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 The Youth Guarantee and Youth Employment Initiative three years on
Date: 2016-10-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU employment policy, EU initiative, education, integration into employment, job access, vocational training, young worker, youth employment, youth unemployment

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Strasbourg, 4.10.2016  COM(2016) 646 final   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 The Youth Guarantee and Youth Employment Initiative three years on {SWD(2016) 323 final} {SWD(2016) 324 final}  
 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Young people are the future of Europe. Our mission is to create the conditions for ensuring 
their optimal development and providing them with the best opportunities to be active on the 
labour market and in society. But young people were also the hardest hit during the crisis and 
according  to  a  recent  Eurobarometer,  half  of  Europe’s  young  people  feel  excluded  and 
marginalised from participating meaningfully in social and economic life.  

As  President  Juncker  said  in  his  2016  State  of  the  Union  speech,  "The  European  Union 
should not only preserve our European way of life but empower those living it. I cannot and 
will  not  accept  that  Europe  is  and  remains  the  continent  of  youth  unemployment".  He  also 
confirmed  his  commitment  to  "continue  to  roll  out  the  Youth  Guarantee  across  Europe, 
improving the skillset of Europeans and reaching out to the regions and young people most in 
need". Youth unemployment must continue to be tackled head-on if we are to fully harness the 
dynamism and potential of Europe’s people, and all instruments available at EU and national 
level must be mobilised fully. This is also the objective of the new Youth Initiative announced 
in the 2016 Letter of Intent addressed to the President of the European Parliament and to the 
President of the Council where existing processes that work are continued and reinforced and 
new instruments are established to address issues not sufficiently covered. This report and its 
conclusions are part of this initiative. 

Since 2013, the Union and its Member States have engaged in an ambitious strategy to reduce 
youth unemployment. Following a proposal from the Commission, all Member States adhered 
to the establishment of a Youth Guarantee, which is a political commitment, in the form of a 
Council  recommendation  of  April  2013,  to  give  every  young  person  a  good-quality  offer  of 
employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four 
months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. The establishment of the Youth 
Guarantee went hand-in-hand with policy guidance and financial support from the EU level, 
notably through the Youth Employment Initiative. 

Three  years  on  from  the  launch  of  the  Youth  Guarantee,  there  are  1.4  million  fewer  young 
unemployed  in  the  EU.  By  2015,  annual  youth  unemployment  rates  had  dropped  by  3.4 
percentage points to 20.3 % and the number of people who are not in employment, education 
or training (NEET) had decreased by 1 percentage point to 12 % on average in the EU. Youth 
unemployment and NEET rates are very uneven across the EU but both rates have decreased 
in  most  Member  States.  During  the  same  period,  unemployment  dropped  faster  for  the 
population of young people than for the adult population, in the EU as a whole as well as in 
many  Member  States.  This  suggests  that  the  structural  reforms  of  labour  market,  education 
and training policies supported by the Youth Guarantee have made a difference. 

The  Youth  Guarantee  has  become  a  reality  across  the  EU.  14  million  young  people  have 
entered  Youth  Guarantee  schemes  since  January  2014.  Around  nine  million  young  people 
took up an offer, the majority of which were offers of employment. Almost two thirds of young 
people  who  left  the  Youth  Guarantee  in  2015  took  up  an  offer  of  employment,  education, 
traineeship  or  apprenticeship.  The  Youth  Guarantee  has  significantly  facilitated  structural 
reforms and innovation in policy design across Member States. It is complemented by other 
initiatives  such  as  the  new  Skills  Agenda  or  the  Alliance  for  Apprenticeship.  Nevertheless, 
youth  unemployment  remains  unacceptably  high  and  many  challenges  still  need  to  be 
addressed  by  Member  States.  Continued  political  commitment  to  the  Youth  Guarantee  as  a 
long-term,  structural  reform  will  be  required  in  order  to  effectively  reap  the  benefits  of  the 
work  carried  out  so  far.  Greater  internal  coordination  and  capacity  building  among  those 

2 

 
involved,  such  as  public  employment  services  and  education  and  training  providers,  will 
consolidate promising partnerships and improve delivery. And finally, much more remains to 
be done to bring hard-to-reach groups and those furthest away from the labour market to the 
Youth Guarantee pathway. 

Significant  EU  financial  support  was  mobilised  in  support  of  this  process.  Over  the  2014-
2020  period,  the  European  Social  Fund  will  directly  invest  at  least  EUR 6.3  billion  —  in 
addition to the Youth Employment Initiative — to support the integration of young people into 
the labour market under the same investment priority. 

In addition, the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), with an initial EUR 6.4 billion financial 
resource, has for the first time ever provided direct targeted support to young NEETs living in 
regions  struggling  with  youth  unemployment  rates  higher  than  25 %.  In  2015,  the 
Commission  decided  to  speed  up  the  implementation  of  the  YEI  by  increasing  the  pre-
financing to Member States by almost EUR 1 billion. Based on the initial results and on the 
assessment of needs until 2020, the Commission has just proposed to prolong the funding of 
the YEI by adding EUR 1 billion from the EU budget, to be matched by the same amount from 
the European Social Funds allocation of the eligible Member States. 

1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Youth  is  high  on  the  EU’s  political  agenda.  EU  youth  policy  places  particular  emphasis  on 
increasing social inclusion of all young people, greater participation in democratic and civic 
life, and an easier transition to adulthood, in particular the integration into the world of work.1 

In  2013,  in  the  midst  of  a  crisis  that  had  a  severe  impact  on  young  people’s  employment, 
Member States committed to a comprehensive approach to tackle youth unemployment as a 
particular and immediate objective. 

The Youth Guarantee was therefore established to provide all young people under the age of 
25  with  a  good-quality  offer  of  employment,  continued  education,  or  an  apprenticeship  or 
traineeship  within  four  months  of  becoming  unemployed  or  leaving  formal  education.2  By 
improving  school-to-work  transitions  and  investing  in  young  people’s  employability,  the 
Youth Guarantee aimed also to prevent a loss of growth potential due to de-skilling, loss of 
social cohesion and exits from the labour market that would risk taking a heavy toll on 
Europe's economy, especially at a time of rapid ageing. 

Several EU initiatives were also taken alongside the Youth Guarantee. The European Alliance 
for Apprenticeships was launched in 2013 to improve the quality, the supply and the image of 
apprenticeships  in  Europe.  The  Council  Recommendation  on  a  Quality  Framework  for 
Traineeships was adopted in March 2014. The 2015 European Pact for Youth builds on these 
initiatives by promoting quality business-education partnerships. 

Three  years  on  from  the  launch  of  the  Youth  Guarantee,  there  are  1.4  million  fewer  young 
unemployed people in the EU and the number of young people not in employment, education 

1 European Commission (2015), EU Youth Report 2015, Publications Office of the EU, Luxembourg. 
2  2013/C 120/01 of 22 April 2013. 

3 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
or  training  (NEETs)  has  dropped  significantly,  although  with  unequal  results  between 
Member States.  

Figure 1 provides a snapshot of the very diverse youth unemployment rates in the EU in early 
2016  and  highlights  which  Member  States  have  seen  the  biggest  reduction  in  youth 
unemployment  since  2013.  Young  people’s  labour  market  performance  has  surpassed  other 
age groups since 2013. Even though there could be other factors to take into account, such as 
a greater cyclical sensitivity of young people to macroeconomic conditions, structural reforms 
of labour market, education and training policies – supported by the Youth Guarantee – have 
been contributing factors to this result.  

