Promoting youth access to the labour market, strengthening trainee, internship and apprenticeship status

Youth unemployment is one of Europe’s most pressing problems.

The rate of unemployment amongst young people in Europe has risen to unprecedented levels, with one in five young adults aged under 25 jobless.

In the hardest-hit Member States like Greece or Spain, around half of all young people do not have work.

Unless this problem is solved, a whole generation risks being excluded from the labour market, and regional inequality will continue to increase.

The Greens have long been forcefully advocating EU measures designed to address youth unemployment within the Union.

It was also our group that initiated the report on this issue, because we believe that young people must have access to decent jobs.

We fear that the mass youth unemployment we see today will continue burdening our societies with heavy social, economic and political costs.

Not only will it mean less tax revenue and higher social security pay-outs, it will also jeopardise social cohesion and democratic culture.

The Greens succeeded in inducing a European institution to call for a 'youth guarantee' for the first time.

Our text calls for a European youth guarantee scheme that secures every young person in the EU the right to be offered a job, an apprenticeship, additional training or combined work and training after a maximum period of 4 months’ unemployment.

It also sets out a European Quality Charter on Internships that imposes minimum standards on internships.

Parliament also called for an expansion of the European Social Fund and demanded that at least 10% of its resources be earmarked for projects aimed at helping young people.

It was agreed that a permanent EU youth taskforce will be set up to monitor and support youth employment.