Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Role of the social partners in improving the situation of young people on the labour market (Exploratory opinion)
Date: 2008-03-12
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: labour market, social integration, social partners, social well-being, young worker, youth employment, youth policy

9.8.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

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Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Role of the social partners in
improving the situation of young people on the labour market (Exploratory opinion)

(2008/C 204/20)

On 19 September 2007, the European Economic and Social Committee received a referral from the future
Slovenian presidency on the

Role of the social partners in improving the situation of young people on the labour market (Exploratory Opinion).

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 21 February 2008. The rapporteur was Mr Soares
and the co-rapporteur was Ms Päärendson.

At its 443rd plenary session, held on 12 and 13 March 2008 (meeting of 12 March), the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 119 votes to 1 with 2 abstentions:

1. Gist of the EESC proposals

The EESC welcomes the priority that the Slovenian presi-
1.1
dency (1st half of 2008) has decided to attach to integrating
young people into the world of work, which is one of the
greatest challenges facing the European Union today.

1.2
This priority accurately reflects the aims of the revised
Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Employment which, with the
updated Guidelines for Employment has entered its second
phase. By selecting full employment as a strategic objective, the
Lisbon strategy gave an example of how economic and business
competitiveness is not incompatible with people's well-being,
job satisfaction and the provision of quality jobs and decent
reform plans
working conditions. Member States' national
(NRPs) should, therefore, address the causes of youth unemploy-
ment more systematically and more comprehensively, taking
account of the European Youth Pact.

1.3
The EESC agrees with the Commission's opinion that
maintaining growth and prosperity in Europe, whilst promoting
social cohesion and sustainable development, depends on all
young people making a substantial contribution to the project
and being fully involved in it. Young people must be guaranteed
adequate conditions for active citizenship. This is all the more
important because the number of young people in comparison
to the population as a whole is falling.

1.4
Young people today are in situation that is critical at a
number of levels but which most acutely affects their integra-
tion into the labour market since, according to European statis-
tics, youth unemployment is 2.4 times higher in the 15-24 (1)
age group than in the 25-54 age group, although the 2007
figures do show a slight improvement.

1.6
The key to employment in the 21st century is the ability
to learn and adapt throughout one's working life. The EESC has
identified two main ways of improving the situation of young
people on the labour market: providing young people with
more and better education and ensuring a smoother transition
between leaving school and starting working life proper.

1.7
The EESC is fully aware of the difficulty of the task and
thus recommends a concerted effort by all of society to achieve
it. This is all the more important because it is the youngest
generation that could suffer most acutely from the consequences
of a downward market trend.

1.8
Indeed, young people in the 15-24 age group not only
have an unemployment rate more than twice that of adult
workers; they also suffer the worst job instability, which in
some countries affects more than 60 %, with far-reaching conse-
quences for young people's independence, their being in a posi-
tion to start a family, the decision as to when to have children
and for the growth and funding of social security schemes.

1.9 Whilst the role of the social partners as the main players
in the labour market, insofar as they understand its workings
and needs, is crucial to developing approaches that encourage
young people's integration into the world of work, the EESC
considers it worth emphasising, once again, the equally essential
role of education and vocational training in equipping young
people — whilst taking account of their diversity — with the
skills and competences needed to succeed in an ever-changing
world.

1.5
The EESC considers that work is not only a production
factor that is essential to society's socio-economic development;
it is today also one of the sources of human dignity and worth,
and offers possibilities for socialisation.

(1) It should be noted that in some Member States the minimum employ-

ment age for young people is over 15 years.

1.10
Furthermore, if the social partners are to take action to
integrate young people more effectively into the labour market,
they will require the cooperation of national, regional and local
governments and of the different civil society players, with a
particular focus on the role of youth organisations and of
universities as research and science centres. They will also need
the active support of families and of social networks for young
people with their wider outreach.

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1.11
Bearing in mind the joint text drawn up by the Euro-
pean social partners entitled Framework of Actions for the Lifelong
Development of Competencies and Qualifications (2) and recent
studies of the greatest challenges facing the labour markets,
which strengthen the Commission's efforts to make the labour
markets more adaptable and also more inclusive, the EESC has
identified a number of specific objectives and areas for action in
which these should play a more decisive role.

