11 July

Thanks to you the Youth Guarantee is now on top of the EU agenda!

Thanks to your mobilization and to the tireless action of the Party of European Socialists (PES), PES Women and Young European Socialists, the European Youth Guarantee is now closer than ever to become a reality.

In the last weeks, our joint action was decisive in making sure that EU leaders give a chance to young people all over Europe.

•  During the PES Council on 22 June, party leaders launched an urgent and strong appeal to increase the speed and substance of the European Youth Guarantee (EYG).
  
  
• In the run-up to the European Council of 27-28 June, in the debate on youth unemployment, the progressive family in Europe made sure the Youth Guarantee was at the top of the agenda:
  
  
  • PES Prime Ministers and Deputy Prime Ministers gathered in Brussels on 27 June to give a concerted and substantial push to combat youth unemployment in Europe in advance of the European Council
    
    
  • In Paris, Harlem Désir, First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (PS) and Sigmar Gabriel, Chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) highlighted that youth employment should be Europe’s absolute priority
    
    
  • On the eve of the EU Council, the PS Belgium organized a conference on youth unemployment, gathering the voice of several progressive leaders in a common declaration calling for a youth guarantee to be urgently implemented in Europe. Participants included PS Belgium President Paul Magnette, European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Italian PD Secretary General Guglielmo Epifani, PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, Sp.a Belgium leader Bruno Tobback and S&D Group President Hannes Swoboda
    
    
  • In an article on Financial Times on 24 June, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta clearly stated that the EU should focus on the fight against youth unemployment and strongly endorsed a Youth Guarantee
    
    
  • Swedish Social Democratic Party leader Stefan Löfven and Finnish Finance Minister and SDP leader Jutta Urpilainen published a joint article in the Swedish and Finnish press calling for a European Youth Guarantee
    
    
  • Austrian MEP Evelyn Regner underlined that the EU Council needed to deliver a concrete commitment to the EYG with the corresponding allocation of financial resources
    
    
    
• Thanks to the action of the S&D group in the European Parliament, the fact that the fight against youth unemployment must take priority will be reflected in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework. Not only does the frontloading of earmarked resources means that Europe can start supporting Youth Guarantees immediately and decisively, the flexibility in the budget opens the way for additional funds to be used
  
  
• Following this political pressure, another key event was the PES Social Affairs Ministers’ meeting that took place in Berlin on 3 July.  The Ministers were joined by German Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate for Chancellor, Peer Steinbrück and together they issued a strong call to speed up EU efforts to overcome youth unemployment. 

• In its recent report on “Progress on equality between women and men in 2012”, the European Commission acknowledged that women have been harshly hit by the crisis, especially due to the austerity measures introduced by conservatives. In this sense, PES Women is calling for more gender-sensitive youth policies and a better consideration of the gender dimension in the Youth Guarantee
  

• In its latest publication Youth employment: Making it happen, the PES Group in the Committee of the Regions gathers best practices on youth guarantee schemes from all over Europe. Order the book now
  
  
• In Ireland Minister Joan Burton, Emer Costello MEP and Deputy John Lyons marked the announcement of funding for a year-long pilot Youth Guarantee project in Ballymun. Ballymun was selected as one of the first Youth Guarantee schemes to proceed in the EU following funding approval by the European Commission and the Irish Government.

We are closer and closer to have a Youth Guarantee implemented in Europe but, together, we need to keep the momentum going.

We invite you to join the campaign, organize and join events in your region and spread the word to your family and friends. 

Remember, your support is key to tackle youth unemployment in Europe!

COMING UP

Dublin, Ireland, 12 July, 9:00am
Public seminar on Youth Unemployment and the Youth Guarantee

Gümüldür, Turkey, 14-21 July
YES - Young European Socialists Summer Camp