Figure 
and changes from 2013-2016 

Youth 

1: 

unemployment 

rates 

in 

the 

EU 

in 

2016  

The  Youth  Guarantee  has  become  a  reality  across  the  EU.  Swift  implementation  took 
place from 2014 onwards. Since then, more than 14 million young people have entered Youth 
Guarantee schemes, and an average of nearly two million young people were registered at any 
one  point  in  time.3  Around  nine  million  young  people  took  up  an  offer  of  employment, 
education, traineeship or apprenticeship under the Youth Guarantee.  

3  Please note that these figures are based on data collected under the Youth Guarantee indicator framework and 
estimations  for  2016.  Detailed  data  are  presented  in  the  accompanying  Staff  Working  Document  on  the 
implementation on the Youth Guarantee and operation of the YEI (SWD (2016) 323). 

4 

 
 
 
 
                                                 
A  large  number  of  labour  market  reforms 
targeting  young  people  were  adopted  in  most 
Member  States  in  2013-2015.  The  Youth 
Guarantee  helped  not  only  to  scale  up  both 
demand-  and  supply-side  measures  for  young 
people  but  also  acted  as  a  powerful  policy 
driver  for  reform.  In  doing  so,  it  significantly 
facilitated  structural  reforms  and  innovation  in 
policy  design,  promoting  investment  in  human 
capital 
across 
Member  States.  It  also  helped  to  increase  partnerships  between  the  world  of  work  and 
education.  Despite  these  positive  developments,  renewed  efforts  are  needed  to  support  the 
young  people  who  are  furthest  away  from  the  labour  market,  i.e.  the  NEETs  who  have 
benefited the least from these improvements. 

and  upward 

convergence 

Significant EU financial support was mobilised in support of the Youth Guarantee through 
the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). The YEI was 
launched  in  2013  with  EUR 6.4 billion  of  financial resource  to  provide  —  for  the  first  time 
ever — direct and targeted support to young people not in employment, education or training 
residing  in  regions  with  youth  unemployment  rates  higher  than  25 %.  This  Commission 
decided  to  speed  up the  implementation  of the YEI  by  providing  increased  pre-financing to 
Member  States  of  almost  EUR 1 billion  in  2015.  Based  on    initial  results  and  on  the 
assessment of needs until 2020, the Commission has now proposed to prolong the funding of 
the  YEI  by  adding  EUR  1  billion  from  the  EU  budget,  to  be  matched  by  the  same  amount 
from  the  ESF  allocation  of  the  eligible  Member  States.  Over  the  2014-2020  programming 
period,  the ESF  will  — in  addition to  the YEI  — directly invest at least  EUR 6.3 billion to 
support the integration of young people into the labour market across Europe. 

Since 2013, the European Investment Bank provides a two-pillar programme entitled 'Skills 
and  Jobs  –  Investing  for  Youth'.4  The  'Investing  in  Skills'  pillar  supports  investments  in 
human  capital  (e.g.  job-related  skills  and  on-the-job-training,  as  well  as  vocational  training, 
student  loans  and  mobility  programmes).  During  2013-2015,  the  EIB  signed  almost  EUR  7 
billion via this pillar. In addition, the 'Jobs for Youth' pillar provides access to finance linked 
to the employment of young people in SMEs. Between July 2013 and December 2015, over 
EUR 26 billion was allocated to beneficiary SMEs.  

In 2013, EU Heads of State or Government called on the Commission to ‘report in 2016 on 
the  implementation  of  the  ‘Youth  Guarantee’  and  on  the  operation  of  the  YEI’.5  
This  Communication  is  the  Commission's  response  to  that  call  and  also  reflects  messages 
from  the  Council,6  the  European  Parliament7,  social  partners  and  key  stakeholders.  
It  reviews  the  steps  taken  in  Member  States  and  at  EU  level  to  implement  the  Youth 
Guarantee and the YEI. 

4 For more information: http://www.eib.org/projects/priorities/investing-for-youth/index.htm?lang=en  
5  EUCO 104/2/13. 
6 In March 2016, the Council noted that the Youth Guarantee has ‘acted as a powerful policy driver in a number 
of cases’ and that ‘in order to reap the benefit of the work carried out so far, continued political commitment to 
the Youth Guarantee as a long-term, structural reform is essential’. Council of the European Union, 6154/16. 
7 The European Parliament urged ‘the Member States to implement fully the Youth Guarantee’. 2015/2351(INI). 

5 

 
                                                 
The Communication assesses the first results and identifies challenges, bearing in mind that in 
certain  Member  States,  it  has  taken  more  time  for  getting  the  necessary  processes  and 
structures in place to implement fully Youth Guarantee measures.8 

2.  THE  YOUTH  GUARANTEE  AND  THE  YOUTH  EMPLOYMENT 

INITIATIVE:  

THREE YEARS ON 

2.1. 

Swift policy implementation across Europe 

National Youth Guarantee schemes have taken shape… 

The Youth Guarantee is a structural reform that has been rapidly implemented across 
the  EU  thanks  to  an  unprecedented  combination  of  high  political  momentum,  significant 
financial resources through the YEI and the ESF, and robust monitoring mechanisms at EU 
level. 

All  Member  States  defined  their  strategic  approach  through  specific  Youth  Guarantee 
Implementation Plans.9 They included both short-term measures that provided an immediate 
response to the high levels of youth unemployment and inactivity,10 and a vision for longer-
term  structural  reforms  to  improve  school-to-work  transitions.  Implementation  started  in 
2014, with key measures being rolled out progressively. 

Key features of the Youth Guarantee11 

The  Youth  Guarantee  ensures  that  all  young people  under  the  age of  25  receive  a 
good-quality  offer  of  employment,  continued  education,  an  apprenticeship  or  a 
traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. 

The  Youth  Guarantee  covers  all  young  people  not  in  employment,  education  or 
training  (NEETs).  NEETs  are,  however,  a  heterogeneous  group  and  can  be  further 
subdivided into two broad categories: unemployed NEETs are actively looking for work; 
inactive NEETs are not looking for a job. Inactivity can result from a variety of factors, 
including family responsibilities and health issues but also discouragement and a lack of 
incentive to register as unemployed.12 

The  coordination  of  national  Youth  Guarantee  schemes  falls  in  most  cases  upon  the 
ministry in charge of labour, while public employment services generally act as the main 
entry point. Alternative providers (including chambers of commerce, industry and crafts, 
youth  centres,  education  institutions  and  providers  and  municipalities)  are  involved  in 
about one third of Member States, and young people can register through specific online 
Youth Guarantee platforms in three Member States. 

While a majority of Member States target young people under the age of 25 as set out in 
the Council Recommendation, 13 Member States have extended coverage to target those 
under the age of 30. In most Member States, the time limit for delivering an offer is set at 
four months, in line with the Council Recommendation. 

8  For more detail see the accompanying  staff working document (SWD (2016) 323. 
9 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1161&langId=en. 
10 A person is  economically  inactive if he or she is not part of the labour force. So inactive young people are 
neither employed nor unemployed, meaning that they are not working and not available or looking for work 
either. . 

11 Country-specific information can be found in the country fiches annexed to the Staff Working Document. 
12 Eurofound (2016), Exploring the diversity of NEETs, Publications Office of the EU, Luxembourg. 

6 

 
 
                                                 
Typical examples of Youth Guarantee offers include: 

1.  open labour market employment (subsidised or not), self-employment supported 

through start-up and dedicated subsidies; 

2.  education opportunities including job-related training, reinsertion into the regular 
education  system,  bridging  courses  supporting  this  reinsertion,  second  chance 
education; 

3.  apprenticeships; and 

4.  traineeships. 

