Campaign update 12
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
- 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
- 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
Euroopalla ei varaa menetettyyn sukupolveen
Photo by SDP Finland
Original article published on Turun Sanomat
Euroopan talouskriisin varjossa kytee vaikutuksiltaan pitkäaikainen sosiaalinen kriisi. Nuorisotyöttömyys on riistäytymässä käsistä. Tilanteen vaikutukset näkyvät pitkälle tulevaisuuteen, jopa seuraavaan sukupolveen asti.
Debatt: Europa har inte råd att förlora en hel generation
Orginal article published on Di
Kampen mot ungdomsarbetslösheten i Europa måste gå från ord till handling. I EU är 5,6 miljoner unga under 25 år arbetslösa – fler än Finlands befolkning. Det skriver Stefan Löfven (S) och Finlands finansminister Jutta Urpilainen.
Finland: Youth guarantee to enter into force early 2013 thanks to Social Democrats
We had already talked about the ongoing actions in Finland to put into practice a youth guarantee.
Now, thanks to the commitment of Finnish Social Democrats, a partner in the governing coalition, we are happy to announce that a youth guarantee will enter into force early 2013.
PES launches the campaign “Your future is my future - A European Youth Guarantee now!”
The Party of European Socialists (PES) today launched its flagship campaign “Your future is my future - A European Youth Guarantee now!”, which aims to tackle the crisis of youth unemployment in Europe. Currently, 5.6 million young Europeans are jobless, more than the entire population of Denmark. This inactivity costs Europe 100 billion euro every year. A European Youth guarantee, as being proposed by the PES could be supported by 10 billion euros from EU structural funds. This funding could help bring 2 million young people out of unemployment by 2014.
The Training Guarantee Model in Finland
The Finnish training guarantee means that each young person completing comprehensive school should have an opportunity for further education.
This guarantee provides equal opportunities for everyone and is a key policy to prevent social exclusion among the youth.
The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has set a goal that no less than 96% of young people who complete basic education continue in a place of further education or receive supplemental education during the same year.
SDP kannustaa pistämään pystyyn työryhmiä
Source: SPD Finland website
SDP on lähestynyt kuntavaikuttajiaan nuorten asialla. Puolue toivoo, että mahdollisimman monessa kunnassa SDP:n poliitikot ottaisivat esille nuorten yhteiskuntatakuuhankkeen.
Työministeri Ihalainen esitti vappuna, että paikallisesti otettaisiin nuorten koulutus- ja työllistämishaaste vastaan ja perustettaisiin laajalla pohjalla jokaiseen kuntaan oma nuorten yhteiskuntatakuuta edistävä työryhmä. Hänen mielestään mukaan olisi hyvä ottaa kaikki asiaan liittyvät tahot, kuten nuoret, koulut, paikalliset työnantajat, työvoimaviranomaiset, paikalliset työmarkkinajärjestöjen edustajat ja kolmannen sektorin toimijat.
The campaign hits the road in Finland
The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is actively promoting the PES campaign "Your future is my future - a European Youth Guarantee"
1. The party has sent a letter to all municipal politicians and activists encouraging them to set up Youth Guarantee working groups at municipal level
2. The SDP group in the municipal council of Pietarsaaren has a already made a motion on a youth guarantee
3. On his 1st May speech Labour Minister, Lauri Ihalainen (SPD), spoke about the project of the youth guarantee in Finland