Brussels, 14/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Paris and Berlin have cooked up the idea that the European Investment Bank (EIB) should be actively involved in combating youth unemployment. The project, whose code name would be “New Deal for Europe” or “Putting Europe to Work”, will be presented at the end of May during a conference in Paris organised by the German-American philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen.
According to the German daily Rheinische Post, the idea is to give the EIB the possibility of raising up to €60 billion, linking funding distributed to business with youth employment, one of the EU's weakest points. This proposal was prepared by Germany's federal labour minister, Ursula von der Leyen, and the French minister for labour, Michel Sapin. By rewarding companies and businesses that employ young people as a priority, the two ministers hope to create a lever effect for “youth guarantee” mechanisms, which the EU is due to help finance with €6 billion as of January 2014. (JK/transl.jl)