COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Implementing the Youth Opportunities Initiative: first steps taken
Date: 2012-04-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, dropout, first job, job access, job creation, labour mobility, professional experience, traineeship, young person, youth unemployment

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Strasbourg, 18.4.2012  
SWD(2012) 98 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Implementing the Youth Opportunities Initiative: first steps taken 

Accompanying the document 

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

Towards a job-rich recovery 

{COM(2012) 173 final} 
{SWD(2012) 90 final} 
{SWD(2012) 92 final} 
{SWD(2012) 93 final} 
{SWD(2012) 95 final} 
{SWD(2012) 96 final} 
{SWD(2012) 97 final} 
{SWD(2012) 99 final} 
{SWD(2012) 100 final} 

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COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Implementing the Youth Opportunities Initiative: first steps taken 

Accompanying the document 

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

Towards a job-rich recovery 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 2 

EU youth unemployment remains at a historic high.................................................... 3 

Implementation of the EU policy priorities in the Member States .............................. 3 

Use of European funds for policy implementation: first lessons learnt ..................... 12 

The way forward ........................................................................................................ 12 

Disclaimer:  This  document  is  a  European  Commission  staff  working  document  for 
information  purposes.  It  does  not  represent  an  official  position  of  the  Commission  on  this 
issue, nor does it anticipate such a position. 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Implementation of the Youth Opportunities Initiative has started… 

In  response  to  the  dramatic  rise  of  youth  unemployment  in  many  Member  States,  the 
Commission launched the "Youth Opportunities Initiative" (YOI) in December 2011.1 Its key 
objective  is  to  combine  concrete  action  by  Member  States  and  the  EU  implementing  the 
priorities identified in the Europe 2020 strategy, the June 2011 Council conclusions on youth 
employment2, the 2012 Annual Growth Survey and the Joint Employment Report. 

This paper presents an interim account of recent measures and policies in the Member States 
with high youth unemployment, with regard to the YOI priorities, and illustrates first results 
of the reinforced policy cooperation with the Member States. It will inform the debate at the 
informal Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers on 23-24 April 2012. 

…with the strong commitment of the Member States at the highest level… 

The Commission President proposed at the informal European Council of 30 January 2012 to 
strengthen  cooperation  with  the  15  Member  States  where  the  situation  of  young  people  is 
most  difficult.  For  the  eight  Member  States  with  the  highest  youth  unemployment  rates3, 
action teams of EU and national officials have been set up in order to develop specific action 
plans  for  tackling  youth  unemployment.  These  teams  have  met  in  the  Member  States 
concerned in February 2012. With the other seven Member States with youth unemployment 
rates above EU average4, bilateral meetings at technical level took place in February 2012 to 
explore ways of making full use of EU funding for tackling youth unemployment.  

… and the support of the European Social Partners…. 

At  the  Tripartite  Social  Summit  on  1  March  2012,  the  European  Social  Partners  have 
presented  their  work  programme  2012-2014;  it  includes  a  framework  of  actions  on  youth 
employment  with  a  focus  on  the  link  between  education,  young  people’s  expectations  and 
labour  market  needs.  The  first  contributions  to  this  framework  have  been  presented  by 
BusinessEurope and UEAPME; they highlight in particular policy measures supporting skills 
development,  recruitment  and  entrepreneurship.  ETUC  established  a  focus  group  within  its 
Youth Committee, which will contribute to the framework with analysis and proposals.  

The assessment of national policies will continue in the European Semester 2012 

Already  in  the  European  Semester  2011,  ten  Member  States  received  country-specific 
recommendations on youth employment5, and eleven in the area of education6. Member States 
are  expected  to  report  on  these  recommendations  in  their  National  Reform  Programmes 
(NRP)  to  be  submitted  to  the  Commission  by  mid-April  2012.  The  March  2012  European 
Council  invited  Member  States  to  develop  and  implement  comprehensive  initiatives  on 

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COM(2011) 933 of 20 December 2011. 
Council Conclusions 11838/11 of 20 June 2011 on promoting youth employment. 
EL, ES, IE, IT, LT, LV, PT, SK. 
BG, CY, FR, HU, PL, RO, SE.  
BG, CZ, EE, ES, FI, LU, SE, SI, SK, UK. 
AT, BG, CY, DK, EE, ES, MT, PL, SI, SK, UK. 

