Berlin, 03/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The social partners took part in the working session of the European employment ministers, at the inter-governmental summit on youth unemployment convened by Berlin (see other article). The session was attended by the leaders of associations representing the trade unions (ETUC), the civil service (CEEP), the chambers of commerce (Eurochambres), SMEs (UAEPME) and employers (BusinessEurope), who also wished to discuss the best instruments at national level to promote youth employment.
Emma Marcegalgia, the president of BusinessEurope, said that the youth employment initiative should be implemented as soon as possible and that “removing obstacles to hiring new workers, modernising education and training, improving access to finance for companies and encouraging entrepreneurship are essential to create more jobs for young people”. She also called on employment agencies to focus on both jobseekers and on companies' needs in order to help people find work. Eurochambres asked for measures to be taken as regards demand, and for funding to reach SMEs as well, but as regards supply, it should be channelled through dual education and training systems. These “have the potential to become a recipe for success to fight youth unemployment”, said the honorary president of the association, Christoph Leitl, adding that the chambers of commerce could be a bridge between businesses and states. Lastly, the association calls for supply and demand to be brought closer together by means of better worker mobility, in order to make Europe a single employment market rather than a collection of 28 national markets. (MD/transl.fl)