1.12
based on the following key objectives:

The measures adopted by the social partners should be

— persuading national governments to carry out appropriate
reforms and to implement national policies that help to
improve the situation of young people on the labour
market;

— using all

available means,

in particular programmes
supported by the European Structural Funds (3), to give all
young people the opportunity to achieve personal fulfilment
through stable, high-quality and properly paid employment,
making use of new and more progressive forms of work
and working hours management, in conjunction with new
forms of employment security, with the aim of ensuring
smoother transitions, greater mobility and better balance
between working life and private life;

— shortening the transition period between leaving school and
starting working life proper, and giving young people their
first work opportunity, with the prospect of future security
during this transitional period;

— helping young people to make constructive use of periods
of inactivity whilst unemployed or whilst looking for their
first job;

— assisting the integration of the most vulnerable groups of
young people (such as young people with social problems
or disabilities, early school-leavers, young immigrants, etc.);

— ensuring that work can be reconciled with personal and

family life;

— striking the appropriate balance between flexibility and
security, distinguishing between those workers that can
choose flexibility because they have security and those that
are victims of flexibility because they have no security;

— ensuring better cooperation between businesses, secondary

schools and universities;

— providing incentives for entrepreneurship, creativity and
innovation and helping young people to understand their
responsibilities to continue learning; in this context, public
authorities must shoulder their share of the responsibility

(2) See http://www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf/Fram_of_actions_LLL_evaluation_-
report_FINAL_2006.pdf (text available only in English).See also, on
European social dialogue in this area:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/dsw/dspMain.do?lang=en.

(3) See

http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_dialogue/docs/
lf_070227_donnelly.pps;
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/fields/education_en.htm. A
wide-ranging information paper will soon be made available at: http://
ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/fields/partnership_en.htm.

for providing an effective link between the education system
and the labour market;

— enhancing the quality of apprenticeships and making them

more attractive;

— promoting measures to prevent long-term unemployment

amongst the younger age-groups;

— informing young people of their economic and social rights
and complying with and ensuring compliance with the prin-
ciples of equality and non-discrimination.

The areas for action are many and varied, but can be

1.13
divided into seven main groups:

— Education: working at the national, regional and local levels
to alert schools and teachers to the importance of estab-
lishing closer links with the world of work, opening up busi-
nesses and trade unions to schools and promoting/partici-
pating in school initiatives to achieve this aim, and building
partnerships with schools in order to give young people
learning experiences in companies.

— Vocational training: taking part in the design and organisa-
tion of vocational training schemes, encouraging personal
development and the acquisition of social skills, developing
programmes
to boost entrepreneurship, promoting and
supporting training measures that help to anticipate market
needs in terms of the skills and qualifications required, and
informing young people about the technical occupations
and their potential on the labour market.

— Traineeships: offering traineeships as part of the school
curriculum, drawing up codes of conduct on working condi-
tions and pay that prevent competition between businesses
and also defining the concept of mentoring young people
on traineeships and the relevant good practice.

— Collective bargaining:

integrating the rights of young
people as fully-fledged citizens into consultation and social
dialogue, negotiating working practices that manage to give
them secure prospects during their transition to working
life, making it easier
to continue/
complete their studies.

for young workers

— Third-sector activities: working together with youth orga-
nisations, promoting and publicising networks that facilitate
contact between young people and the world of work,
stimulating the third-sector approach amongst both young
entrepreneurs and workers in their respective representative
bodies,
recognising their competences and skills gained
through non-formal education.

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— Good practice: promoting the exchange of good practice,
in particular by creating platforms for swapping experience,
good practice and information on projects carried out by
businesses, universities and employers' associations and trade
unions.

— Mobility (both in the European Union and in businesses):
encouraging people to learn other languages (4), providing
exchanges of work experience on the basis of guaranteeing
workers' rights. The social partners must pay particular
attention to cross-border cooperation, where young people's
mobility is most significant.

1.14
As the European institution representing organised civil
society and in accordance with its remit, the EESC proposes
holding a conference attended by representatives of businesses,
trade unions, schools and NGOs representing young people, in
the aim of facilitating an exchange of best practice in order to
improve the integration of young people into the labour market.