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employment,  education  and  skills;  each  Member  State  will  include  a  specific  "National  Job 
Plan"  in  its  NRP.  The  Commission  will  provide  its  NRP  assessment  in  the  Staff  Working 
Documents  presenting  the  Commission's  proposal  for  country-specific  recommendations  in 
May 2012.  

2. 

EU YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT REMAINS AT A HISTORIC HIGH 

No reversal of the negative trend of 2011 is in sight… 

The  youth  (15-24)  unemployment  rate  jumped  rapidly  from  the  beginning  of  2008,  rising 
from  15  %  in  February  2008  to  more  than  21  %  in  the  beginning  of  2010,  before  easing 
moderately and stabilising by spring 2011. The labour market recovery for youth did not last 
long;  unemployment  began  to  climb  again  in  May  2011,  at  a  faster  rate  than  for  adults. 
Subsequently, the rate has risen to an unprecedented high level of 22.4% at the beginning of 
2012. In total 5.5 million young people are unemployed, an increase by 265 000 compared to 
early  2011.  The  strongest  increase  between  2010  and  2011  occurred  in  peripheral  Member 
States.7 For the age group 25-29 the EU average unemployment increased strongly between 
2008  and  2010  from  8.6  to  12.6%  and  has  since  remained  at  that  level  (12.4%  in  2011q3); 
again the increase was concentrated in some Member States.8 Young people are particularly 
vulnerable  since  longer  unemployment  spells  in  the  current  context  have  a  more  permanent 
scarring  effect  in  their  future  adult  life,  with  potential  risks  of  marginalisation,  poverty  and 
social exclusion.  

… low-skilled young people are most at risk of unemployment, … 

Young people with at most lower secondary education completed (these are the early leavers 
from education and training) bear the highest risk of unemployment. The most recent figures 
available  for  all  27  Member  States  of  September  2011  indicate  that  while  the  EU  average 
youth  unemployment  rate  was  21.2%,  it  reached  27.7%  for  low  skilled  youth.  In  many 
Member  States  their  unemployment  rates  are  10pp.  higher  than  for  the  whole  youth 
population; in some Member States the gap exceeds even 20pp9.  

…. highly skilled have increasingly difficulties in finding a job 

Although  the  unemployment  rate  among  young  people  decreases  the  higher  the  education 
levels attained, the unemployment rates for youth with upper secondary and higher education 
qualifications (18.5% resp. 17.9%) indicate that the employment advantage for better skilled 
individuals has diminished.  

3. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EU POLICY PRIORITIES IN THE MEMBER STATES 

Despite the generally high attention that is given in national policies to the youth employment 
situation, there is less of a consensus regarding to which extent measures should specifically 
address  young  people.  Member  States  with  overall  strong  increase  in  unemployment  stress 
that only an improvement in the overall economic and labour market situation in their country 

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EL +10pp., CY+9pp., PT +9pp., ES +6pp., EE +5pp. 
BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, IRL, LT, LV, SI, SK. 
BG 45%, IE 50.5%, SK 63%, ES 52%. 

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would then also accrue to youth, for example in Greece and Spain. Policy actors in Member 
States which experienced downturns in whole economic sectors, such as in Ireland, underline 
that young people are not the only group struggling to remain in employment. Other Member 
States  acknowledge  that  they  considered  the  strong  rise  in  youth  unemployment  in  the  first 
place  as  cyclical,  but  now  realise  that  structural  problems  need  to  be  tackled  (Bulgaria, 
Slovakia).  In  this  context  it  is  worthwhile  underlining  that  there  is  no  trade-off  between 
different groups of workers in the labour market; well-performing labour markets show high 
employment rates for youth as well as prime-age and older workers.  

Several  Member  States  put  in  place  new  comprehensive  policy  strategies  for  youth  seeking 
coordinated  policy  responses  involving  different  policy  sectors.  The  new  longer-term  youth 
policy  framework  in  Hungary  focuses  in  particular  on  youth  employment.  In  Bulgaria,  a 
national  initiative  for  youth  employment  has  been  launched  in  October  2011.  Portugal  is 
currently setting up a comprehensive strategic plan for including youth in the labour market 
with a substantial allocation of € 1bn, of which € 352m would co me from Structural Funds re-
programming. In Spain, the labour market reform of February 2012 includes a wide range of 
measures  such  as  apprenticeship  and  training  contracts,  hiring  incentives  and  measures  to 
promote  self-employment  among  the  young.  Italy  is  preparing  the  approval  of  an  overall 
reform of the labour market in order to improve in particular youth employment. To ensure a 
faster implementation of measures for youth, the country has transferred ESF funds (€ 311m 
including national contribution) from the regional to the national level.  