…contributing to a significant drop in youth unemployment and NEET rates, combined with 
greater convergence… 

Young  people’s  labour  market  performance  has  improved  significantly  since  2013, 
which  was  a  tipping  point  in  the  reversal  of  key  indicators  (see  Figure  2  below).  By  2015, 
annual youth unemployment rates had dropped by 3.4 percentage points to 20.3 % and NEET 
rates had decreased by one percentage point to 12 % on average in the EU. Since the reversal 
of  youth  labour  market  trends  in  2014,  both  youth  unemployment  and  NEET  rates  have 
decreased in most EU Member States. However, NEET trends for some Member States with 
the highest rates in 2013, in particular Italy and Romania, have seen little change. Overall the 
reduction  in  the  NEET  rate  at  the  EU  level  appears  to  have  been  due  to  both  transitions 
towards further education or towards employment, with differences across Member States. 

Figure 2: Employment rate, unemployment ratio, NEET, early leavers from 
education and training and unemployment rate in the EU, 2008-2015 

The  Youth  Guarantee  has  helped  boost  labour  market  demand  for  young  people  and 
has supported job creation measures. In implementing the Youth Guarantee, most Member 
States have used recruitment subsidies, in many of them with support from EU funding. The 
effectiveness  of  such  schemes  has  also  improved  thanks  to  a  greater  focus  on  targeting, 
training, and follow-up of young people supported by recruitment subsidies. 

7 

 
 
 
 
…leading to significant policy reforms and innovation in policy design… 

The  Youth  Guarantee  has  acted  as  a  powerful  policy  driver,  complementing  the  use  of 
macroeconomic  instruments  and  other  policies  to  encourage  youth  employment.  Many 
Member States already had in place an array of relevant youth employment policies prior to 
the adoption of the Recommendation. However, the Youth Guarantee shifts the focus to early 
intervention and non-registered NEETs13 thus affecting policy design and delivery. Moreover, 
by requiring services and programmes to be brought together and delivered within a specific 
timeframe  and  through  systematic  partnerships  the  Youth  Guarantee  has  been  a  driver  for 
change in many Member States. In 2013-2015, Member States adopted a total of 132 labour 
market  reforms  targeting  young  people,  highlighting  a  strong  focus  on  youth  employment 
policies.14 

Member States can be divided into three groups 
according  to  the  degree  to  which  the  Youth 
Guarantee  has  acted  as  a  driver  for  reform. 
This  grouping  takes  into  account  the  different 
starting points in terms of institutional context and 
macroeconomic  conditions  of  Member  States  at 
the time the Recommendation was adopted.15 

-  Group  A  (accelerated  reform):  the  Youth 
Guarantee has provided a new impetus and has 
accelerated  policy  developments  in  a  number 
of  Member  States,  especially  in  those  facing  major  challenges  and  receiving  significant 
EU financial support (BE, BG, FR, HR, HU, IT, LT, LV, PL, PT, SI), though stages of 
implementation might differ. 

-  Group  B  (reinforced  policy  framework):  the  Youth  Guarantee  has  helped  to  reinforce 
well-established  policies  through  the  scaling-up  or  adjustment  of  existing  measures  in 
Member  States  that  already  had  comprehensive  instruments  in  place  that  are  broadly  in 
line with the Recommendation (AT, DE, DK, EE, FI, IE, LU, MT, NL, SE, UK). 

-  Group  C  (to  date,  reform  is  more  limited):  changes  were  more  limited  as  a  result  of  a 
variety of factors including a lower prioritisation, delays or discontinuity in key measures, 
or a focus on pre-existing schemes (CY, CZ, EL, ES, RO, SK). 

Country-specific  data  on  achievements  to  date,  key  measures,  remaining  challenges  and, 
where  relevant,  YEI  implementation  are  presented  in  the  Staff  Working  Document 
accompanying this Communication.16 

The  Youth  Guarantee  has  helped  to  break  down  silos  across  policy  areas  and  build 
viable  partnerships.  Coordination  among  the  employment,  education  and  youth  policy 

13 In the context of the Youth Guarantee, the term "registered NEET" refers to young people not in employment, 
education  or  training  who  are  registered  with  a  Youth  Guarantee  provider  (typically  a  national  or  regional 
PES) 

14 Source: European Commission, LABREF database. 
15 The clustering is based in particular on the number of youth-related measures in 2013-2015 as highlighted in 
the LABREF database. The outcomes were then reviewed in light of a more qualitative analysis focusing in 
particular on the state of implementation of the Youth Guarantee and the scope of measures (based on EMCO, 
European Commission country reports, European Employment Policy Observatory national expert analysis). 
16  Additional  country-by-country  information  can  be  found  on  the  European  Commission  website, 

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1161&langId=en 

8 

 
 
                                                 
sectors  has  been  heightened,  most  notably  as  a  result  of  the  impetus  created  by  Member 
States’  Youth  Guarantee  Implementation  Plans.  New  partnerships  were  set  up  with  social 
partners and youth services, including youth organisations. In particular, youth organisations 
have been involved in the design and delivery of national Youth Guarantee schemes, although 
to varying degrees across Member States. 

Significant  apprenticeship  and  traineeship  reforms  have  helped  better  prepare  young 
people  for  labour  market  needs  and  build  relevant  skills,  but  have  also  helped  strengthen 
business  community  engagement.  Half  of  the  Member  States  have  undertaken  —  or  report 
plans  to  undertake  —  legal  changes  to  align  their  national  framework  with  the  Quality 
Framework for Traineeships following its adoption in 2014.17 Nearly all Member States have 
taken action to improve the quality, supply, or attractiveness of apprenticeships, in the spirit 
of  the  European  Alliance  for  Apprenticeships  launched  in  July  2013.  Engagement  from  the 
business  community  was  crucial  and  led  to  new  commitments,  for  example  under  the 
European Pact for Youth (see Section 3.3). 

The  majority  of  public  employment  services  have  improved  the  targeting  of  their 
services and have expanded their existing service offer to young people; two-thirds of public 
employment services established specific targets for their youth-oriented services.18 Particular 
emphasis  has  been  placed  on  reorganising  structures  and  increasing  the  personalisation  of 
counselling. Staff capacity has also been reinforced, with  specific training provided by over 
half of public employment services in 2014. In addition, Member States have  broadened the 
scope  of  support  through  short  study  or  work  placements,  and  pathway  approaches  towards 
the hardest to reach. 

The emphasis on early intervention and non-registered NEETs highlighted existing gaps 
in service delivery and ensured a new focus on outreach. Most Member States encouraged 
young  people  to  register  with  Youth  Guarantee  providers  and  two-thirds  of  public 
employment  services  engaged  in  outreach  work  when  implementing  the  Youth  Guarantee. 
Increasing awareness, accessibility and the range of services was instrumental in this regard, 
through  the  development  not  only  of  online  registration  and  targeted  campaigns  but  also  of 
one-stop-shops, mobile or decentralised services and proactive work with a broader range of 
partners.  While  results are  becoming  visible  on  the  ground,  Youth  Guarantee  schemes  have 
not yet reached all young people who have become unemployed or left school. 

