Campaign update n°5

Thanks to your engagement and your action, the campaign for a European Youth Guarantee continues to get more and more visible not only in Europe but also around the world.

• French President François Hollande has endorsed the campaign for a Youth Guarantee in a video statement. He calls for the implementation of such a guarantee at EU level as a way of providing jobs for the youth as well as investing in education and training of young people
  
  
• As a European Youth Guarantee seems more and more likely, the International Labour Organization (ILO) is now calling for a universal Youth Guarantee. Together with the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions, the ILO is promoting an online discussion on "Youth Guarantees in Asia-Pacific: Challenges and Opportunities” that you can join until November 19. The PES has already participated in an online talk show on this issue
  
  
• In Germany the Social Democrats presented in the Bundestag a proposal to put into practice a Youth Guarantee. Conservative and liberals in power, stuck on their austerity-only policy, rejected these progressive proposals, but our campaigners won’t give up and are preparing new actions
  
  
• The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has released a new study on young people not in employment, education or training in the EU. The report points that the costs of having 33% young people without an occupation exceed 15 billion euros a year (with an overall cost of youth unemployment of 153 billion euro) and underlines the urgent need to put into practice concrete measures such as a European Youth Guarantee to reverse the situation
  
  
• Reacting to the Eurofound study, German MEP Jutta Steinruck called on the European Council and the Commission to prioritize long-term thinking in tackling the European youth unemployment and to implement a European Youth Guarantee. Evelyn Regner MEP also suggested that the Austrian flagship policy of a youth guarantee could be used at European level to provide jobs and/or training for young people all over the EU
  
  
• Campaign supporters in Bulgaria organized a debate on youth unemployment in Ruse. Participants shared their views on problems facing young people trying to enter the labour market; PES President Sergei Stanishev outlined how implementing a European Youth Guarantee could help tackling youth unemployment
  
  
• Newly elected leader of Portuguese Socialist Youth pointed to the Youth Guarantee as one of the best ways to bring youth unemployment down – currently 35% of Portuguese young people cannot find a job and are facing a very precarious situation

You too can let us know about your story; tell us how you are contributing to the campaign and join the thousands of campaigners calling for a European Youth Guarantee.
Remember, your support is key to tackle youth unemployment in Europe!

COMING UP

9-10 November
Campaign stand at SDLP Congress Armagh, Northern Ireland

30 November - 2 December
Getting Europe Working: Youth unemployment summit - Notthingham, UK

3 December
Youth employment in Europe – what works?; The Austrian example, Brussels, Belgium