The following sections present an overview of the measures10 recently put in place or under 
preparation  in  the  Member  States  with  high  youth  unemployment  along  the  YOI  priorities, 
and informs of the state of play of the corresponding Commission contributions (see boxes). 

3.1. 

Preventing early-school leaving 

Under the Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011, Member States have undertaken to put 
in  place  comprehensive  strategies  to  combat  early  school  leaving,  combining  prevention, 
intervention and compensation measures, by end 2012. Several are developing comprehensive 
approaches and report increased efforts, especially in preventing students from dropping out. 
However,  a  balanced  and  coherent  strategy  is  often  still  missing,  and  the  collection, 
monitoring and analysis of data and information on the incidence and drivers of early school 
leaving,  which  is  essential  for  developing  more  effective  and  targeted  policies,  needs  to  be 
improved.  

Many Member States report efforts to increase participation in good quality early childhood 
education  and  care,  and  to  extend  compulsory  education.  More  individualised  learning 
approaches  and  measures  such  as  better  targeted  support  for  pupils  at  risk  of  dropping  out, 
early warning systems, and extra curricular activities to broaden opportunities for learning and 
personal  development  are  also  being  implemented.  In  Ireland,  the  School  Completion 
Programme  aims  to  retain  young  people  in  formal  education  and  improve  educational 
attainment. 

10 

The EU funding of these on-going or foreseen actions is in line with the provisions of the multi-annual 
financial framework 2007-2013 (MFF) and does not generate costs above the ceilings set in the MFF. 
Furthermore,  it  applies  to  all  measures  listed  hereafter  in  the  document  that  Member  States  have  to 
ensure they respect the EU legislation on state aid rules.  

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Measures  for  preventing  early-school  leaving  will  show  effects  mainly  in  the  medium-to-
longer term. However, the recent increase of youth unemployment in some Member States is 
also due to the fact that many low-skilled jobs have been destroyed in the crisis, so that many 
young  people  leaving  education  early  fall  into  unemployment.  In  addition,  vocational 
education  and  training  streams  at  upper  secondary  level  often  have  high  drop-out  rates, 
especially among students belonging to vulnerable groups. Immediate and effective action is 
needed  to  reintegrate  these  young  people  into  education  or  training  measures  that  fit  their 
needs. 

Several  countries  are  increasing  opportunities  for  early  school  leavers  to  re-enter  into 
education.  Romania  continues  its  "second  chance"  programme  which  shall  reach  out  to 
around  29 000  young  people,  with  an  ESF  envelope  of  €  100m.  In  France,  completion  of 
secondary  education  can  be  undertaken  in  "micro-lycées"  (secondary  schools)  and  special 
programmes will support low skilled youth in critical urban areas. Poland introduces training 
vouchers for low skilled unemployed who are not yet in further education or training. Ireland 
implements with the ESF the "Youth reach" programme for young people to complete their 
education, which will be further stepped up with additional € 25m of reallocated ESF support 
for continuation of the programme until the end of 2013. 

3.2. 

Developing skills that are relevant to the labour market 

Measures focus on curricula reforms… 

A major trend in reforming education and training is the development of curricula based on 
skills  and  competences  that  are  crucial  for  working  life.  In  addition  to  introducing  a 
competences-based approach, Member States are strengthening project-based and work-based 
learning  particularly  in  the  initial  vocational  education  and  training  (VET)  and  higher 
education sectors. Curricular reforms are on-going in a number of Member States, aimed at 
strengthening  competence-based  teaching,  ensuring  high  quality  teaching  and  increasing  the 
flexibility  and  permeability  of  learning  pathways.  There  is  an  increasing  awareness  of  the 
need  to  foster  in  higher  education  programmes  work-relevant  transversal  skills  such  as 
problem-solving  and  team  work,  alongside  the  acquisition  of  specialist  subject  knowledge. 
Equally,  traineeships  and  other  forms  of  work  experience  are  increasingly  being  integrated 
into curricula (in the form of "sandwich courses" for example) and efforts are being made in 
some Member States to expand more vocationally oriented higher education provision. 