Examples of policy measures or reforms under national Youth Guarantee schemes 

In  Belgium,  the  Brussels  region  launched  in  May  2013  the  ‘Transition  Traineeship’ 
targeting  young  job  seekers  and  students  with  low  educational  attainment.  It  focuses 
particularly on coaching and follow-up. Twelve months after the end of the traineeships, 
total positive outputs (including employment and return to education) reached 73 % for 
the trainees, against 47 % in a control group. 

In Bulgaria, a network of youth mediators was put in place in 2015 to reach out to non-
registered NEETs in their direct environment and activate them. Youth mediators act as 
intermediaries  with  public institutions  that  provide  social,  health,  educational  and  other 
services. During the period May-December 2015, youth mediators consulted 5 078 young 
people. 

In 2015, Finland launched  one-stop-shops in 35 municipalities, funded mainly through 

17 Council Recommendation of 10 March 2014 on a Quality Framework for Traineeships (2014/C 88/01). 
18 European Network of PES, Report on PES implementation of the Youth Guarantee, 2015. 

9 

 
 
                                                 
the ESF, with additional national funding. They aim to strengthen and simplify services 
for young people below the age of 30 through personal advice and guidance, support in 
life management, career planning, social skills, and education and employment support. 

In  Italy,  the  Youth  Guarantee  prompted  changes  that  were  reflected  in  the  broader 
reforms  initiated  by  the  Jobs  Act.  The  number  of  young  people  registered  with  the 
scheme has been increasing steadily to reach more than one million by 1 March 2016. 

In Latvia, the ‘Know and Do’ project supports outreach work at the municipal level. It 
aims  to  identify,  motivate  and  activate  non-registered  NEETs  aged  15-29  to  return  to 
education, employment or training. Initiated in autumn 2015 with support from the ESF, 
it aims to support 5 260 young people. 

In Slovenia, the First Challenge 2015 programme aims to support up to 2 859 young people 
aged 15-29 getting into work through subsidised employment for a period of 15 months, 
with support from the YEI and the ESF. 

The  apprenticeship  system  in  Spain  has  undergone  significant  structural  reforms, 
leading  to  an  increase  in  the  number  of  apprentices  from  4 000  to  15 000  in  just  three 
years  (between  2013  and  2016).  During  the  same  period,  the  number  of  enterprises 
participating in apprenticeship training grew from barely 500 to 5 660.  

… and progress in the provision of offers… 

14  million  young  people  have  entered  Youth  Guarantee  schemes  since  January  2014. 
Around nine million young people took up an offer, the majority of which were offers of 
employment.19 Overall almost two thirds of young people who left the Youth Guarantee in 
2015 did so by taking up an offer of employment, education, traineeship or apprenticeship. Of 
all the offers made within the four-month period, the majority were for employment (70.2 %), 
followed by education (13.6 %), traineeships (12.1 %) and apprenticeships (4.1 %) (Figure 3). 

Figure 3: Distribution of positive and timely exits by type of offer, 2015 (%) 

Source: European Commission, Youth Guarantee monitoring20 

19 Take-up of an offer occurs when a young person actually starts an offer that they have previously received and 

accepted — i.e. starts employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship. 

20 Results reflect the state of Youth Guarantee implementation and other data-related issues and therefore data 

comparability across countries is limited. 

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Youth Guarantee success factors 
Three  years  into  its implementation,  the  following  factors  are  central to  the  successful 
delivery of Youth Guarantee schemes: 
- 
-  outreach strategies bringing more young people into the Youth Guarantee scheme; 
- 

a  single  point  of  contact  helping  to  provide  tailor-made  services  specific  to  the 
person’s needs; 

strong institutional backing and internal coordination; 

-  breaking  down  barriers  between  education  and  the  labour  market  in  a  partnership 

approach; 

-  modern vocational education and training systems providing the skills needed on the 

labour market; and 
strong employer involvement. 

- 

…although  more  remains  to  be  done  to  ensure  that  all  young  people  are  supported  by  the 
Youth Guarantee 

Despite these positive developments, more effort is needed to support those young people 
who are furthest away from the labour market, i.e. the NEETs who have traditionally been 
hardest  to  reach  out  to  (even  before  the  crisis)  and  have  benefited  the  least  from 
improvements to date. This is the case in particular for those facing poverty, social exclusion, 
disability  and  discrimination,  including  those  belonging  to  an  ethnic  minority  or  with  a 
migrant background, asylum-seekers and refugees. The drop in NEET rates results primarily 
from reductions in the level of NEETs seeking employment, rather than inactive NEETs, who 
are detached from the labour market. In 2013, the proportion of NEETs seeking employment 
in  the  EU  exceeded  that  of  inactive  NEETs,  while  in  2015  the  two  categories  reached  the 
same  level.  This  suggests  that  policies  might  have  been  quicker  in  supporting  unemployed 
NEETs but take longer to effectively bring inactive NEETs back into employment, education 
or training. Falls in the rate of inactive NEETs can however be seen in some Member States, 
for example in Cyprus, Hungary and Portugal. 

2.2. 

Signs of impact of structural changes supported by the Youth Guarantee 

Examining  the  impact  of  the  implementation  of  the  Youth  Guarantee  in  terms  of  labour 
market  outcomes  for  young  people  requires  an  analysis  of  the  youth  labour  market  state  of 
play prior to implementation of the Youth Guarantee, and how the youth labour market has 
changed since 2013 when the first signs of economic recovery emerged.21 

Notwithstanding  that  the  results  must  be  viewed  with  caution,  as  the  comparatively  better 
performance  of  these  indicators  may  also  in  part  be  attributed  to  the  greater  cyclical 
sensitivity  of  young  people  to  macroeconomic  conditions,  the  results  of  the  analysis  do 
suggest  that  structural  improvements  supported  by  the  Youth  Guarantee  have  been  a 
contributing  factor.  Although  unemployment  in  the  adult  population  dropped  during  the 
period,  it  did  so  comparatively  more  for  the  population  of  young  people  than  for  the  adult 
population, in the EU as a whole as well as in many Member States. Positive results can in 

21 The analysis is based on the findings presented in greater detail in a technical paper, European Commission 
(2016) 'Analysis of the performance of Youth Guarantee in the EU Member States 2013-2015' (publication 
forthcoming). 

11 

 
 
                                                 
particular  be  observed  in  Belgium,  Croatia,  Cyprus,  the  Czech  Republic,  Finland,  Greece, 
Hungary, Ireland,  Latvia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and 
the UK. 

The  European  Semester  process  shows  sustained  progress  in  almost  all  Member  States  that 
received  youth  country  specific  recommendations  in  2013  and  2014  as  mentioned  in  2015 
EMCO review conclusions and 2016 Commission Country Reports. 

Moreover,  the  added-value  generated  by  the  Youth  Guarantee  has  been  acknowledged  in 
many external reports and evaluations that are listed in the Annex. 

2.3. YEI financial support: a lever for change 

In most Member States, the successful implementation of the Youth Guarantee has been 
supported  by  the  mobilisation  of  EU  funds  on  all  aspects  of  national  Youth  Guarantee 
schemes and related structural reforms. Jointly, the YEI and the ESF are directly investing at 
least  EUR 12.7 billion  in  labour  market  integration  measures  for  young  people  for  the 
programming period 2014-2020. 

Key features of the Youth Employment Initiative)22 

The YEI, a EUR 6.4 billion Union financial resource, is directly supporting young people 
not in employment, education or training in the regions with youth unemployment rates 
higher  than  25 %  in  2012.  It  complements  the  ESF  which  supports  both  people  and 
structural reforms of key systems and services. 

