Brussels, 17/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - Even though the unemployment rate for young Europeans has fallen over the last 12 months, from 23.6% to 22.2% of the active population, this remains far too high and is not dropping quickly enough. This situation should cause the EU to do more, said the European Parliament in a resolution adopted by a large majority on Thursday 17 July.
This resolution looks at the problem of young unemployed people from all angles. It calls for: - minimum common standards, together with a decent salary, training and apprenticeships; - better monitoring by the European Commission of implementation of the youth guarantee in the member states; - an increase in the European budget, which currently stands at €6 billion, for the youth employment initiative; - national measures to tackle early school dropout rates and to promote training and apprenticeships, and global strategies for those not in education, employment or training; - cutting red tape for the self-employed, micro-businesses and SMEs; - adapting education systems to favour skills which are sought after on the employment market, such as those relating to science, technology, engineering and mathematics; - allowing the European social fund and the Erasmus+ programme also to fund projects to promote entrepreneurship. (JK)