In  Italy  new  Higher  Technical  Institutes  (Istituti  Tecnici  Superiori)  will  start  in  2012  with 
post-secondary  level  training  in  key  economic  sectors  of  the  country.  Poland will 
implement a reform  of  the  vocational  education  and  training system  in 2012/2013  to  focus 
on learning  outcomes  and  foster cooperation  with  employers  and  more  practical  work  based 
training.  At  the  same  time  Poland has  just  started  the  implementation  of  Higher  Education 
reform  where  employers  have  more  possibilities  to  be  involved  in  the  creation  of  the 
curricula. 

…and increasingly Member States launch specific initiatives… 

There are a number of new initiatives for closing skills gaps. Poland supports maths, science 
and  technology  faculties  at  universities  with  ESF  projects;  so  far  45 000  students  have 
benefited  from  these  projects.  In  Southern  Italy  more  foreign-language  learning  will  be 
supported  from  the  ESF,  and  in  Spain  the  development  of  linguistic  skills  among  young 
people is considered for future measures under the ESF. Ireland set up a new action plan to 

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improve higher  skills, including the provision of  5 875  free  higher  education  places  in  ICT, 
business/management skills and other growth sectors for jobseeker retraining. In Cyprus, new 
post-secondary  vocational  education  and  training  institutes  and  an  evening  technical  school 
are expected to start operations in 2012 with ESF support (€ 7.8m).  Bulgaria launched a new 
ESF operation (€ 7.5m) improving the  literacy of low-skilled youth.  

In  Hungary,  a  new  scheme  for  supporting  people  (18-35)  in  becoming  entrepreneurs  will 
soon  be  launched  under  the  ESF,  promoting  the  acquisition  and  development  of 
entrepreneurial knowledge and skills. Portugal funds training initiatives for entrepreneurship 
and  innovation  with  the  ESF,  and  the  government's  new  comprehensive  strategic  plan  for 
youth in the labour market also aims at supporting entrepreneurship and the enhancement of 
professional skills. 

…however initiatives for filling skills gaps show mixed results…  

Member States however also report that despite high youth unemployment in their country it 
is difficult to attract young people to training in sectors in demand for labour. In Bulgaria for 
example,  vocational  training  places  have  been  offered  with  support  from  the  ESF,  but  no 
candidates were found. Low earning prospects and the lack of esteem for more technical jobs 
are considered to be reasons why such schemes are not taken up. 

There is still a great need for Member States to take initiatives and implement policies aimed 
at further developing forward-looking labour market tools, to anticipate skills, to enhance the 
responsiveness of education and training systems, and to disseminate their results in order to 
develop work opportunities for people and to make easier their possibilities to find or to keep 
a job.  

3.3. 

Supporting a first work experience and on-the-job training 

Recognition of the need for stepping up apprenticeship training… 

There is evidence that apprenticeship-type training performs favourably compared to school-
based  vocational  education  and  training  (VET)  and  tends  to  increase  employment 
opportunities  in  early  working  life.  Apprenticeship-type  training  also  has  the  capacity  to  be 
more responsive to changing skills demands than school-based VET.  

A  new  study  on  the  supply  of  apprenticeships  in  the  Member  States,  however,  finds  that 
apprenticeship-type  schemes  which  formally  combine  and  alternate  company-based  training 
with school-based education and lead to a nationally recognised degree exist in some Member 
States,  but  that  the  majority  of  students  in  vocational  streams  have  a  mainly  school-based 
training  complemented  by  components  of  in-company  training.11  Apprenticeship-type 
students represent approximately an 85% of total secondary VET students and 40.5% of total 
secondary  students  in  the  EU-27.  A  stronger  emphasis  of  the  importance  and  use  of  the 
workplace training in initial VET is needed to ensure the future skills supply.12  

…is reflected in a variety of new initiatives… 

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Study on the apprenticeship supply in Member States, European Union 2012 ISBN 978-92-79-23166-7 
Cedefop forecast briefing note: http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/news/19632.aspx 

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Setting-up a country- or sector-wide apprenticeship training system is a complex challenge in 
itself,  all  the  more  in  a  tight  economic  context,  and  does  not  happen  overnight.  Therefore, 
some Member States take first steps towards such a system by introducing practical training 
components in the vocational education stream. 

In Lithuania, a voucher scheme has recently been introduced with ESF support to promote 
inter alia in-company training. In Greece and Slovakia, the provision of on-the-job training 
after  the  theoretical  education  is  offered  for  graduates  from  secondary  or  post-secondary 
technical  colleges.  A  pilot  scheme  for  a  dual  VET  system  is  being  developed  in  Spain. 
Poland introduces a national voucher scheme for access to vocational training, and the ESF 
has  recently  supported  27 000  students  of  vocational  schools  for  undertaking  a  practical 
training spell in a company.  