2. The current situation

Given the current situation of young people on the
2.1
labour market, the EESC welcomes the Slovenian Council presi-
dency's request to draw up an exploratory opinion on of the
Role of the social partners in improving the situation of young people
on the labour market.

2.2
The problem of youth unemployment and of young
people's inclusion in society more generally are issues of a
global scale (5).

2.3
Another global trend in industrialised society is popula-
tion ageing, which tends to have damaging repercussions for
stability, competitiveness and economic growth. It entails addi-
tional costs for health and pension schemes (6), whilst
the
number of people paying into these schemes is falling (7). There
is consequently a need to implement measures not only to

(4) See, in this regard, the EESC opinion of 26.10.2006 on the Commu-
nication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of
the
Regions — A new framework strategy for multilingualism, rapporteur:
A. Le Nouail (OJ C 324, 30.12.2006).
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:
C:2006:324:0068:0073:EN:PDF

(5) Comparing Europe with other industrialised countries, such as the
USA, Canada or Japan, employment in the 15-24 age group stood at
35,9 % in 2006 in contrast to 54,2 % in the USA, 58,7 % in Canada and
41,4 % in Japan.

(6) Funding social security schemes will set a particularly significant chal-
lenge in the next 25 years, when 20 million people will be leaving the
EU labour market.

(7) In Europe, the 2004 ratio of people of working age to the retired was
four to one but this figure will soon halve. From 2015 onwards, the fall
in the working population will form a barrier to the EU's potential
economic growth, bringing the current rate of 2,6 % (in the euro zone)
and 2,9 % (in the EU 27) to only 1,25 % by 2040. The impact of this
will be felt even more acutely in the new Member States.

in the population, but above all

promote 'active ageing'
to
encourage young people to enter the labour market and to
provide measures supporting generation renewal,
in which
young people do not currently get involved, because they fear
the lack of job security. This would need to be a joint effort at
the European, national, regional and local levels, involving the
public sector and the social partners, in order to place the issue
of young people at the heart of economic, social, educational
and demographic policies.

Although between 2005 and 2007 7 million jobs were
2.4
created in the EU, the ‘Lisbon cycle’ has still failed to reduce
youth unemployment. According to the Commission's figures,
the average unemployment rate amongst young people between
the ages of 15 and 24 reached 17.4 % in 2006. In other words,
around 4.7 million young people were not in a stable socio-
occupational situation. In some countries, the youth unemploy-
ment rate exceeded 25 % (8). According to the latest quarterly
EU Labour Market Review (Autumn 2007), in the third quarter
of 2007, the youth unemployment rate fell to 15.2 %, but is
still double the overall unemployment rate.

2.5
Furthermore, these 4.7 million young unemployed in the
EU referred to above are not generally likely to find new work
in their first six months of unemployment, which clearly shows
that, despite the adoption in 2005 of the European Youth Pact,
the Lisbon Strategy has not yet managed to improve the situa-
tion of young people on the labour market. A better on-the-
ground implementation of
the European Youth Pact is thus
increasingly important.

less than 10 %, the Netherlands,

2.6
However, youth employment and unemployment trends
are not identical in all Member States (9). With youth unemploy-
ment rates of
Ireland and
Denmark have successfully achieved reductions, but the situa-
tion is quite different in countries such as France, Italy, Spain,
Greece, Belgium, Poland, Slovakia and even Sweden, where rates
remain at around 20 % (10).

2.7
Young adults' unemployment is highly likely to turn into
long-term unemployment or even inactivity (around 1 in 3 for
long-term unemployment) (11), with women being affected parti-
cularly badly and this situation becomes more marked as people
get older.

2.7.1
It is not surprising that young people who have left
school early (one in six) or who have not completed secondary

(8) Eurostat study on the workforce in Europe, in Employment in Europe

2007, European Commission.

(9) The EESC is aware that the youth unemployment rate alone does not
give a full picture of young people's situation on the labour market.
Any analysis should also take into account the unemployment ratio of
young people and a comparison of the youth unemployment rate in a
particular country with the overall unemployment rate. The figures
cited in point 2.6 are for illustrative purposes only; for a fuller discus-
sion of the problem, see e.g. the report on ‘Employment In Europe
2007’.

