COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Youth Employment Initiative
Date: 2013-03-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic recession, job access, job creation, traineeship, young person, young worker, youth unemployment

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Strasbourg, 12.3.2013  
COM(2013) 144 final 

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

Youth Employment Initiative 

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

Youth Employment Initiative 

Introduction 

The economic crisis is having an exceptionally severe impact on young people: the EU youth 

unemployment rate stood at 23.6 % in January 2013, more than twice as high as the adult rate, 

and  no  signs  of  improvement  are  in  sight.  7.5  million  Europeans  aged  15-24  are  neither  in 

employment nor in education or training.  

The situation is particularly acute in certain Member States and in certain regions. This poses 

a serious threat to social cohesion in the EU and risks having a long-term negative impact on 

economic  potential  and  competitiveness.  EU  institutions  and  governments,  businesses  and 

social partners at all levels need to do all they can to avoid a "lost generation". 

To tackle the unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment, the Commission adopted the 

Youth  Employment  Package  on  5  December  2012.  It  includes  a  proposal  for  a  Council 
Recommendation on Establishing a Youth Guarantee1, launches a second-stage social partner 
consultation  on  a  Quality  Framework  on  Traineeships2,  announces  a  European  Alliance  for 
Apprenticeships and outlines ways to reduce obstacles to mobility for young people.3 

The  EU  structural  funds  have  already  made  an  important  contribution  to  the  on-going  fight 

against  youth  unemployment,  in  particular  through  the  action  teams  established  under  the 
Youth Opportunities Initiative adopted in December 20114.  

The  European  Council  of  7-8  February  2013  recalled  the  considerable  support  already 

provided by the EU. Recognising the particularly difficult situation of young people in certain 

regions,  it  has  proposed  a  Youth  Employment  Initiative  (YEI)  with  a  budget  of  €  6  billion 

over  seven  years  (2014-2020)  and  open  to  all  regions  with  a  level  of  youth  unemployment 

above 25%.  

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COM(2012) 729 final 
COM (2012) 728 final 
COM(2012) 727 final 
COM(2011) 933 final 

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This initiative would be funded within the Cohesion Policy sub-heading by € 3 billion coming 

from targeted investment from the European Social Fund (ESF) and € 3 billion coming from a 

dedicated budget line.  

In order to put in place all conditions necessary  for a  quick implementation of the YEI, the 

Commission sets out hereafter the key parameters it proposes for the YEI and introduces the 

Commission  proposals  for  the  corresponding  amendments  to  the  Common  Provisions 

Regulation (CPR) covering the European Structural and Investment Funds and to the European 

Social Fund Regulation that are currently in discussion between the European Parliament and the 

Council.  

Making the Youth Employment Initiative a reality 

By  reinforcing  and  accelerating  the  delivery  of  activities  supported  by  ESF  funding,  the  YEI 

should support in the eligible regions the implementation of important Commission initiatives, 

namely, the Youth Employment Package and in particular the Recommendation on Establishing 

a Youth Guarantee, politically agreed by the Council on 28 February 2013 which aims to ensure 

that  all  young  people  aged  15-24  not  in  employment, education  or training  (so-called  NEETs) 

receive  a  good-quality  offer  of  employment,  continued  education,  an  apprenticeship  or 

traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.  

The  precise  measures  will  be  agreed  between  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  in  the 

context of the cohesion policy programming process, but all activities supported by the YEI will 

target individual persons who are not in employment, education or training rather than systems 

or  structures.  The  YEI  will  thus  be  complementary  to  operations  undertaken  at  national  level, 

including  those  with  ESF  support,  with  a  view  to  setting  up  or  implementing  the  Youth 

Guarantee schemes. To achieve this complementarity, the implementation of the YEI should be 

fully  integrated  in  ESF  programming  under  the  investment  priority  on  support  to  the 

sustainable integration of young NEETs into the labour market. Where appropriate, Member 

States should be allowed and encouraged as part of the YEI to allocate for dealing with the 

problem  of  youth  unemployment  and  inactivity  more  ESF  resources  than  the  minimum  €  3 

billion ESF effort required as match funding of the specific YEI allocation.  

The investments supported by the YEI should be strongly oriented towards achieving concrete 

results and achieving them quickly. The Commission therefore proposes to frontload the YEI, 

notably  by  not  submitting  it  to  the  performance  reserve  mechanism,  to  achieve  tangible 

impact early on in the implementation. It will also encourage Member States to use the new 

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instrument of Joint Action Plans proposed for the 2014-2020 programming period as a way to 

simplify  implementation  and  focus  on  results.  In  order  to  avoid  that  budgetary  constraints 

become an impediment to a smooth implementation of the YEI, it is proposed that only the 

ESF contribution should be co-financed from national resources. 

The implementation of the YEI should be based on a comprehensive strategy for achieving the 

objectives  of  the  Youth  Employment  Package  and  for  establishing  a  Youth  Guarantee  in  line 

with  the  Council  Recommendation.  As  described  in  the  Council  Recommendation,  Member 

States  will  design  the  scheme  according  to  national,  regional  and  local  circumstances, 

considering issues such as the fact that young people are not a homogenous group, principles of 

mutual  obligation  and  the  need  to  address  the  risk  of  cycles  of  inactivity.  Macroeconomic 

conditionality should apply. When taking into account the economic and social circumstances 

of  the  Member  State  concerned, attention  should  be  paid  to  the  labour  market  situation  and 

prospects of young people. 

At  Member  State  level,  the  YEI  would  be  programmed  within  the  ESF.  Specific  provisions 

for publicity, monitoring progress and evaluating impact as well as financial management and 

reporting  of  the  YEI  will  be  of  particular  importance  to  ensure  that  its  implementation  is 

simple and its contribution can be measured and is visible.  

For  this  purpose,  the  Commission  is  amending  its  proposals  for  the  Common  Provisions 

Regulation and the ESF Regulation. 

Conclusion 

Making the Youth Guarantee a reality requires well-targeted public investments, which the ESF 

can  strongly  support.  The  YEI  should  reinforce  the  necessary  ESF  support  to  human  capital 

investment  as  called  for  by  the  European  Council.  The  Commission  therefore  reiterates  its 

proposal for establishing ESF minimum shares with the aim to ensure that the ESF part in EU 

cohesion policy resources increases from the current 22% to at least 25%.  

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