Cyprus invests € 16.7m in setting up a new apprenticeship system with ESF support.  France 
is beefing up the existing apprenticeship schemes with the aim of reaching 800 000 places by 
2015. In October 2011 a new apprenticeship scheme was launched in Italy; in addition, the 
educational  component  in  apprenticeships  has  been  increased  from  40  to  400  hours,  co-
financed by the ESF. 

Some  legislative  measures  are  also  introduced,  such  as  in  France  (increase  of  the  levy  for 
companies not respecting apprenticeships quotas; progressive increase of the quota for large 
enterprises),  Romania  (more  flexible  legal  framework  for  apprenticeship  contracts),  and 
Hungary  (incentives  to  employers  for  hiring  their  apprentices  after  the  training  period).  In 
Spain,  the  recent  Labour  Market  Reform  includes  a  reform  of  the  apprenticeship  contracts 
and  training  contracts  to  reduce  youth  unemployment:  the  extension  of  the  age  limit  to  30 
years  to  get  access  to  these  contracts  will  be  extended  beyond  2013  as  long  as  the  overall 
unemployment rate remains at 15% or higher. 

Social Partners and enterprises play an active role… 

Introducing  high-quality  apprenticeship-type  training  requires  a  close  cooperation  between 
national  authorities,  Social  Partners  and  enterprises,  as  has  been  highlighted  in  several 
position  papers  of  European  and  national  Social  Partners.  However,  there  are  also  different 
views  among  the  stakeholders  with  regard  to  the  ambition  of  introducing  new  systems.  In 
Latvia for example, the government would like to conclude longer term agreements (4 years) 
with enterprises for apprenticeships, but agreement with employers and trade unions is still to 
be  reached.  Another  concern  of  enterprises,  for  example  in  Lithuania,  is  to  facilitate  the 
arrangements  for  concluding  contracts  with  the  apprentice  without  having  the  education 
institution involved in the contract.  

Professional organisations, in particular chambers of commerce, are in some countries closely 
involved  in  the  organisation  of  the  apprenticeship  system.  In  Hungary,  the  role  of  the 
National  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Industry  has  expanded  in  vocational  education  to 
strengthen  dual  training  elements,  curricula  development  and  the  quality  of  the  in-company 
training.  In  Slovakia,  there  are  pleads  for  a  stronger  role  of  the  chambers  in  introducing 
apprenticeships. In general, more joint initiatives seem essential to overcome the sometimes 
bad  image  and  low  take-up  of  apprenticeship-training  opportunities,  which  is  a  problem  in 
some Member States, as for example in Bulgaria. 

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Overall,  there  is  a  strong  interest  in  learning  from  countries  with  a  "dual"  or  "twin-track" 
company-based  apprenticeship  system  as  in  Austria,  Denmark  or  Germany.  In  Slovakia, 
there is strong interest from the employers' side to develop cooperation projects with Austria.  

The  Commission  prepares  for  technical  assistance  worth  €1.3m  to 
apprenticeship-type schemes through the ESF. 

support  setting  up 

Traineeships support skills development and acquiring work experience… 

Traineeships  and  other  on-the-job  training  schemes  are  introduced  in  a  number  of  Member 
States. Some Member States have measures in place for people up to 30 years old in order to 
help university graduates in acquiring practical experience. In Cyprus, a national scheme for 
job placement and training of tertiary education graduates is being implemented. In Poland, 
the  ESF  has  recently  supported  nearly  20 000  higher  education  students  to  undertake  a 
traineeship in a company. Poland introduced in 2010 a national programme for postgraduate 
traineeships. The Czech Republic plans to launch a project under ESF which would provide 
several months traineeships in companies. In Ireland, a traineeship scheme allows companies 
of different sizes to take on trainees for 6-9 month periods. The trainees retain their previous 
social security payment and gain an extra € 50  payment per week. Further to this an employer 
may  avail  of  an  18  month  break  in  payment  of  employee  social  security  if  they  engage  the 
trainee as a full time employee. Romania intends to introduce further support guidance and 
professional counselling, as well as practical training in companies for around 300 000 young 
people, from an ESF envelope of € 116m. 

Work placements  abroad  are a specific form  of traineeships. A recently adopted benchmark 
sets  ambitious  targets  to  raise  the  levels  of  transnational  learning  mobility  both  in  higher 
education and initial vocational education and training. 

