Brussels, 05/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - Basing itself on the Austrian and Finnish models, the European Commission decided to bring forward a new youth employment package on Wednesday 5 December - a package comprising a series of measures aimed principally at reducing the proportion of young Europeans who cannot find a job. Among the measures set out, the Commission proposes a recommendation for establishing a youth guarantee mechanism, which will be put to the Council of the European Union on Thursday 6 December. The Commission hopes that this will be adopted by 28 February 2013 at the latest.
It is because “youth unemployment has dramatic consequences for our economies, our societies and above all for young people” that the Commission is proposing this mechanism - so that every European who is under 25 can receive an offer of quality employment, continued education and proposals of an apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of being on the labour market, European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion Laszlo Andor stated.
In October 2012, 5.678 million young people under the age of 25 were unemployed in the EU, including 3.609 million in the eurozone. The unemployment rate is thus almost 24% and continues to grow every month - which corresponds today to more than double the average rate among the whole active population. On average, 30.1% of these young unemployed are already so-called long term unemployed - in other words, they have not had a job for over a year. Nonetheless, in some countries the situation today is more exceptional still. In October, 57% of young Greeks were out of work. The rate is similar in Spain (55.9%).
In the Commission's view, this situation is “dramatic”. It reflects the economic crisis but also structural problems. The youth employment package therefore aims to tackle this second area of youth unemployment. Three main structural difficulties have been identified in the member states. The first concerns the increase in youth inactivity and young people's abandonment of studies or work. The youth guarantee should remedy this and the member states should be able to receive support from the European Social Funds to finance it - even if the exact amount available remains to be determined at the negotiations on the next multiannual financial framework.
The transition from school or studies to the world of work constitutes the second difficulty contributing to the rise in youth unemployment. The Commission will soon launch the second part of the consultation with social partners on a quality framework for traineeships and will establish a European alliance for apprenticeships. In its assessment, the Commission considers that the majority of traineeships on offer in the member states are of mediocre quality - “These problems mostly relate to the lack of high quality learning content, low or no remuneration, and poor working conditions other than remuneration/compensation”. Lastly, strong geographical disparity exists in the EU between supply and demand in employment. The Commission plans on reducing obstacles to mobility by further developing the EURES system, which allows job-seekers to work or do a traineeship or training in another member state.
During the youth employment conference that was organised in Brussels on Friday 30 November, Martin Gleitsmann, head of the social affairs department at the Austrian federal chamber of commerce (WKÖ), explained how the Austrian model works - where only 8.5% of under 25 year olds are jobless. Indeed, the Commission has partly based its current approach on this Austrian model. The model “consists of a strong social partnership, dual apprenticeship training and a dynamic, flexible labour market”. The youth guarantee scheme occupies a central position in the model - “Young people who do not find an apprenticeship placement in a training company after finishing compulsory education have a wide range of labour market measures at their disposal, e.g. coaching for youth, wage subsidies, factory schools (preparation for the labour market combined with a first work experience) and many more”.
What does a guarantee like this cost? The Commission bases its estimate on studies conducted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). While the costs for each member state are very complex to establish, the total cost for the eurozone should amount to 0.45% of GDP in the 17 states that share the single currency - in other words about €21 billion. This equates to €6,600 per young person on an annual basis. A high cost, but one which should be considered in relation to what the states spend or lose because one young person in four does not work, the Commission points out. And for the EU this cost amounts to €153 billion per year. (JK/transl.fl)