Brussels, 10/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Union is calling for youth policies to be targeted towards employment, social integration, health and the welfare of young people, in a report on youth published on 10 September. This document, which is produced by the European Commission every three years, highlights the need for the EU and its member states to do more to support young people. “I am deeply concerned by the effects of the crisis on young people. Far too many of them are at risk of social exclusion and poverty”, the commissioner with responsibility for education and youth, Androulla Vassiliou, states in a press release, adding: “I am committed to strengthening our policies and programmes in education, training and youth in order to increase their job prospects and opportunities in life”.
In the EU, unemployment among young people aged from 15 to 24 has risen by 50% since the start of the crisis, from 15% on average in February 2008 to 22.5% in July 2012. The highest rates were observed in Greece at 53.8% and in Spain (52.9%). There is, however, a small glimmer of hope: almost all of the Twenty-Seven are applying the European strategy 2010-2018 in favour of youth, which aims to extend and improve the opportunities open to young people and to promote active citizenship, social integration and solidarity. Since the publication of the 2009 report, the member states have stepped up their initiatives in education, employment and entrepreneurship targeting young people, and the involvement of young people in community and social movements has not abated. The next programme proposed by the Commission for education, training and youth over the period 2014-2020, “Erasmus for all”, will be central to the new strategy in favour of youth. It provides for an overall increase in financial resources available to some five million young people, amongst other things to finance their studies, attend training or do voluntary work abroad, reaching nearly twice as many beneficiaries as previously.
This report will be put to the Council in November and if adopted, the new priorities proposed will apply for the period 2013-2015. (IL/transl.fl)