(10) Economic Outlook, Autumn 2007, BUSINESSEUROPE, p. 14.
(11) Eurostat study on the workforce in Europe, in Employment in Europe

2007, European Commission.

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education (one in four young adults aged between 25 and
29 (12)) encounter greater difficulty in finding work than young
people who are more highly qualified.

than young men. Women — particularly those of child-bearing
age — also face discrimination on the basis of their gender. In
the EU, young women (under the age of 30) earn on average
6 % less than young men (20).

2.7.2 What is surprising is that highly qualified and skilled
young people are also struggling to find work. In some Member
States, the unemployment rate is higher among the most highly
educated young people than among those with lower or inter-
mediate levels of education (13). The fact is that a level of educa-
tion that is higher than in previous generations currently leads
to greater difficulty in entering the labour market. It is worth
emphasising that, whilst having a degree is a valuable weapon in
combating unemployment, in this day and age it provides no
guarantees.

2.7.3 Many young people are affected by the mismatch
between their qualifications and their jobs (in the Member
States,
the percentage of young people under 35 working
outside the area in which they are trained varies between 29 %
and 47 %). The lower the level of education attained, the more
worrying this situation becomes.

This state of affairs also encourages many young people
2.8
to leave for other countries that offer better working conditions,
pay that is four to five times higher, more attractive career
prospects and greater opportunities for personal fulfilment (14).

2.9
For many young people who do find work, their situa-
tion is extremely insecure, due to a lack of job stability. 41 % of
young people between the ages of 15 and 24 (15) are on short-
term contracts, and this rate exceeds 60 % in some coun-
tries (16). In many cases this is a conscious choice by young
people who are seeking short-term employment, but
the
number of young people who find themselves in this situation
involuntarily is high (one in four) (17).

2.12
All too frequently, young people still experience exclu-
sion or poverty as a result of their low incomes (40 % of young
people are classified as being on low pay) (21).

2.13 Many young people today find themselves in situations
that represent a step backwards for their social inclusion and
especially for their personal and social
independence. These
situations can be summarised as follows:

— increasing financial dependence on their families and/or the

state;

— increasingly lengthy periods of

living with
parents or the development of half-way situations (using the
parental home as a secondary place of residence, returning
home having already left or living outside the family home
but maintaining close links with the parents);

time spent

— young people starting their own family increasingly late in
life (getting married or living together, deciding whether to
have children …);

— evident frustration and increases in stress caused by power-
lessness, (as demonstrated by the increase in suicides and
drug consumption).

3. Work as a factor for personal and collective dignity

2.10
The group comprising young workers also suffers the
highest number of work-related accidents and injuries (18) and
account should, therefore be taken of health and safety condi-
tions in the workplace when considering the situation of youth
labour.

3.1
As well as being a key factor for the economic develop-
ment of society in general, work involves aspects rooted in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights itself. Young people's
right to employment and to job security should, therefore, be
seen as a universal right and as a means of securing their future
as individuals.

2.11
It is young women who are worst affected by unem-
ployment (19), and who are more likely to hold low-quality, inse-
cure and badly paid jobs, despite being generally better qualified

(12) See: Promoting young people's full participation in education, employment

and society (COM(2007) 498 final).

(13) Commission staff working document accompanying the Communica-
tion on Promoting young people's full participation in education, employment
and society (SEC(2007) 1093).

(14) It is worth stating, by way of example, that some 400 000 Europeans
trained in science and technology live in the USA and that almost 10 %
of the 1.45 million doctorate-holders in the US are EU graduates.
(15) It should be noted that in some Member States the minimum employ-

ment age for young people is over 15 years.
(16) Eurostat study on the workforce in Europe.
(17) Idem.
(18) See the draft EESC opinion on Health and safety at work SOC/258

(rapporteur: Ágnes Cser).

(19) The female employment rate is 15 % lower than the male.

3.2
There is, therefore, a need to (re)affirm work's central
importance to society, analysing some of its current compo-
nents, namely:

— decent work, as a source of income for living now and in
the future and as an aspect of ‘inter-generational’ solidarity

— work as a universal right, a space in which to express

human dignity and worth

(20) See the EESC opinion currently being drawn up entitled the Pay gap

between women and men (SOC/284).

(21) Commission staff working document accompanying the Communica-
tion on Promoting young people's full participation in education, employment
and society (SEC(2007) 1093).