The 20 YEI-eligible countries are: BE, BG, CY, CZ, EL, ES, FR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LV, 
LT, PL, PT, RO, SI, SK, SE, UK. 

To  help  speed  up  the  mobilisation  of  YEI-funded  actions  on  the  ground,  all  YEI 
resources were committed in the EU budget to the first two years (2014/15) of the 2014-
2020 financial cycle. Several of the main beneficiary Member States called for increased 
financial liquidity to facilitate swift launching of YEI actions on the ground. This led to 
an  amendment  of  the  ESF  Regulation23and  to  the  Commission  releasing  around 
EUR 1 billion to Member States in 2015 in the form of additional pre-financing. 

YEI is a key funding source for the Youth Guarantee… 

Across  the  20  eligible  Member  States,  the  YEI  constitutes  a  key  mechanism  to 
implement the Youth Guarantee. In some cases, it is used to support most or all measures 
under Youth Guarantee schemes. In Spain, for example, 80 % of all Youth Guarantee actions 
are funded through the YEI. In other Member States, it is an additional funding source used to 
complement others. 

Member  States  use  the  YEI  to  support  key  actions  related  to  the  Youth  Guarantee. 
There is a strong focus on providing a first job experience, traineeships, apprenticeships and 
quality  education  and  training.  In  addition,  more  than  half  of  all  eligible  Member  States 
support  young  entrepreneurs  or  offer  job  and  training  mobility  measures.  In  some  Member 

22 Country specific information can be found in the Annex B of the accompanying Staff Working Document . 
23 Regulation (EU) No 1304/2013. 

12 

 
 
 
                                                 
States24 the YEI is supporting financial instruments providing loans and guarantees to young 
people to become self-employed and set up their own business. 

The YEI is well focused, being targeted at specific regions  and groups of young people 
(e.g.  those  young  people  outside  both  the  labour  market  and  the  education  and  training 
systems).  Specific  result  indicators  act  as  an  additional  driver  of  quality  of  actions,  and 
strengthen  the  result  orientation  of  YEI  interventions  as  compared  with  other  actions 
supported  with  EU  funds.  Furthermore,  national  evaluations  in  several  Member  States 
highlight the fact that the YEI has led to a much stronger focus on individualised assistance. 

…  and  implementation  on  the  ground  has  started  to  soar  both  in  coverage  and  financial 
implementation… 
To date, YEI actions have supported over 1.4 million young people25. Although reporting 
on successful outcomes is only possible upon completion of the intervention,  many national 
evaluations26  already  show  that  young  people  who  have  completed a  YEI  intervention  have 
significantly improved chances of finding employment or continuing their studies afterwards 
(e.g.  CY,  EL,  FR,  IT,  LV,  PL,  SE).  Importantly,  managing  authorities  also  express  a  high 
degree  of  confidence  regarding  the  achievement  of  the  YEI  objectives.  Moreover,  in  some 
Member  States  measures  are  in  higher-than-expected  demand  due  to  the  increased  interest 
among young people. 

The deployment of measures under the YEI is now on track in most Member States. YEI 
implementation significantly progressed in the second half of 2015 and especially in 2016. By 
end  of  July  2016  eligible  Member  States  had  selected  operations  amounting  to  over  EUR 4 
billion, that are either already under way or which are expected to be launched shortly. This 
constitutes  an  increase  of  nearly  EUR  2  billion  since  March  2016.  Half  of  these  Member 
States, have committed almost the entirety of their YEI budget. Moreover, also by the end of 
July  2016, beneficiaries had claimed  EUR 800 million for reimbursement by YEI managing 
authorities.  Regarding  the  reimbursement  of  expenditure  to  Member  States  by  the 
Commission, by the end of August 2016, Member States had requested the reimbursement of 
EUR 682 million of YEI expenditure. Over 70% of these requests for payment have already 
been  reimbursed  by  the  Commission  (and  further  payments  are  in  the  process  of  being 
reimbursed). With the YEI structures set up, implementation is gaining pace in most Member 
States. The priority now is to pursue, and where necessary, accelerate the implementation of 
YEI actions.  

…despite initial delays in implementation… 

Despite 
its  frontloading  to  the  first  two  years  of  the  programming  period,  
in  its  initial  phase  YEI  implementation  did  not  meet  the  political  expectation  that 
measures  would  be  launched  quickly.  This  was  largely  due  to  Member  States’  lack  of 
preparedness 
launch  relevant  youth 
employment measures, and the lengthy process of setting 
up  implementation  systems  responding  to  the  new 
requirements. 

to  design  and 

24 EUR 64.6 million in Italy and EUR 23.5 million in Bulgaria. 
25 Information from the ESF Managing Authorities collected ad hoc by the Commission in July 2016. 
26 The first YEI national evaluations were submitted by Member States at the end of 2015, in accordance with 
the regulatory framework. A second national evaluation is required from Member States by the end of 2018. 

13 

 
 
                                                 
The  new  obligations  stemming  from  the  framework  of  the  European  Structural  and 
Investment Funds (ESI Funds), that apply equally to the YEI, were an important factor in the 
initial slow start. In particular, Member States experienced delays in completing the set-up of 
monitoring systems  and programme management  structures (defined in the legal  framework 
as  ‘designation  of  authorities’).  However,  the  ‘designation  of  authorities’  process  has  now 
been completed for most of the YEI-supported operational programmes. 

Member States are funding youth employment measures with money available from both the 
2007-2013 and 2014-2020 programming cycles. Their parallel implementation led to capacity 
challenges  as  regards  processing  the  verification  of  expenditure  and  its  certification  to  the 
Commission. 

the  additional 
Consequently,  several  Member  States  were  not  able 
EUR 930 million  YEI  pre-financing  provided  in  201527.  However,  they  are  still  using  the 
money  available  within  the  2007-2013  programming  period.  The  high  number  of  young 
people already covered by YEI measures also demonstrates that the roll-out of operations on 
the ground has not been significantly hampered. In any case, over half of the Member States 
consider  that  the  30 %  increased  pre-financing  paid  in  2015  has  had  a  positive  impact.  It 
enabled  managing  authorities  to  commit  more  funds  to  existing  projects  and/or  to  launch  a 
higher number of new projects.28 

into 

tap 

to 

…while ESF funds complement the YEI and serve to support structural measures 

In the 2014-2020 programming period, the ESF will — in addition to the YEI — directly 
invest  at  least  EUR 6.3 billion  to  support  the  integration  of  young  people  into  the  labour 
market.  

Moreover, for the 2014-2020 period Member States have allocated around EUR 27 billion to 
tackling early school-leaving, lifelong learning, vocational education and training. Similarly, 
young people are one of the main target groups of the ESF investment in entrepreneurship and 
self-employment, which amounts to over EUR 2 billion.  

Further  to  that,  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  will  be  available  to  support 
education  and  training  infrastructure  development,  entrepreneurship  and  business  start-up 
measures  for  young  people,  on  the  basis  of  needs  and  opportunities  as  set  out  in  national 
and/or regional Operational Programmes29.  

Finally,  the  structural  reforms  of  Member  States'  public  employment  services  necessary  for 
the  successful  implementation  of  the  Youth  Guarantee  are also  financially  supported  by  the 
ESF,  both  in  YEI  and  non-YEI-eligible  Member  States.  In  the  2014-2020  programming 
period this amounts to around EUR 1 billion.   

The  above  ESF  investments  constitute  important  complementary  funding  that  is  crucial  to 
implement the Youth Guarantee in all 28 Member States and thus beyond the 20 YEI-eligible 
countries. 

