WIREDGOV

European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion László Andor said, "I am delighted that all 28 Member States are meeting to discuss how best to deliver concrete results for their young people. Through learning from each other and with Commission support, Member States have the tools to finalise their Youth Guarantee implementation plans and ensure that no young person is left without hope or opportunity. I look forward to receiving the final Member State plans, so that implementation of the Youth Guarantee can begin immediately."

The Youth Guarantee aims to tackle youth unemployment by ensuring that every young person under 25 receives a good quality offer of a job, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed. Every EU country has endorsed the principle of the Youth Guarantee, and must now submit a Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan setting out how the scheme will function in practice and be financed.

In particular, each Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan should set out

• the roles of public education and employment authorities , youth organisations, employees and employers' representatives

• the structural reforms and other initiatives which will be launched in order to set up the Youth Guarantee

• how the Youth Guarantee will be financed, in particular through the support of the Youth Employment initiative and the European Social Fund (ESF)

• a timetable for implementation and monitoring progress.

The European Social Fund, which will be worth more than €10 billion every year from 2014-2020, can help EU countries to set up Youth Guarantee schemes. Those Member States with regions of youth unemployment above 25% are eligible for additional EU funding through the €6 billion Youth Employment Initiative (which could be scaled up to €8 billion later).

Member States eligible for this additional funding must submit Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans before the end of this year. Other Member States have until mid-2014 to submit their plans. Three Member States (the Czech Republic, Croatia and Poland) have already submitted first draft implementation plans.

Background

Following the adoption of the Youth Guarantee Recommendation by the Council in April (MEMO/13/152) and a summer of intense political activity on youth employment issues, Member States must now prepare for implementation. This must begin with a dedicated and transparent planning process, which will also ensure optimal implementation of the Youth Employment Initiative. Following the Commission Communication "Call to Action on Youth Unemployment" (IP/13/558) and the related European Council conclusions, Member States with regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25% should submit a Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan by December 2013 and in 2014 for the other Member States

The interactive event in La Hulpe will examine the building blocks of a Youth Guarantee Scheme, through facilitated discussion, practical examples and exchanges of best practices. Participants will be able to learn from other Member States' experiences and progress in drafting and improving their respective Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan. National Youth Guarantee coordinators, who will lead on the development of the Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, will attend, as will representatives of the European Social Fund Managing Authorities.

For more information

EBS coverage of the event: 

http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I082736

Video stockshot on the Youth Guarantee: 
http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?sitelang=en&ref=I077033

News item on DG Employment website:
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1981&furtherNews=yes

Youth employment: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1036

László Andor's website

Follow @László AndorEU on Twitter

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