Youth Forum supports Parliament in fight for more funding for Youth Employment Initiative

The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets voted this week to commit an additional €473 Million to the Youth Employment Initiative in the EU’s draft budget for 2016. Even though the youth unemployment problem is as acute as ever, the original Commission proposal does not propose to commit any new funding to help implement the Youth Guarantee after 2015.

The Youth Forum believes that, despite certain challenges in implementation, now is not the time to deprioritise funding for the Youth Guarantee. For the Youth Guarantee to be a successful long-term and sustainable measure towards structurally addressing youth unemployment, additional EU funding is vital.

The Youth Forum’s recently published position paper outlines key areas that Member States must focus on in order to ensure the Youth Guarantee has an impact where it is needed the most. Young people are currently the age group most at risk of poverty and social exclusion – therefore reaching out to young people most alienated from the labour market and society is vital, particularly within the broader aim of achieving the poverty and employment targets of the EU2020. Investing in strengthening Public Employment Services to give them the capacity to ensure such essential outreach is imperative, as is engaging all stakeholders particularly youth organisations in this process.

Furthermore, for the sustainability of the Youth Guarantee, it is crucial that the job or intern/apprentice offers provided to young people are of high quality, that is, offers that ensure their long-term integration into the labour market. In this respect, it is clear that the Youth Guarantee requires structural reforms, such as strengthening education and training systems – and in general, a comprehensive, horizontal approach to youth employment and social inclusion.

The European Parliament’s proposal of an additional €473 million shows a renewed EU-level commitment to tackling youth unemployment. The European Youth Forum strongly supports this proposal, as well as the one for an additional €16.5 million for the EU's COSME programme to foster entrepreneurship. It is now up to Member States to echo this commitment. We urge the Council to support the Parliament’s proposal for continued funding of the Youth Employment Initiative and stand up for making a difference in young people’s lives.