the actions described above, if implemented now, will have an immediate
effect.  However, there is much more to be done in the medium term to reform
the economy so as to build a genuine European labour market in which all
citizens, young and old, are able to move freely to work, study and train. This
will make the European economy more dynamic and flexible while ensuring that
the necessary protections are in place for those exercising their rights to
live, work and study abroad.

There
are already many proposals on the table that will help to make the single
market work more efficiently, including the proposed amendments to the Professional
Qualifications Directive and to the Directive on portability of supplementary
pension rights and the Directive on the enforcement of the rights of mobile
workers. There is also a pressing need to improve enforcement of existing EU
law, in particular with regard to jobs and working conditions. In addition, the Commission is working on more
citizen-friendly rules on social security coordination concerning unemployment
benefits and is analysing the possibility of enabling unemployment benefits to
be paid for a period longer than the current 3 months to workers seeking
employment in another Member State.

The
recent Commission proposal to modernise and enhance cooperation between Public
Employment Services will also contribute to improving the operational
functioning of labour markets and the delivery of labour market programmes and
therefore to helping young people into the labour market. The Commission will
propose to establish a network of Public Employment Services in order to start
a benchmarking system and corresponding mutual learning activities will
contribute to the construction of a European labour market and ultimately
provide jobseekers and employers with better and more effective employment
services.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø The
European Parliament and Council to step up work on all proposals designed to
promote the development of a genuine European labour market accessible
to all young people.

7.
Creating jobs: helping firms to recruit young
people

Youth
unemployment will only fall in a sustainable manner if the economy creates more
jobs. All the work underway in Europe to rekindle growth and job creation will therefore
contribute to addressing the youth unemployment problem. The priorities
highlighted at European level in the context of the Annual Growth Survey and at
national level in the framework of the Country-Specific Recommendations set out
the way forward. In this context, a particular effort is needed to create the
right incentives for firms, notably SMEs, to recruit and retain young people.

Young people are disproportionately hit by
unemployment. This is a reflection of broader, deep-rooted problems in the
functioning of labour markets. Moreover, in many countries, young people are over-represented
among workers on temporary contracts. Reducing the gap between employment
protection legislation for temporary and permanent contracts will contribute to
facilitating the transition of newcomers, including young people, from entry
jobs with short duration to more stable jobs that offer good career prospects.
Moreover, reducing the cost of employing young people in their first job, for
example through targeted subsidies and reductions in social security
contributions in the case of low-skilled positions, can make an important
contribution in the right circumstances.

SMEs
and in particular micro-enterprises are an especially important motor of job
creation for young people and as such every effort should be made to help them
access the finance they need to thrive. Here EU instruments, in particular the
European Regional Development Fund, play an important role, both in providing
direct support to SMEs and co-funding a wide range of financial instruments. The
European Investment Bank (EIB) also has a crucial role to play with regard to
access to finance for SMEs. The recent capital increase of EUR 10 billion is
expected to allow EUR 12.5 billion to be released annually in direct financial
support for SMEs in 2013-15 and may mobilise in total around EUR 37.5 billion
in SME loans when other types of lending indirectly benefiting SMEs and
co-financing are taken into account. In addition, the Commission is currently working
with the EIB to develop joint instruments to support lending to SMEs.

The Commission therefore calls upon:

Ø Member
States to implement the Country-Specific Recommendations addressed to
them, including by limiting the tax burden on labour, reducing the gaps in
employment protection between different types of work contracts and exploring
targeted measures to incentivise the hiring of young people.

Ø The
EIB to step up support for SMEs creating jobs and offering
apprenticeships for under-25s and to accelerate work with the Commission to
implement new mechanisms to support SMEs.

***
Annex 1 : Youth employment-related Country-Specific Recommendations

BE || Simplify and reinforce coherence between employment incentives, activation policies, labour matching, education, lifelong learning and vocational training policies for older people and youth.

BG || Accelerate the national Youth Employment Initiative, for example through a Youth Guarantee. Adopt the School Education Act and pursue the reform of higher education, in particular through better aligning outcomes to labour-market needs and strengthening cooperation between education, research and business.

DK || Improve the quality of vocational training to reduce drop-out rates and increase the number of apprenticeships.

EE || Continue efforts to improve the labour-market relevance of education and training systems, including by further involving social partners and implementing targeted measures to address youth unemployment.

ES || Implement and monitor closely the effectiveness of the measures to fight youth unemployment set out in the Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Strategy 2013-2016, for example through a Youth Guarantee. Continue with efforts to increase the labour market relevance of education and training, to reduce early school leaving and to enhance life-long learning, namely by expanding the application of dual vocational training beyond the current pilot phase and by introducing a comprehensive monitoring system of pupils' performance by the end of 2013.

FI || Implement and monitor closely the impact of on-going measures to improve the labour-market position of young people and the long-term unemployed, with a particular focus on the development of job-relevant skills.

FR || Take further measures to improve the transition from school to work through, for example, a Youth Guarantee and promotion of apprenticeship.