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— work as a factor of production

— work as active citizenship and a socially useful activity

— work as an essential factor for socialisation

— work as a reflection of people's qualifications and creativity

— work as a condition for access to consumer activity and life-

styles

— work as a human activity that adapts and is valued in a
society increasingly required to take care of the environment
and ecological values

— work as a forum for self-discovery and development and for

personal fulfilment.

3.3 We are today encountering new forms of work that are
the product of fundamental changes in the world of labour and
important social
which do not necessarily take account of
aspects or provide the required legal guarantees.

in the labour market with as few problems as possible and
stay in employment, with industry involved here alongside
government;

— ensure early active support

for young people seeking
training course places or jobs (possibly after four months),
special programmes and individual support and coaching for
the integration of problem groups such as long-term unem-
ployed young people and school and training course drop-
outs, e.g. via community employment projects and promo-
tion of training;

— develop generally available, easily accessible careers advice
and information facilities for young men and women at all
in the
training; a corresponding improvement
levels of
quality of employment services and the provision of appro-
priate human resources;

Job instability amongst young people,

in conjunction
3.4
with deregulated working patterns and hours, are factors that
make it difficult to balance working, personal and family life.
Against
this backdrop, young women are particularly badly
affected, often having to give up a rewarding career. Young
parents should in particular be asked for their opinion on
setting up infrastructure to support early childhood.

— reduce existing discrepancies between qualifications offered
and those in demand on the labour market; raising the effec-
tiveness of primary education systems (e.g. reduction of
school drop-out rate (23), literacy campaigns) and increasing
the opportunities for moving between initial vocational and
further training; gradual elimination of gender-specific segre-
gation in careers counselling.’

Young people can make a major contribution to devel-
3.5
oping a more cohesive and democratic knowledge society. They
need, however, to have prospects beyond the short term, and
that are rooted in personal, family and collective security.

4. Education and training: essential factors for integration
integration

into the labour market and for successful
into and participation in society

critically-minded,

Although the main task of schools should remain that of
4.2
training free,
they
should find new ways of doing things, especially as regards their
links with the world of work and business, which are generally
speaking not close. These links are today virtually an imperative
in order to ensure a smoother transition from school to work.

autonomous

citizens,

In its opinion on the Employment of priority categories (22),
4.1
the EESC reaffirmed the importance of education and training,
with particular reference to the need to:

— ‘guarantee […] quality from initial training to vocational and
in-service training so as to enable workers to find their place

4.3
Furthermore, having the skills to deal with change means
that entrepreneurship and initiative should form an integral part
of the school mission to inculcate a sense of responsibility — at
the personal level too — equipping young people to find solu-
tions to the problems that they will inevitably face once they
leave school. Of course, non-formal education also has a role to
play in achieving this aim.

(22) EESC opinion of 12.7.2007 on the Employment of priority categories
(Lisbon Strategy), rapporteur: Mr Greif (OJ C 256, 27.10.2007, pp
93-101)
(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:
C:2007:256:0093:0101:EN:PDF).

(23) Nearly 16 % of young people in the EU drop out of school, which is
considerably higher than the 10 % seen in 2000. The percentage varies
from Member State to Member State, being particularly high in the
Mediterranean countries and lower in the Scandinavian countries and
in some countries of Central and Eastern European.

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Lifelong training is also of

4.4
increasing importance to
young people, because it can provide them with the tools they
need to adapt to new situations and to acquire new skills and
qualifications.

4.5
Vocational training models could also be updated and
some countries offer experiences of integration into the labour
In this area too,
market through traineeships in companies.
what is important is to establish models that are attractive to
young people and which they and their families consider to be
worthwhile (24).

individual

In the specific context of

job coaching
4.6
amongst the young long-term unemployed, it is worth referring
to an Austrian project that has helped to reduce the long-term
youth unemployment
rate by 43.5 % in a specific target
group (25). Of the 2 000 young people who took part in the
project, 820 found a job and 293 were offered apprenticeships
in companies, which represents a success rate of 60 % (26).