27 In accordance with Regulation (EU) 779/2015, OJ L 126/1 of  21.05.2015 

28 European Commission (2016), "First Results of the Youth Employment Initiative" 
29 

per  Member 

State/region 

on 

for  ERDF 

Information 
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/ 

programmes 

is 

available 

at: 

14 

 
 
 
                                                 
…but needs remain high and require more funding supporting young people's entry into the 
labour market 

A  number  of  EU  regions  still  have  a  need  for  support  under  the  YEI.  Applying  the  latest 
annual youth unemployment data (2015) to determine YEI-eligible regions shows that 14 of 
the current 20 eligible Member States would today still qualify for YEI support. In addition, 
the Member States with the highest numbers of unemployed young people at regional level (at 
40-50 %) remain the same. Several Member States (in particular Italy, Portugal, and France) 
have pointed out that they consider the continuation of the YEI as essential in order to achieve 
the ambitious policy goals they have set for themselves in addressing youth unemployment, 
and that they have already used all YEI resources available to them. 

Accordingly, given the persistently high levels of youth unemployment in many regions and 
the encouraging first results shown, the Commission has proposed to supplement the original 
allocation  of  the  YEI  by  EUR  1  billion  over  2017  –  2020  (with  another  EUR  1  billion  of 
matching  funding  to  be  provided  from  the  European  Social  Fund),  to  thus  reach  a  total 
amount of EUR 8,4 billion since the launch of the initiative30. In addition, as announced in the 
technical adjustment of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 201731, the Commission has 
also  engaged  in  discussions  with  Member  States  who  benefit  the  most  of  the  adjustment  of 
cohesion  policy  envelopes  with  a  view  to  focusing  the  additional  amounts  inter  alia  on 
measures to address youth unemployment. 

3.  MOBILISING A RANGE OF EU LEVEL INSTRUMENTS TO SUPPORT MEMBER STATES AND 

MONITOR PROGRESS 

3.1.  High political momentum and EU policy support 

Instruments at EU level have improved the capacity to deliver Youth Guarantee schemes… 

High  political  momentum,  coupled  with  EU  policy  support  and  mutual  learning 
mechanisms, helped Member States to put in place the right institutional framework and 
to  learn  from  each  other’s  experience.  Heads  of  State  or  Government  reasserted  their 
commitments  in  this  field  during  three  dedicated  gatherings  in  Berlin,  Paris,  and  Milan  in 
2013-2014.  These  Youth  Employment  Conferences  helped  to  cement  a  shared  sense  of 
responsibility  and  exchange  Europe-wide  experiences  and  ideas  on  how  to  stimulate  the 
creation  of  jobs  for  youth  and  ensure  that  the  younger  generation  is  better  equipped  and 
qualified to face the future. In June 2013, social partners negotiated a Framework of Actions 
on Youth Employment and have undertaken a range of actions in this context.32 

The  European  Employment  Strategy’s  Mutual  Learning  Programme  improved  transnational 
learning  though  a  series  of  peer  reviews.33  A  network  of  national  Youth  Guarantee 
coordinators serves to facilitate a continuous exchange.34 The Youth Guarantee has also been 

30  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  Mid-term 

review/revision of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 (COM(2016) 603) 

31 Technical Adjustment of the financial framework for 2017 in line with movements in GNI and adjustment of 
cohesion policy envelopes, adopted pursuant to Articles 6 and 7 of Council Regulation No 1311/2013 laying 
down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020, COM(2016) 311, 30.6.2016. 

32 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=521&langId=en&agreementId=5314  
33 Preventing early school leaving and smoothing the transition from education to employment were also high on 

the mutual learning agenda in the policy fields of education and youth. 

34 http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=11490&langId=en. 

15 

 
 
 
                                                 
a  priority  on  the  agenda  of  the  European  network  of  public  employment  services,35 
contributing to building their capacity to provide tailored services to young people. 

Dedicated  policy  tools  provided  useful  support  to  Member 
States to address specific challenges. The Commission launched 
a Youth Guarantee webpage,36 organised a working seminar on the 
design  and  implementation  of  Youth  Guarantee  schemes  and  a 
high-level conference, and provided a dedicated advice service on 
setting  up  apprenticeship  and  traineeship  schemes  in  2013  and 
2014.  Since  2015,  a  joint  Commission-ILO  project  provides 
tailored  support  on  enhancing  national  capabilities  to  assess  and 
deliver Youth Guarantee schemes. At the request of the European 
Parliament,  the  Commission  also  directly  managed  18  Youth 
Guarantee  pilot  projects  in  seven Member  States  in  2013.37 
Furthermore,  in  2015,  the  Commission  provided  an  outreach  and 
awareness-raising toolkit to encourage young people to register with their local providers and 
piloted it in four Member States. Up to  nine additional Member States will be supported in 
their outreach activities in 2016-2017. 

… while also assisting Member States in launching YEI-funded interventions on the ground. 

As soon as the legal framework on programming arrangements for the YEI was adopted, the 
Commission drew up a dedicated guidance paper on the YEI’s implementation and produced 
detailed guidance on monitoring and evaluation of YEI interventions. 

Two  dedicated  technical  seminars  on  YEI  were  organised  with  the  managing  authorities  in 
2014 and 2016, helping to speed up the designation of authorities involved in the management 
of  YEI-supported  programmes.  YEI  monitoring  and  evaluation  arrangements  have  been 
regularly  discussed  with  the  managing  authorities  in  the  framework  of  the  ESF  Committee 
and ESF Technical working group and the ESF Evaluation Partnership meetings. 

3.2.  A  strong  monitoring  framework:  keeping  track  of  progress  and 

supporting continuous improvement 

A comprehensive monitoring framework at EU level has helped Member States monitor 
the  implementation  of  the  Youth  Guarantee.  This  keeps  the  issue  high  on  the  political 
agenda and helps to constantly improve national schemes. 

The  European  Semester  has  been  pivotal  in  addressing  structural  challenges  related  to  the 
Youth Guarantee’s implementation  at the highest level.  Progress is  assessed annually in  the 
Commission’s  country  reports  and  through  multilateral  surveillance  reviews  of  the 
Employment  Committee (EMCO). Country-specific recommendations  on improving school-
to-work transitions increased markedly in 2014, when a majority of Member States received a 
youth-specific  recommendation.  In  2015  and  2016,  fewer  youth-specific  recommendations 
were  issued.  This  was  due  to  decreases  in  youth  unemployment  and  to  Member  States’ 
progress in addressing recommended reforms, reflecting the Semester’s streamlining (see the 
SWD  for  an  overview  of  youth  country-specific  recommendations  and  progress  in 
implementation). 

35  http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1100&langId=en.  In  particular,  the  network  undertakes  an  annual 

monitoring of public employment services’ implementation of the Youth Guarantee. 

36  http://ec.europa.eu/social/youthguarantee. 
37 http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1099&langId=en. 

16 

 
 
                                                 
An  ambitious  indicator  framework  for  monitoring  the  Youth  Guarantee38  was  developed  by 
EMCO  with  support  from  the  Commission.  Results  from  two  rounds  of  data  collection,  for 
2014 and 2015, are presented in this Communication. 

The above responds to the recommendation of the European Court of Auditors on setting up a 
comprehensive monitoring system. 