HU || Address youth unemployment, for example through a Youth Guarantee.  Implement a national strategy on early school-leaving and ensure that the education system provides all young people with labour-market-relevant skills, competences and qualifications. ... Support the transition between different stages of education and towards the labour market. Implement a higher-education reform that enables greater tertiary attainment, particularly by disadvantaged students.

IT || Take further action to foster labour market participation, especially of women and young people, for example through a Youth Guarantee. Strengthen vocational education and training, ensure more efficient public employment services, and improve counselling services for tertiary students. ... Step up efforts to prevent early school leaving and improve school quality and outcomes, also by reforming teachers' professional and career development.

LT || Improve the employability of young people, for example through a Youth Guarantee, enhance the implementation and effectiveness of apprenticeship schemes, and address persistent skill mismatches.

LU || Step up efforts to reduce youth unemployment by improving the design and monitoring of active labour market policies. Strengthen general and vocational education to better match young people’s skills with labour demand, in particular for people with migrant background.

LV || Tackle long-term and youth unemployment by increasing coverage and effectiveness of active labour market policies and targeted social services. Improve the employability of young people, for example through a Youth Guarantee, establish comprehensive career guidance, implement reforms in the field of vocational education and training, and improve the quality and accessibility of apprenticeships.

MT || Continue to pursue policy efforts to reduce early school leaving, notably by setting up a comprehensive monitoring system, and increase the labour market relevance of education and training to address skills gaps, including through the announced reform of the apprenticeship system.

PL || Strengthen efforts to reduce youth unemployment, for example through a Youth Guarantee, increase the availability of apprenticeships and work-based learning, strengthen cooperation between schools and employers and improve the quality of teaching.

RO || To fight youth unemployment, implement without delay the National Plan for Youth Employment, including for example through a Youth Guarantee. Step up reforms in vocational education and training. Further align tertiary education with the needs of the labour market and improve access for disadvantaged people. Implement a national strategy on early school leaving focusing on better access to quality early childhood education, including for Roma children.

SE || Reinforce efforts to improve the labour-market integration of low-skilled young people and people with a migrant background by stronger and better targeted measures to improve their employability and the labour demand for these groups. Step up efforts to facilitate the transition from school to work, including via a wider use of work-based learning, apprenticeships and other forms of contracts combining employment and education. Complete the Youth Guarantee to better cover young people not in education or training.

SI || Take further measures to increase employment of the young tertiary graduates, older persons and the low-skilled by focusing resources on tailor-made active labour market policy measures while improving their effectiveness. Address the skills mismatch by improving the attractiveness of the relevant vocational education and training programmes and by further developing cooperation with the relevant stakeholders in assessing labour market needs.

SK || Step up efforts to address high youth unemployment, for example through a Youth Guarantee. Take steps to attract young people to the teaching profession and raise educational outcomes. In vocational education and training, reinforce the provision of work-based learning in companies. In higher education, create more job-oriented bachelor programmes.

UK || Building on the Youth Contract, step up measures to address youth unemployment, for example through a Youth Guarantee.  Increase the quality and duration of apprenticeships, simplify the system of qualifications and strengthen the engagement of employers, particularly in the provision of advanced and intermediate technical skills. Reduce the number of young people aged 18-24 who have very poor basic skills, including through effectively implementing the Traineeships programme.

Annex
2 – How the Youth Employment Action Teams have helped young people

Ireland || - A Labour Market Education & Training Fund, known as Momentum and part of Ireland's Action Plan for Jobs, was launched in December 2012 to provide skills training for up to 6 500 long-term unemployed. The ESF will contribute EUR 10 million to this Fund, which has an overall budget of EUR 20 million. One of the four strands of this Fund is specifically designed for young people under 25. Currently, 816 young people are supported under this specific strand. But since young people can also participate in the other three strands, the total number of young participants in Momentum is 1 353. - EUR 25 million has been redirected to the integrated Youthreach programme which provides education, training and work experience to young people who have left school early without qualifications or vocational training. This will allow 3 700 training places to be maintained until the end of 2013.

Slovakia || - Following the ESF re-allocation, two national projects (worth EUR 70 million) were launched in November 2012 supporting job creation for young people under 29 in private and self-governing sectors in the regions with the highest levels of unemployment (target: 13 000 new jobs). The implementation of the projects to date has been successful, with microenterprises and SMEs showing the greatest interest in offering work opportunities for young people. By mid-May 2013, more than 6 200 new jobs had been created (EUR 33.1 million contracted).

Lithuania || - In Lithuania, all planned ESF actions are being implemented. A project was refocused to offer vocational training programmes to about 6 000 young people. The budget is about EUR 6 million.  The project started on August 2012 and will end in August 2013.  The number of participants is 4 851. - A project providing first-job skills for young people was extended with an additional budget of EUR 6 million, which will support around 6 000 young people. The project started on July 2011 and will end on November 2013.  4 382 young unemployed people have already participated in this project. - The Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund (ESF EUR 14.5 million), currently provides loans and training services for start-ups and self-employment, with young people among the prioritised focus groups under this measure. A new measure (worth EUR 3 million) was approved to increase the attractiveness of this loan scheme for start-ups and self-employment.  - Another new ESF measure (EUR 9.3 million) “Support for the first job” has been recently approved, replacing the existing social security reduction scheme for the first job by wage subsidies. The project started on August 2012 and will end in September 2015.  The planned number of participants is about 20 000. The number of applications received by 18 April 2013 is 4 858. - A new measure worth EUR 2.3 million ''Promotion of youth employment and motivation'' was approved on 17 April 2013.  Two of the projects will focus on volunteering and individual support for vulnerable young people.

