Brussels, 17/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission is to provide financial support for the creation, over two years, of 280,000 work placements within the European Union. The initiative, part of the “We Mean Business” campaign which was launched on Tuesday 17 April, will help young people to join the labour market. The “We Mean Business” campaign aims to “combat youth unemployment, which has reached unacceptably high levels in some EU countries”, by raising awareness of the value of international placements “which can improve an individual's language skills as well as helping them to be more self-confident and adaptable”, said Education Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou in a press release.
The campaign has a dedicated website which links young people looking for a placement and firms prepared to offer them the opportunity. It seeks both to promote such opportunities and help turn them into reality. Awareness-raising campaigns will be conducted in the member states to highlight the added value of a work placement abroad, for both the young people, who will improve their employability, and the companies which will be able to identify potentially excellent future employees, with linguistic skills and fresh ideas who could be key to future productivity and competitiveness. The ultimate goal has two intrinsically linked components: to encourage the employment of young people, the unemployment rate for whom is over 20% in the EU, and to encourage mobility in the internal market, fitting employment supply to demand within the Community. The Commission will fund 130,000 placements in 2012 and 150,000 in 2013, through the Leonardo da Vinci (vocational training) and Erasmus (higher education) schemes. More information is available at: http://we-mean-business.europa.eu (JK/transl.rt)