Employment Ministers represented in the March 2016 Employment, Social Policy, Health and 
Consumer  Affairs  Council  endorsed  the  EMCO  ‘Key  messages  on  the  way  forward  for  the 
Youth Guarantee post-2016’. They underlined the positive results, while calling for continued 
political commitment to tackle challenges related to partnerships, reaching out to NEETs, and 
monitoring.39 

Regarding the monitoring of the effectiveness and efficiency of YEI, the applicable regulatory 
framework contains a set of specific result indicators for the YEI which makes it more results-
oriented.  The  entire  YEI  set-up  and  targeting  of  interventions  to  specific  regions  worst 
affected by youth unemployment and relevant target groups residing in these regions is indeed 
a novelty compared with ESF operations. In addition, the YEI-specific result indicators make 
it  possible  to  trace  directly  the  link  between  funding  support  and  results  and  outcomes 
achieved for the target group. 

3.3.  Targeted initiatives enhancing the provision of quality offers 

Efforts to boost the provision of apprenticeships and traineeships, youth entrepreneurship and 
mobility have helped to increase the number of Youth Guarantee offers and could be further 
improved. Since its launch in 2013, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships has mobilised 
31  national  governments  and  120  stakeholders  to  improve  the  quality,  supply  and  image  of 
apprenticeships,  mobilising  altogether  250 000  training  and  job  opportunities.  The  2014 
Quality  Framework  for  Traineeships  has  become  an  important  reference  in  its  field.  The 
European Pact for Youth was launched in November 2015 jointly with CSR Europe. It aims 
to  create  10 000  quality  business-education  partnerships  and  provide  100 000  new,  good-
quality apprenticeships, traineeships, or entry-level jobs  over  the next two years. Support to 
entrepreneurship is provided to young people as Youth Guarantee interventions by the public 
employment  services  in  a  majority  of  Member  States,  in  several  cases  as  part  of  distinct 
programmes or projects. 

‘Your  first  EURES  job’  has  provided  targeted  support  for  employment  and  training  in  a 
European  context  and  could  be  further  strengthened  in  view  of  supporting  youth  mobility. 
Between 2011 and 2014, the scheme supported 4 251 job placements with an overall budget 
of around EUR 12 million. 

To complement the existing short term (3 weeks on average) scheme, a pilot project has been 
recently  launched  to  test  longer  term  mobility  of  apprentices  (from  6  to  12  months)  across 
Member States with the view of establishing later a permanent scheme drawing on the lessons 
learned. 

38 Employment Committee, Indicator framework for monitoring the Youth Guarantee, INDIC/10/12052015/EN-

rev. 

39 Key messages on the way forward for the Youth Guarantee post-2016, incorporating EMCO’s report on the 

state of play of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, ST 6154 2016 INIT. 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                 
The European Alliance for Apprenticeships 

The  European  Alliance  for  Apprenticeships  is  a  multi-stakeholder  initiative  (involving 
Member States, social partners, chambers, companies, vocational education and training 
providers, professional bodies, youth organisations and regions) that aims to strengthen 
the quality, the supply and the image of apprenticeships in Europe. Increased mobility for 
apprentices is also emerging as an important topic. 

The  Commission  provides  financial  support  through  specific  calls  for  proposals  under 
Erasmus+ and through other means. The Alliance has developed an Action Plan for 2016 
covering 12 key actions to be implemented during the year. 

The Quality Framework for Traineeships 

The Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships was adopted in 
March 2014. It has been instrumental in supporting the provision of quality traineeships 
under the Youth Guarantee. 

It  aims  to  enhance  the  quality  of  traineeships (both  in  the open  market  and  with  active 
labour  market  policies)  through  22  quality  elements  that  are  directly  transferable  to 
national  legislation  or  social  partner  agreements.  They  relate  in  particular  to  learning 
content, working conditions, and transparency regarding financial conditions and hiring 
practices. 

A  detailed  overview  of  steps  taken  by  Member  States  in  implementing  the  Quality 
Framework  for  Traineeships  is  presented  in  a  specific  Staff  Working  Document 
accompanying this Communication.  

3.4.  Youth Guarantee on the international agenda 

The Youth Guarantee has received much attention at international level as part of a new, 
EU-wide  approach  to  tackle  high  levels  of  youth  unemployment  —  a  shared  concern  with 
other regions of the world. Labour and employment ministers of both the G20 and the Asia-
Europe  Meeting  acknowledged  the  Youth  Guarantee  as  a  major  structural  reform  for 
systematic school-to-work-transitions. The ILO and OECD showcased experiences from early 
Youth Guarantee implementation with a view to sharing lessons learnt with non-EU countries. 
Furthermore,  the  implementation  of  the  Youth  Guarantee  across  the  EU  is  expected  to 
contribute to the first-time quantitative target on youth employment taken at G20 level, i.e. to 
reduce the proportion of young people who are most at risk of being permanently left behind 
in the labour market by 15 % by 2025 in G20 countries. 

Further  impetus  at  global  level  came  with  the  adoption  in  2015  of  the  2030  Agenda  for 
Sustainable  Development,  with  its  17  Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDG).  SDG  8  aims 
specifically at promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent 
work  for  all,  and  includes  a  target  to  substantially  reduce  the  proportion  of  youth  not  in 
employment,  education  or  training  by  2020,  while  aiming  to  achieve  full  and  productive 
employment and decent work for all, including for young people by 2030.  

The Youth Guarantee can play an important part in the EU's approach towards reaching these 
targets. 

18 

 
 
 
 
 
4.  ACCELERATING AND BROADENING THE YOUTH GUARANTEE: DRAWING LESSONS FROM 

THE FIRST YEARS OF IMPLEMENTATION 

4.1.  Ensuring full and sustainable implementation 

Continued  political  commitment  and  financial  support  for  the  Youth  Guarantee  as  a 
long-term, structural reform is essential in order to reap the benefits of the work carried 
out so far. Full-scale implementation is still recent in a number of Member States, as many 
measures have required substantial reforms and broad partnerships: upscaling of initiatives to 
ensure full coverage should be speeded up in order for the Youth Guarantee to reach its full 
potential.  Stepping  up  implementation  will  also  involve  pursuing  monitoring  efforts, 
streamlining existing data collection processes, overcoming technical obstacles and improving 
the quality of data collected under the common indicator framework. 

4.2.  Better engaging with non-registered NEETs and the low-skilled 

The Youth Guarantee must benefit all young people and all young people must benefit 
from  the  first  signs  of  recovery.  Yet,  despite  significant  efforts  by  Member  States  to 
improve outreach, young people in the most  vulnerable situations,  including  the  low-skilled 
and non-registered NEETs, are under-represented among beneficiaries. 

Addressing this challenge will not only require a more efficient outreach approach, but also a 
broadening of the range of interventions proposed within the four types of Youth Guarantee 
offers. While the four-month time limit is essential to ensure swift activation, young people 
facing multiple barriers often need complex, lengthy and individualised interventions before 
being  able  to  take  up  an  offer.  Broadening  the  set  of  continued  education  offers  to  include 
pathway approaches and intensified support delivered by a range of partners is necessary to 
better address their needs. 

4.3. 

Strengthening capacity and improving the quality of offers 

Greater  internal  coordination  and  capacity  building  will  consolidate  promising 
partnerships  and  improve  delivery.  Implementing  the  Youth  Guarantee  has  strengthened 
cooperation  among  public  institutions,  and  with  stakeholders.  However,  its  wide  scope  also 
exposed pre-existing gaps. The process is driven primarily by labour ministries, with a weaker 
involvement  of  education  and/or  youth  authorities.  Besides,  the  capacity  of  partners,  and  in 
particular  public  employment  services,  has  faced  challenges  in  view  of  the  large  range  of 
tasks to be undertaken. 