Latvia || - EUR 11 million has been allocated to several measures supporting young people without vocational qualifications and seeking new, labour market oriented, qualifications. As a result of these measures, the proportion of young unemployed receiving EU support will jump from 24% to 40%, while the number of persons in vocational training would double. - The 5-year project "Acquiring Vocational Education Programmes, Basic Skills and Competences for Sustaining Education and Career Development” is aimed at preparing secondary VET level professionals in order to promote the acquisition of vocational competences and skills for occupational activities and further education as well as facilitating integration in the labour market. It is being implemented in partnership with VET schools to provide 12-18 month programmes for 2nd and 3rd level professional qualifications for at least 4 000 under-25s. By the end of May 2013, 1 372 students have received the 2nd and 3rd level of professional qualification. - In 2013, the measure “Youth workshops”, co-financed by the ESF, is being implemented with the objective of helping up to 500 young people aged 15-24 without previous vocational education to experience 3 professions and make a well-informed career choice.

Portugal || - A national initiative called 'Impulso Jovem' entailed a comprehensive re-programming of structural funds which will benefit 90 000 young people by the end of 2015 in mainland Portugal. EUR 143 million of ESF funding was reallocated to finance measures including traineeships in key economic sectors, as well as support for the contracting of people aged 18-30 years old via reimbursement of employer's social security contributions. - In February 2013, the scope of the programme was broadened, enlarging the eligibility criteria as well as expanding it to additional regions. By the end of May, 9 676 young people have been covered by the programme so far. A transfer of EUR 10 million from the Madeira ERDF Operational Programme to the corresponding ESF Operational Programme was made in order to support youth employment measures such as traineeships and hiring incentives. By the end of May, 1 497 additional young people had been covered.

Spain || - In Spain, during 2012, over EUR 286 million in ESF funding was reallocated to actions related to youth. From this, EUR 135 million was directed to the public employment service to help young people find work. The youth actions implemented so far are workshop schools and employment workshops, with about 9 500 young participants. These are mixed programmes of employment and training. Furthermore, subsidies in the form of reductions in social security contributions for companies recruiting young people have been implemented for a total of about 142 000 young people. - With regard to the EUR 50 million ESF reallocated in 2012 in the Fighting Against Discrimination programme, measures to tackle youth unemployment consist mainly of activities related to integrated pathways to employment adapted to the specific needs of different groups, such as young with disabilities, young Roma, young with special difficulties and unemployed young with a medium level of employability. - The Spanish Government presented on 12 March 2013 the Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment Strategy 2013-2016. This initiative provides 100 individual measures to combat youth unemployment. The actions address young people in general under the age of 30, and especially those who are unemployed. To achieve the Strategy’s objectives and implement the new measures, new resources amounting to EUR 3.485 billion have been earmarked. Some of the actions will be partially funded by the ESF during the current and future programming periods.

Italy || - As part of the first phase of the Cohesion Action Plan, EUR 1.4 billion has been allocated to actions aimed at boosting education and employment, including a Youth Employment Plan in Sicily worth EUR 452 million and expected to benefit around 50 000 young people, new education activities for 65 300 students from Southern regions or 13 000 new mobility opportunities. In a second phase, a further EUR 620 million has been dedicated to actions supporting young people and NEETs, including support for entrepreneurship and combating early school leaving. - The ESF is also co-financing the “AMVA programme” worth EUR 118 million to support apprenticeship schemes and the “FIXO programme” (promotion of guidance and placement of young pupils) worth EUR 36 million.

Greece || - Following extensive re-programming at the end of 2012, a national youth action plan was endorsed in January 2013 with EU funding of EUR 517 million. The plan is intended to promote youth employment, training and entrepreneurship and targets nearly 350 000 young people. Additional support of EUR 1.2 billion to address the liquidity needs of SMEs is being allocated under the latest re-programming exercise. According to the latest information coming from the Greek authorities, the new initiatives included in the adopted youth action plan that have already started (approx. EUR 47 million) include the temporary hiring of the young unemployed (up to 35 years old) in community-based work programmes in the cultural sector as well as the provision of support to social structures, which aim at combating poverty and social exclusion, for the recruitment of the young unemployed. - In addition, the implementation of the following schemes from the action plan (approx. EUR 146 million) is being launched: a) "voucher for entrance in the labour market" which combines training with a 5-month job placement in businesses and targets 45 000 young unemployed up to 29 years old; b) blended theoretical and on-the-job training for 1000 young unemployed seamen up to the same age limit.

[1] COM(2013) 144 final

[2] Lowering
the threshold to regions with youth unemployment rates above 20% and extending
support to the 25-29 age group would more than halve the level of support per
NEET from EUR 1360 to EUR 560, with a severely detrimental effect on the
effectiveness of these interventions.