European

Furthermore,

4.7
and
programmes should coordinate their work at the national and
European levels in the field of education, applying to both basic
education and vocational/specific training.

research

policies

5. The role of the social partners

5.1
A global approach to the different youth policies is
required. To this end, the European Commission has drawn up a
communication on Promoting young people's full participation in
education,
EESC has
endorsed (27). Similarly, the Commission has reiterated the need
to make use of the European Structural Fund, whose regulations
explicitly provide for the funding of measures to improve the
integration of young people into the labour market (28).

society, which the

employment

and

5.2
The aim of improving the integration of young people
into the labour market should be seen as a collective responsi-
bility which requires the involvement of all of society, including
the social partners, as well as other players such as the public
authorities, national, regional and local governments, families
and youth organisations.

employment’

(24) See the examples provided by the French projects to promote the
scientific and technical sectors to young people (http://halde-prod.
gaya.fr/repertoire-bonnes-pratiques-initiatives-86/consulter-90/
bonne-pratique-91/scientifiques-techniques-9109.html), the ‘Passport
to
(http://halde-prod.gaya.fr/repertoire-bonnes-
pratiques-initiatives-86/consulter-90/initiatives-92/autres-95/emploi-
‘Teaching
pour-9154.html?var_recherche=d %E9favoris %E9s),
through action’ by the Dijon College of Business Studies (making
educational establishments responsible for trainees (www.halde.fr/
repertoire-bonnes-pratiques-initiatives-86/consulter-90/bonne-
pratique-91/action-ecole-9207.html),
to
forums
improve links between businesses and young graduates from disadvan-
(http://halde-prod.gaya.fr/repertoire-bonnes-pratiques-
taged
initiatives-86/consulter-90/initiatives-92/autres-95/emploi-pour-
9192.html), or the Austrian projects for labour mediation for long-
term unemployed young people (http://portal.wko.at/wk/format_de-
tail.wk?AngID=1&StID=314163&DstID=0, or http://portal.wko.at/
wk/sn_detail.wk?AngID=1&DocID=729805&StID=345901).

Employment

areas

5.3
In the specific case of integrating young people into the
labour market, the role of the social partners is crucial, because
they know how the market works and what it needs; they are
familiar with the problems arising from these needs in relation
to the current workforce; they know and have experience of the
problems caused by developments in the market itself and in
new working practices.

5.4
The social partners should further step up their efforts to
increase youth employment, by enhancing and further devel-
oping their cooperation with organisations representing young
people and educational establishments; focusing on the qualifi-
cations needed on the labour market at any given time; identi-
fying the skills required for particular jobs and combining forces
to create jobs for young people, having the courage to trust in
their abilities without asking for prior experience, etc.

The involvement of

5.5
specific aims, in particular, to:

the social partners should have

— influence national governments to carry out the appropriate
that help
reforms and to implement national policies
improve the situation of young people on the labour
market.

— give all young people the opportunity to achieve personal
fulfilment through stable and high-quality employment;

— shorten the transitional period between leaving school and

entering working life proper;

— provide the prospect of future security during this transi-

tional period;

— help young people to make constructive use of periods of
inactivity whilst unemployed or looking for their first job;

— make integration easier for the most vulnerable groups of

young people, in particular early school-leavers;

— ensure that working life can be reconciled with personal and

family life;

— strike a good balance between flexibility and security;

and should cover a number of areas, such as:

(25) See:

http://portal.wko.at/wk/format_detail.wk?AngID=1&-

StID=314163&DstID=0.

(26) See:

http://portal.wko.at/wk/sn_detail.wk?AngID=1&Do-

cID=729805&StID=345901

(27) EESC opinion of 17.1.2008 on the Communication from the Commission
to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions — Promoting young people's
full participation in education, employment and society. Rapporteur: Mr
Trantina.
(28) See footnote 3.

5.5.1 Education

— Alerting education authorities, schools and teachers to the

need for closer links with the world of work.

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— At the local level, promoting a range of initiatives organised
by schools or by businesses and trade unions that enable
young people to experience the reality of working life.

— Establishing ‘mentor-colleagues’ who are responsible for
supervising the young trainee, in order to make educational
traineeships successful and help to draw up codes of good
mentoring practice for each sector.

— Establishing partnerships with schools,

in order to give

young people work experience within companies.