Certain Member States  also have  schemes in place for providing a workplace experience to 
disadvantaged  young  people  as  part  of  active  labour  market  policies.  In  Germany  a 
successful national scheme for transnational work placements ("IDA") has been put in place 
with  ESF  support;  this  scheme  is  currently  expanded  to  other  Member  States,  starting  with 
Spain (Galicia region) in spring 2012. 

The Commission will substantially reinforce support to transnational learning mobility for 
VET and higher education students (apprentices included) with a view to an additional 30% 
of placements targeting at least 130 000 placements in 2012 under Erasmus and Leonardo 
da Vinci.  

The  Commission  has  launched  in  April  2012  the  "We  Mean  Business"  campaign  to  raise 
business  awareness  of  Erasmus  and  Leonardo  da  Vinci  transnational  placements  and 
encourage companies to host European trainees.  

… however these need to be of good quality and must not replace regular jobs… 

In  Greece,  an  ESF  funded  scheme  worth  € 54m  will  provide  opportunities  to  10 000 
unemployed people aged 16-24 for acquiring work experience through subsidising the social 
security  contribution.  In  Slovakia,  the  ESF-supported  scheme  for  "Graduate  Practice"  has 
been  implemented  over  the  past  years,  but  evaluations  of  the  scheme  point  to  its  limited 
effectiveness  with  regard  to  labour  market  integration  of  beneficiaries.  Such  schemes  are 

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certainly  welcome  initiatives;  however  it  would  be  important  to  shape  them  clearly  with 
regard to the target groups and distinguish between placements for jobs or on-the-job training. 

In Latvia, the on-the-job training scheme for unemployed has led to concerns of poor or non-
existent  learning  content  and  replacement  of  regular  workers  by  trainees  presenting  a  lower 
cost  for  the  employer.  Similar  concerns  exist  in  other  Member  States,  including  for 
transnational placements, and point to the need of ensuring quality and transparency of these 
types of measures. 

The  Commission  services  have  launched  a  consultation  on  a  quality  framework  for 
traineeships with a view to a proposal for a Council Recommendation to be adopted by the 
end of 2012. The Commision will soon present the results of a comprehensive study on the 
legal provisions and practice of traineeships in the EU. 

…while there is also a basic need for setting up measures at all levels. 

In  the  absence  of  any  operational  apprentice-  or  traineeship  systems,  governments  plan  to 
introduce  other  opportunities  for  young  people,  for  example  Lithuania  introducing  a  pilot 
project on volunteering. 

The EU budget allocation for the European Voluntary Service will be reinforced in order to 
provide at least 10 000 volunteering opportunities in 2012. 

3.4. 

Improving access to the labour market for getting a first job 

Financial incentives for hiring young people are introduced … 

Measures  entailing  financial  incentives  for  hiring  young  people,  including  for  the  training 
components within an employment contract, are more and more in use in Member States and 
often  supported  by  the  ESF.  In  Lithuania,  the  "be  active  on  the  labour  market"  project  for 
young  people  providing  financial  support  for  work  experience  and  hiring  has  been  a 
successful  measure  (after  6  months  83%  of  participants  were  still  employed)  that  will  be 
prolonged in 2012-13 for around 10 000 beneficiaries. In Greece, wage subsidies  for  hiring 
higher  education  graduates  worth  € 110m  will  be  disbursed.  Latvia  has  introduced  a  wage 
subsidy  scheme  targeted  at  young  people  with  unemployment  spell  longer  than  4  months, 
young parents after maternity/paternity leave and disabled youth. In Spain, the labour reform 
provides for tax rebates of maximum € 3 600 to  firms creating jobs for young and long term 
unemployed  people.  In  Italy,  a  tax  credit  scheme  worth  €142 m  from  ESF  has  been  put  in 
place to encourage the employment of disadvantaged people including youth in the Southern 
regions. Cyprus funds wage subsidies and work experience programmes with ESF support. In 
Hungary, the "Start" programme provides a two years social contribution rebate to employers 
recruiting career starters. 

To promote hiring of candidates from other Member States, the Commission launched "Your 
first  EURES  job"  in  2011  with  a  budget  of  €  4m.  Im plementation  in  cooperation  with 
selected EU employment services has started in the first quarter 2012. A second wave with a 
budget of € 3.25m will be launched in Spring 2012  and, most likely, a third one will follow in 
2013. The scheme will directly support around 5 000 young  people to take up vacancies in 
other Member States in 2012-2013. 

