Brussels, 16/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - It is now the turn of the European Parliament (EP) to support the idea of implementing a “youth guarantee” mechanism in member states. A resolution to this effect was adopted on Wednesday 16 January by MEPs at their plenary session in Strasbourg. The idea is to ensure that every European aged under 25 (or under 30 for graduates) is offered a job, training or internship in the four-month period following their entry onto the labour market. This mechanism will partly be financed out of the European Social Fund.
The initiative is inspired by Austrian and Finnish models and was presented by the European Commission in December last year (see EUROPE 10745). It was warmly received by social partners, apart from BusinessEurope, which is afraid that it will be transformed into a “guarantee of a job”. By targeting this very argument, Pervenche Berès (S&D, France), the author of the resolution, declared during the debate on Monday 14 January that “our aim is not to force job creation but to implement an instrument to provide young people with a chance and to prevent a lost generation being created”. The resolution was adopted by 546 votes to 96, with 28 abstentions and calls for the adoption of a Council recommendation in February 2013. (JK/transl.fl)