Plans for “youth guarantee” schemes to ensure that no young person in the EU is without a job for more than four months won strong support in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on Tuesday. MEPs voted a resolution calling on EU employment ministers to agree in February 2013 to a Council recommendation that all member states introduce these schemes.

A youth guarantee is not a job guarantee, underlines the resolution drafted by Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR), but an instrument ensuring that all young EU citizens and legal residents up to  25 years old and recent graduates under 30, receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education or apprenticeship, after four months of unemployment. Parliament had already twice called for such schemes.

EU funding

Youth Guarantee schemes should be eligible for EU funding -e.g. from the European Social Fund, especially in the member states with the highest youth unemployment rates, say MEPs.

Involving local authorities

To be effective, these schemes need to be implemented in close cooperation with local and regional authorities, adds the committee.

In the Chair: Pervenche Berès (S&D, FR)