…but careful consideration should be given to the modalities of such schemes… 

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Lithuania,  for  example,  considers  replacing  a  social  security  reduction  scheme  for  first 
jobholders  by  wage  subsidies  in  order  to  provide  better  social  protection  to  the  young 
beneficiaries. Romania plans to make the subsidies for hiring young graduates more flexible.  

Adaptations to the legal framework are discussed… 

In Lithuania, a political discussion is under way whether a liberalisation of the Labour Code 
could  improve  access  to  jobs  for  the  young,  whereas  in  Portugal  the  planned  Labour  Code 
reform  is  expected  to  ease  the  labour  market  access  of  young  people.  Labour  market 
segmentation to the disadvantage of young people being trapped in sequences of fixed-term 
contracts and little progression perspectives is on the policy agenda in Spain and Italy. The 
recent labour market reforms in Spain, for example, include the introduction of an unlimited 
contract  with  a  training  component,  which  should  help  to  overcome  the  reluctance  of 
employers to recruit young jobseekers lacking work experience.  

Support to self-employment and business development for young people is increasing… 

Youth  entrepreneurship  is  unlikely  to  be  a  panacea  for  solving  the  youth  unemployment 
problem  but  it  can  be  a  part  of  the  response.  To  maximise  effectiveness  and  efficiency, 
policies  should  target  resources  on  young  people  with  the  best  chance  of  success,  provide 
sufficient  support  to  allow  them  to  start  businesses  and  provide  integrated  packages  of 
complementary support rather than one-shot instruments.  

In Greece, € 240m are programmed with the ESF fo r supporting business start-ups for up to 
12 000 young professionals. In Hungary, a scheme for supporting people aged 18-35 years in 
becoming entrepreneurs will be launched under ESF in 2012, promoting the development of 
entrepreneurial  knowledge  and  skills  and  providing  seed  capital,  as  well  as  counselling  and 
mentoring in order to help business sustainability. In Spain, the recent Labour Market reform 
introduces the so-called "capitalization of unemployment": young people may access 100% of 
the  unemployment  insurance  in  one  instalment  for  becoming  self-employed.  In  Poland,  the 
ESF provides grants and loan schemes for start-ups. 

…but take-up is uneven and an area for further action. 

However, in practice take-up of such schemes is diverse. In Cyprus, a € 6m ERDF scheme 
for  youth  entrepreneurship  is  heavily  oversubscribed,  whereas  in  Lithuania  only  10%  of 
loans  available  in  the  "Entrepreneurship  Promotion  Fund"  have  been  disbursed  so  far.  The 
design  of  such  schemes  is  a  crucial  factor  for  their  success,  and  sometimes  additional 
incentives seem to be necessary to increase take-up. 

With  a  budget  of  budget  € 3m  of  ESF  Techni cal  Assistance  the  Commission  will  focus  on 
setting up support schemes for young business starters and social entrepreneurs. 

Erasmus for entrepreneurs is expected to finance around 600 further exchanges in 2012.  

3.5. 

Youth Guarantees  

Timely support for young people is now recognised to be essential… 

In the Youth on the Move flagship initiative, the Commission encouraged Member States to 
ensure that all young people are in a job, further education or training within four months of 
leaving school, recalling in fact earlier commitments of the European Council in 2006. Upon 

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reiterated  calls  from  the  Commission,  the  informal  European  Council  in  January  2012 
committed to the objective that within a few months of leaving school, young people should 
receive  a  good  quality  offer  of  employment,  continued  education,  an  apprenticeship  or  a 
traineeship.13 

…and there are good examples of youth guarantees in place… 

In  Austria,  a  training  guarantee  for  young  people  until  the  age  of  18  was  put  in  place  in 
2008.  A  job  and  training  guarantee  for  youth  aged  19  to  24  under  the  action  programme 
“Future for Youth” ensures that unemployed young people receive tailor-made skills training 
within the first six months of their registration with the public employment service (PES) or 
are integrated into the labour market using special employment subsidies. Production Schools 
(some  co-funded  by  the  ESF)  aim  at  reintegrating  young  people  having  dropped  out  from 
school  or  apprenticeship  or  with  specific  difficulties  requiring  special  support  into  the 
education and training system. In Denmark, all people aged 16-17 are supposed to draw up a 
personal  career  plan  for  the  period  after  compulsory  education,  with  specialised  local 
authorities providing support to youngsters and their parents.  

