Brussels, 10/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 10 April, the leader of the S&D Group at the European Parliament, Austria's Hannes Swoboda, said the European Commission should force EU member state governments to take action to tackle youth unemployment.
Quoting several estimates by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on future trends on the job market (see EUROPE 10478), Swoboda said the constant rise in unemployment was not only an economic problem, but also a political problem, particularly when it comes to young people out of work. The ILO says that failing to take action to help traumatised young people find work will lead to a rise in the far right. “The recent findings in France show that young people are disappointed about their economic and social possibilities today. When they are in such a state of mind they have a tendency to vote for far-right parties. It is our task to give them a perspective and fight this trend of extreme voting behaviour”, he said.
He said that the answer was obvious, as can be seen in Austria, which has used special problems to increase the percentage of young people in work. “We can no longer consider this as a national problem but we need to look at it from a European perspective. It is time for the European Commission to react and to come forward with programmes that national governments are forced to adopt”, said Swoboda. (JK/transl.fl)