Change in attitude needed towards vocational education
Labour’s MEP for Dublin, Emer Costello, has called for ‘parity of esteem’ for vocational education to encourage young people follow career paths that will lead to employment. She has also called on the European Commission to publish their proposals for Quality Framework for Traineeships agreed at European level to ensure that young people acquire high-quality work experience under safe conditions and to guard against exploitation. Ms Costello was speaking at a conference on the delivery of a "European Youth Guarantee" in Swords on October 11th.
Dublin MEP calls for €50million for unemployed youth in Dublin
Labour MEP Emer Costello, has said that €40 to €50 million of the €150 million expected to be ring-fenced for the Youth Guarantee in Ireland should be poured into communities around Dublin where youth unemployment is worst.
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.
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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
Announcement of pilot Youth Guarantee project in Ballymun, Dublin
This afternoon Minister Joan Burton, Emer Costello MEP and Deputy John Lyons were in Ballymun to mark 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 Government.
How to guarantee a brighter future for young people? A Public Seminar
YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE EUROPEAN YOUTH GUARANTEE
How to guarantee a brighter future for young people?
FRIDAY, 12 JULY, 9.15am-1pm
LIBERTY HALL, DUBLIN 1
Youth unemployment is the biggest single challenge facing Europe. The European Union is providing €6 billion to help combat youth unemployment in Ireland and across Europe.
These funds will be spent to implement Youth Guarantee programmes in areas with high rates (above 25%) of youth unemployment.
These programmes are intended to offer a young person quality employment, training, an apprenticeship or further education within four months of finishing their education or becoming unemployed.
Most of these European funds will be spent in 2014 and 2015. The Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has now brokered agreement on a European-wide framework for the Youth Guarantee.
The next six months are therefore crucial for the design of Ireland's Youth Guarantee programmes.
This public event is intended to enable young people and organisations working on their behalf outline how they believe the Youth Guarantee should be implemented in Ireland so that it will make a real impact on our youth employment crisis and to guarantee a brighter future for young people.
Participants (see agenda below) will include representatives of youth organisations, local partnership groups, unemployed groups, and Government and European bodies involved in preparing Youth Guarantee programmes.
As places are limited, if you would like to attend this public seminar, please register by contacting me at [email protected] or 01.8746109 before 5.00pm on Wednesday, 10 July.
AGENDA
9.15am Registration (refreshments provided)
9.45am Welcome and introduction
Emer Costello MEP, Leader, Irish Delegation, Socialists and Democrats Group, Member EP Committee on Employment & Social Affairs.
10-11.15am Tackling youth unemployment through the Youth Guarantee
Lidia Salvatore, Eurofound
David Treacy, City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee
Mary Murphy, NUI Maynooth,
Lorraine Mulligan, SIPTU Trade Union
11.15-11.30 Coffee break
11.30-12.45 Ensuring the effective implementation of the Youth Guarantee
Ita Mangan, Chair of the Advisory Group on Tax and Social Welfare
Brid O’Brien, Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed
James Doorley, National Youth Council of Ireland
Mick Creedon, Ballymun Job Centre
12.45 Closing Remarks
Emer Costello MEP.
Lyons stresses need for decision on Ballymun pilot Youth Guarantee
Speaking to European Commissioner Lászlo Andor at a meeting today in Dublin Castle on Youth Unemployment – An EU Challenge - Deputy John Lyons has stressed the urgent need for a decision on the Ballymun pilot Youth Guarantee scheme.
“Last October, an application for European Commission funding was submitted for Ballymun to be a year-long pilot Youth Guarantee scheme. Should the application be approved, it would guarantee any young person in Ballymun under 25 who now finds themselves out of work or education for 4 months, a training or education placement.
€6bn Youth Guarantee may be extended to include 25-29 year olds
Dublin MEP, Emer Costello, has welcomed the European Parliament's proposal to extend the scope European Youth Guarantee, to include thousands more unemployed young people.
“The Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has recommended that those eligible for the Youth Guarantee be extended from those under 25 years of age, to those under 30 years of age, which would qualify thousands more Irish people for the scheme.
Irish Presidency should prioritise the adoption of €6b EU Youth Guarantee by June
Dublin Labour MEP Emer Costello has urged the Irish Presidency to prioritise the adoption of the EU draft regulation*, published earlier, to establish a €6 billion 'Youth Employment Initiative' before the end of its term of office on 30 June.
Speaking from this week's European Parliament Plenary Session in Strasbourg, Emer Costello MEP, a member of the European Parliament's Employment Committee said: "The Government has rightly made youth unemployment a key priority of Ireland's EU presidency and has already made good progress on this front, especially in brokering agreement on the European Youth Guarantee in late February. I would now urge it to prioritise the adoption of the new proposal to establish a European Youth Employment Initiative before the end of its term of office in June.
The Minister for Social Protection in Ireland, Joan Burton T.D., has today (February 28th) brokered agreement on an EU-wide Youth Guarantee
Once implemented, the Guarantee will assure young people under the age of 25 a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed.
“Youth unemployment has reached crisis levels in Europe and today’s agreement is a crucial step in tackling the crisis,” Minister Burton said.
Costello welcomes agreement on European Youth Guarantee
Dublin Labour MEP, Emer Costello, has welcomed this morning's decision by EU Social Affairs Ministers to establish Youth Guarantee schemes, to be backed up by dedicated EU funds, in Ireland and all Member States.