WRITTEN QUESTION P-1903/02 by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Unemployment among young people and youth policy. The situation in Greece.
Date: 2002-06-25
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU employment policy, European Employment Strategy, youth policy, youth unemployment

5.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 301 E/245

(2002/C 301 E/259)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1903/02

by Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(25 June 2002)

Subject: Unemployment among young people and youth policy. The situation in Greece

In its ‘White Paper on a new impetus for European Youth’, the Commission points out that autonomy for
young people depends on the resources placed at their disposal and that their interests should be taken
into account by employment and other policies (1). Recently (2) the European Statistical Office published
data showing that unemployment among young people had reached particularly high levels: 15,5 % in the
European Union as a whole and 16,6 % in the Euro-zone countries (April 2002) with the highest figures
occurring in Greece.

the Commission take in response to this? Does it consider that

the relevant
What measures will
employment guidelines are being implemented effectively? How does the Commission explain the major
discrepancies regarding youth policy between the Member States both inside and outside the Euro zone?
Does it intend to adopt the open method of coordination?

(1) COM(2001) 681 final, p. 16.
(2)

’Euro-zone unemployment up to 8.3 %’, Eurostat news release, 4 June 2002.

Answer given by Mrs Diamantopoulou on behalf of the Commission

(26 July 2002)

There has been a significant improvement in youth unemployment since 1997, when the European
employment strategy came into force. The youth unemployment rate fell from 20 % in 1997 to 14,7 % in
2001 (1).

Combating youth unemployment is a priority of the European employment strategy. The first guideline of
the strategy provides that,
in order to prevent long-term unemployment among young people, every
young person should be offered a new start before reaching six months unemployment in the form of
accompanying individual vocational guidance or any measure considered necessary (training,
job offer,
retraining or work practice). These preventive measures may be combined with others, such as measures to
help women or other groups under-represented on the labour market. Other guidelines for young people
concern activation measures for young unemployed people, education, training, equal opportunities and,
more generally, the improvement of job quality.

On 17 July 2002 (2),
employment strategy, including an analysis of the effectiveness of these measures.

the Commission adopted a Communication taking stock of

the European

following the
Responsibility for youth policy rests exclusively with the Member States. However,
publication of
the Council, on
the Commission’s White Paper on ‘a new impetus
30 May 2002, adopted a resolution establishing a framework for European cooperation in youth policy.
This provides in particular for the use of an open coordination method for the four themes specific to the
field of youth: participation, information, voluntary work and research.

for youth’,

(1) Annual averages of the monthly unemployment estimates.
(2) COM(2002) 416 final.