Brussels, 02/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 2 July, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships was launched by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth) and Commissioner László Andor (Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) at the 2013 WorldSkills competition in Leipzig, Germany.
The Alliance will help to fight youth unemployment by improving the quality and supply of apprenticeships across the EU through a broad partnership of key employment and education stakeholders. It also seeks to change attitudes to apprenticeships. It will in particular identify the most successful apprenticeship schemes in the EU and apply appropriate solutions in each member state.
“We need to pull together and act now to ensure that our young people get the skills they need to succeed in their personal and professional lives”, said Commissioner Vassiliou. “Given the unacceptable levels of youth unemployment there is an urgent need for those responsible for education and employment to work together to facilitate the transition of young Europeans from school to the world of work”, added Commissioner Andor.
The Alliance is supported by the first-ever joint declaration by the European Commission, the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers and European-level trade union and employer organisations. The Alliance promotes measures which will be supported by the European Social Fund, the Youth Employment Initiative and Erasmus+. The Commission points out that while apprenticeships are often a trampoline towards permanent employment, which is why apprenticeship is a key element of the Youth Guarantee, proposed by the Commission as part of the Youth Employment Package in December 2012 and adopted by the Council in April last. The Commission project launching a European Alliance for Apprenticeships was announced as part of its “rethinking education” initiative and the “youth employment package”. (IL/trans.fl)