…providing inspiration for new initiatives… 

In  Finland,  the  government  is  launching  in  2012  a  social  guarantee  for  young  people, 
whereby each person younger than 25 years and each recent graduate under 30 years of age 
has  to  be  offered  work,  a  traineeship,  or  a  study,  workshop  or  labour  market  rehabilitation 
place within three months of becoming unemployed. The budget envelope is € 60m per year. 

…however most Member States need to step up outreach to young unemployed. 

The  coverage  rate  of  active  labour  market  policies  for  young  people  is  still  low  in  many 
Member  States.  The  need  for  capacity-building  and  increasing  service  provision  for  the 
unemployed  is  reflected  in  the  2011  country-specific  recommendations  to  several  Member 
States as regards the PES. 

In Lithuania for example, only a quarter of the young unemployed benefit from active labour 
market  measures.  In  Bulgaria,  outreach  to  young  unemployed  will  be  improved  by 
facilitating  the  registration  procedure  at  the  PES.  Hungary  continues  the  development  of 
career  information  and  guidance  services  offered  by  PES  as  well  as  by  supporting  career 
services for students in higher education institutions under ESF. In Portugal, there has been a 
recent  reinforcement  of  the  role  of  PES  providing  career  information  and  guidance, 
enhancement of effective early interventions, as well as improvement of the cooperation with 
PES in other countries in order to facilitate international mobility for young people. 

The Commission will present by the end of 2012 a proposal for a Council Recommendation 
on Youth Guarantees and support activation measures targeting young people in the context 
of Youth Guarantee schemes at national, regional or local level.  

13 

Statement of the Members of the European Council of 30 January 2012. 

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4. 

USE OF EUROPEAN FUNDS FOR POLICY IMPLEMENTATION: FIRST LESSONS LEARNT 

Enhancing the delivery of measures tackling youth unemployment with greater use of the ESF 
is  a  cornerstone  of  the  YOI.  During  February  2012  joint  action  teams  of  Commission  and 
national officials met in the eight Member States with the highest youth unemployment rates. 
Equally,  the  Commission  held  bilateral  meetings  with  seven  additional  Member  States  with 
the purpose of exploring for each individual country how uncommitted ESF funding could be 
used  for  specific  activities  tackling  youth  unemployment.  The  possibility  of  shifting  ERDF 
funding  to  the  ESF  was  also  raised.  In  general,  Member  States  expressed  willingness  to 
strengthen their policies to combat youth unemployment and showed openness to consider the 
reorientation of structural funds. 

Some  Member  States  have  demonstrated  adequate  levels  and  pace  of  ESF  absorption.  They 
have  designed  and  are  implementing  appropriate  ESF  interventions  in  order  to  tackle  youth 
unemployment (e.g. Ireland, Lithuania, Portugal). 

In several Member States, a constructive discussion has taken place between the Commission 
and the national authorities on possible orientations for future actions. These exchanges have 
led  to  clear  commitments  from  national  governments  for  a  proactive  management  for  the 
remaining  ESF  period  in  view  of  improving  the  effectiveness  and  targeting  of  existing  or 
planned youth measures supported by the ESF (e.g. Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain). 

For some Member States, there is a need to develop a clear strategy to strengthen measures 
tackling  high  youth  unemployment,  including  re-allocation  of  funding  between  or  within 
Operational Programmes, which should also contribute to a better absorption of the ESF funds 
available (e.g. Slovakia).  

For  some  Member  States,  while  the  ESF  absorption  rate  is  high,  tackling  youth 
unemployment has not been particularly targeted (Latvia). 

5. 

THE WAY FORWARD 

The  Commission  will  continue  to  help  Member  States  fighting  youth  unemployment,  in 
particular  those  where  the  situation  of  young  people  is  most  difficult,  by  implementing  the 
measures  announced  in  the  YOI  and  further  developed  in  the  accompanied  Communication 
Towards a job-rich recovery.  

It  is  now  important  to  keep  the  momentum,  intensify  joint  efforts  among  all  the  different 
actors in the Member States, swiftly proceed with the changes in the use of the EU funds and 
ensure a rapid delivery of actions on the ground.  

The Commission will assess the take-up of actions aimed at tackling youth unemployment in 
the upcoming NRPs and present a number of proposals for country-specific recommendations 
relating to this issue. 

Finally, the Commission will report on the actions taken in follow up to the action teams at 
the European Council meeting in June 2012. 

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