17/05/2022 (Agence Europe) – Eight EU Member States - Germany, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia - have pledged a total of around €270 million from the European Social Fund (ESF+) to deploy the ALMA initiative on their territory. This initiative aims to promote the mobility of unemployed young people not in any kind of education or training. Further commitments are expected to follow, the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday 17 May. More than half of the EU countries have signalled their willingness to participate in the initiative for disadvantaged young people aged 18 to 30, which was unveiled by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in September 2021 (see EUROPE 12791/9). (MB)