— Providing incentives for creativity and entrepreneurship, in
cooperation with all the parties concerned (including busi-
ness and trade unions) (29)

— Informing institutions of higher education of local employ-
ment requirements and the relevant training and qualifica-
tion needs.

— Involving relevant youth organs and organisations at all
levels in dialogue on integrating young people into the
labour market.

5.5.2 Vocational training

— Being actively involved in designing and organising voca-
tional training schemes, in order to meet the needs for new
skills and knowledge and thus anticipating lifelong training
requirements.

— Considering, with regard to collective bargaining, global,
regional and/or local vocational training agreements. There
is,
tax
therefore, a need to ensure that Member States'
systems support investment in human capital.

— Informing young people about the technical professions and

their potential for the labour market.

5.5.4 Collective bargaining and young people's rights

— Considering,

in collective bargaining at

the European,
national, regional, local or company-wide level, the need to
establish practical policies to support
the integration of
young people into the labour market and to inform them
about their rights.

— In discussions on the working practices and arrangements to
be negotiated and included in contracts, pay particular atten-
tion to young workers, so that flexibility is governed by
negotiated rules that guarantee the security that they need.
The prospect of security in young people's transition to
working life can and should be considered in collective
bargaining.

— As part of

the collective bargaining process, helping to
negotiate working conditions for students that provide flex-
ible working hours, appropriate pay, especially for trainee-
ships, and time off for training.

— Also in this area, making it possible to reconcile work with
personal life, especially as regards working conditions and
working hours.

— Helping to implement and assess the European Qualifica-
tions Framework (30)
in order to facilitate recognition of
young people's qualifications and their mobility within
Europe.

5.5.5 Third-sector activities

5.5.3 Traineeships

— Providing traineeships as part of the school curriculum, thus
putting young people in contact with a company and
workers at an early stage.

— Drawing up codes of conduct on job quality, working condi-
tions and pay for trainees and establishing collective agree-
ments to this end.

(29) See, in this regard, the EESC opinion of 25.10.2007 on Entrepreneurship
mindsets and the Lisbon Agenda (own-initiative opinion). Rapporteur:
Ms Sharma and co-rapporteur: Mr Olsson. (OJ C 44, 16.2.2008, pp
84-90)
(http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:
C:2008:044:0084:0090:EN:PDF).

(30) See the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on
the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong
learning (COM(2006) 479 final.

— Playing a key role in supporting third-sector activity
amongst young people, by supporting the setting-up of
young entrepreneurs' associations or by integrating workers
into their organisations covering the relevant sector.

— Promoting, publicising and supporting networks that facili-
tate communication between young people and the different
social partners (31).

— Cooperating with youth organisations to understand young
involving them in

people's fears and aspirations and of
finding solutions, particularly as regards the labour market.

(31) Examples include: the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises
(http://www.jadenet.org/) and the STARPRO initiative by EURO-
CADRES (Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff) for
students
(http://www.eurocadres.org/en/
p_ms_in_europe/students_and_young_graduates).

graduates

young

and

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— Recognising the competences and skills gained through non-
formal education in youth organisations as an important
part of qualification for entering the job market.

5.5.6 Good practice

— Exchange information on good practice (32) by establishing
national and European platforms for projects carried out by

Brussels, 12 March 2008.

businesses, universities, schools, local and regional authori-
ties, business associations and unions.

5.5.7 Mobility

— Support mobility both in the European Union and in busi-
nesses located in different European countries, inform young
people of their rights related to mobility within Europe and,
in this regard, encourage people to learn other languages,
provide exchanges of professional experiences and provide
exchanges of professional experience, accepting the impor-
tance of guaranteeing workers' rights (33).

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

(32) One example of good practice is the launch by Businesseurope, in
conjunction with its working partners, of a 'laboratory' on ‘Stimulating
an entrepreneurial mindset and promoting entrepreneurship educa-
tion’. This ‘laboratory’ not only provides examples of European good
practice in this field; it also helps to achieve the objectives set out in the
Strategy for Growth and Employment and in the European Commis-
sion communication entitled Fostering entrepreneurial mindsets through
education and learning and in its Oslo recommendations.

(33) The social partners have always stated their support for the principles
of the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programmes and for the Euro-
pean Commission initiative entitled ERASMUS for young entrepreneurs.