Strengthening  cooperation  between  education  providers  and  employers  remains  key  to 
expanding  the  pool  of  good-quality  offers  for  young  people.  Although  Member  States  have 
sought to secure employer engagement, their involvement in practice has been rather limited 
so  far.  This  results  primarily  from  challenging  macroeconomic  conditions  as  well  as  from 
difficulties  in  matching  labour  demand  and  supply,  weak  involvement  in  the  design  and 
delivery  of  schemes,  and  limited  structured  cooperation  with  public  employment  services. 
Greater employer involvement would also improve anticipation of future skills shortages. 

Introducing  better  mechanisms  to  ensure  that  young  people  receive  offers  of  high 
quality is essential. Challenges relate to the short duration of offers and the fact that offers of 
continued education do not always ensure that a learning outcome has been achieved (e.g. a 
minimum level of basic skills) or lead to a recognised qualification. Other challenges relate to 
the  lack  of  regulation  of  traineeships  offers  in  the  open  market  as  regards  transparency  of 

19 

 
 
 
hiring, duration and recognition. While variations in the quality of offers depend primarily on 
the national labour market, they also result from whether and how ‘good-quality’ offers have 
been defined and provided in practice. For instance, where a good-quality offer is directly or 
indirectly  defined,  it  generally  addresses  sustainability  of  the  outcome40  and  the  personal 
satisfaction  of  the  young  person.  Only  a  few  Member  States  have  set  up  minimum  quality 
criteria, including for the purpose of monitoring the Youth Guarantee. 

The Commission, together with the ILO, is working on the identification of the main elements 
that  constitute  a  quality  offer  under  the  Youth  Guarantee.  This  is  part  of  the  Commission 
response  to  the  Court  of  Auditors  recommendation  to  promote  a  set  quality  attributes  for 
Youth Guarantee offers. Moreover, the Commission will explore the possibility of discussing 
standards  for  quality  criteria  in  the  context  of  the  work  on  Youth  Guarantee  monitoring  in 
EMCO. 

5.  NEXT  STEPS:  ANCHORING  THE  YOUTH  GUARANTEE  AND  MOBILISING  FULLY  YOUTH 

EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE RESOURCES 

Europe's  prosperity  and  way  of  life  are  based  upon  its  greatest  asset:  its  people.  
The  European  Commission  has  taken  action  to  put  jobs,  growth,  investment  and  social 
fairness  at  the  core  of  the  agenda  of  the  European  Union  and  has  made  the  fight  against 
unemployment, in particular youth unemployment, a top priority.  

Despite  recent  improvements,  youth  unemployment  and  inactivity  are  still  above  pre-crisis 
levels and call for continued efforts. The Youth Guarantee has opened up the path for a more 
effective support to young people in their transition between education and the labour market.  

Priority  should  now  be  placed  on  pursuing  the  full  roll-out  of  the  national  Youth 
Guarantee  Schemes,  by  accelerating  and  broadening  their  implementation,  while 
addressing  challenges  that  have  emerged  and  building  more  effective  interventions 
underpinned  by  the  YEI  and  the  ESF.  This  Communication  contributes  to  this  process  by 
demonstrating  the  main  success  factors  and  identifying  areas  where  further  action  is 
necessary.  The  Commission  will  further  support  mutual  learning  and  the  exchange  of  best 
practices among Member States.  

Member  States  will  continue  to  use  YEI  support  until  2018  provided  there  is  still  funding 
from  2014-2015  available.  In  order  to  allow  for  the  continuation  of  the  YEI,  as  part  of  the 
review of the Multiannual Financial framework 2014-202041, the Commission  has  proposed 
to  supplement  the  original  allocation  of  the  YEI  by  EUR 1 billion  over  2017-2020.  This 
amount is to be matched by an equal contribution from the European Social Fund. Ensuring 
sufficient additional EU funding resources for youth employment as from 2017 remains a top 
priority for the Commission. 

As  identified  in  the  2016  Letter  of  Intent,  the  Commission  intends  to  step  up  its  efforts  in 
support of youth more generally, and the Youth Guarantee instruments should play their full 
role as part of a broader set of youth initiatives.  

40 An outcome-based approach considers that, in general, an offer is of good quality if the person who benefits 
from  it  achieves  sustainable  labour  market  attachment.  That  is  to  say,  the  beneficiary  does  not  return  to 
unemployment or inactivity thereafter; a ‘good quality’ offer can thus be measured by its outcome. 

41  Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  on  the  Mid-term 

review/revision of the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020 (COM(2016) 603) 

20 

 
 
                                                 
For instance, the establishment of a European Solidarity Corps was announced by President 
Juncker during his State of the Union speech on 14 September 2016. The Corps will be rooted 
in  the  core  EU  values  of  engagement  and  solidarity  and  will  offer  socially-minded  young 
people  under  30,  benefitting  from  the  Youth  Guarantee  or  not,  the  opportunity  to  help  and 
support  others  and  acquire  new  skills  and  experience,  either  in  their  home  country  or  in 
another Member State.  

As regards apprenticeships, the implementation of a pilot project for the longer term mobility 
of  apprentices  will  provide  the  necessary  knowledge  and  experience  to  design  a  more 
permanent scheme in the near future. Moreover, the development of a quality framework for 
apprenticeships  would  complement 
the  existing  strategy  which  aims  at  valorising 
apprenticeships and making them more attractive for young people and companies alike. 

This policy agenda for young people, notably the principle of active support for  sustainable 
labour market integration and the commitment to upgrade their skills and qualifications, is an 
important  part  of  the  Commission's  broader  efforts  to  promote  upward  convergence,  within 
and  between  Member  States.  This  is  also  the  rationale  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social 
Rights, which is currently the subject of a broad consultation, and which the Commission will 
present next year. 

21 

 
 
 
Annex – External reports and evaluations of the Youth Guarantee. 

-  Eurofound (2015), 'Beyond the Youth Guarantee. Lessons learned in the first year of 

implementation', Background document prepared by Eurofound as a contribution to the 
informal EPSCO meeting, 16-17 July 2015, Luxembourg 

-  European Commission (2015), Piloting Youth Guarantee Partnerships on the Ground. A 
Report on the European Parliament Preparatory Action (EPPA) on the Youth Guarantee 
-  European Network of Public Employment Services (2014), Catalogue of PES measures 

for the implementation of the Youth Guarantee 

-  European Network of Public Employment Services (2015), Report on PES practices for 

the outreach and activation of NEETs 

-  European Network of Public Employment Services (2015), Report on PES 

implementation of the Youth Guarantee, July 2015, 

-  European Network of Public Employment Services (2016), Report on PES 
implementation of the Youth Guarantee, September 2016 (forthcoming) 

-  European Policy Centre (2015), One year after the youth guarantee: policy fatigue or signs 

of action?, Claire Dhéret and Martina Morosi; Policy Brief 27, May 2015 

-  European Policy Centre (2016), Towards a europeanisation of youth employment 

Policies? A comparative analysis of regional Youth Guarantee policy designs, by Claire 
Dhéret and Julie Roden, Issue Paper, No. 81, September 2016 

-  European Youth Forum (2014) Youth Organisations and the Youth Guarantee in Europe, 

- 

Strategic Dialogue with civil society 
ILO (2015), The Youth Guarantee programme in Europe: Features, implementation and 
challenges 

-  OECD (2014), The local implementation of Youth Guarantees: Emerging lessons from 

European Experiences 

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