02/11/2016 (Agence Europe) – Although the European Commission planned only to allocate €2 billion to the Youth Guarantee between 2017-20 (see EUROPE 11628), the Party of European Socialists (PES), would like to earmark 10 times as much. Luxembourg Minister for Employment Nicolas Schmit and Pervenche Berès MEP (S&D, France), made the announcement in their respective roles of President of the Social Democrats at the Council of the EU and the President of the Social Europe network of the PES, in a joint letter addressed to the European Commission. Given that this “guarantee” is a success but that the youth unemployment crisis continues, it would be useful to allocate more funding, they said in their discussions with outgoing Vice-President of the Commission Kristalina Georgieva and Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, according to a PES press release published on Wednesday 2 November. (JK)