Original article

Da quando la crisi finanziaria americana si è trasformata in crisi creditizia e infine in crisi del debito europeo, l’intera Unione Europea ha affrontato una pesante recessione economica che si è dopo poco tradotta – prevedibilmente – in crisi occupazionale. La disoccupazione è aumentata quasi ovunque e ha raggiunto livelli preoccupanti nel sud Europa, a causa delle peggiori condizioni di partenza. Solo di recente però si è iniziato a parlare di una nuova emergenza, la disoccupazione giovanile. Complici allarmanti dati diffusi dagli istituti statistici, oltre all’oggettiva difficoltà di trovare lavoro, i governi europei, i partiti politici, la stessa Unione si sono messi in moto per affrontare la disoccupazione dei più giovani.

The PES report on youth unemployment has now been translated by our campaigners into Italian.
A big thank you to the translators!

Download the report

 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

Original article

Le cifre parlano di una dramma sociale in essere: i giovani ‘under 25′ disoccupati, nei 28 paesi Ue, sono arrivati a ben sei milioni di unita’, portando la media europea ad uno su quattro, con punte di sei su dieci in Grecia, uno su due in Spagna e quattro su dieci in Italia dove, a fronte del 12,2% complessivo, il tasso di disoccupazione giovanile e’ del 38,5%.

On the eve of the European Council of 27-28 June, several progressive leaders gathered in Brussels to define an action plan in the fight against youth unemployment in Europe. Hosted by the Parti Socialiste (PS) of Belgium and its leader Paul Magnette, the meeting saw the participation of Bruno Tobback (s.pa Belgium), Guglielmo Epifani (PD Italy), Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (PSOE Spain), Martin Schulz (European Parliament President), Hannes Swoboda (S&D Group in the European Parliament) and Philip Cordery (PS France, representing Harlem Désir).

Story originally published on PS Belgium website

(Photo by Parti Socialiste Belgium)

À la veille du Conseil européen de ces 27 et 28 juin, le Président du PS Paul Magnette a organisé ce mercredi une rencontre avec les leaders socialistes européens pour élaborer un plan d’action concret pour l’emploi des jeunes en Europe.

Original article published in the Financial Times, available here

Il presidente del Consiglio, Enrico Letta, in un articolo sul Financial Times spiega perché il prossimo Consiglio Europeo è l’occasione per far partire la battaglia contro la disoccupazione giovanile. Leggi anche la traduzione in italiano.

Almost 15m Europeans below the age of 30 are neither in employment, nor in education or training. In total this corresponds to a midsized EU country. In Italy they number 2.2m – almost one in four young people.

 6 billion secured for the Youth Guarantee at EU Council - thanks from the PES, PES Women and ECOSY! 

The PES campaign ‘your future is my future’ has been fighting since its launch to ensure that the appropriate funding is allocated to the implementation of youth guarantees

• Following the huge efforts of social democratic and socialist Prime Ministers, the European Council (meeting on 8^th February) decided to include 6 billion € in the Multiannual Financial Framework (EU budget) for youth guarantees
  
  
• Thanks to the action of PES Heads of State Prime Ministers, Ministers, Commissioners and the members of the European and national parliaments, that brought your voice into the core of EU decision-making, such a youth guarantee is now firmly on track
  
  
• Thanks to your mobilization and to PES ministers’ tireless work, the youth guarantee could be approved by European Social Ministers already by the end of the month (28^th February)

These are great steps, and everyone at the PES thanks you all for your efforts to get so far, so quickly.

Now we need to ensure that the funds are used quickly and efficiently. There are 5.7 million young people around Europe who are waiting for words to become action.

We need to make sure that the these funds will actually be paid out, that they will be matched by national funds for youth guarantees and that they will be used to create new, decent jobs for young people and to improve education and training systems as soon as possible.

And we need, with the European Parliament’s help, to make sure that the 6 billion dedicated to tackling youth unemployment is the start rather than the ceiling.

The 8^th of February was a big day for the youth guarantee across Europe:

• In Brussels PES Heads of State and Prime Ministers were making sure that there was 6 billion secured to start the European-wide Youth Guarantee. A budget line dedicated to young people in Europe, providing the funds to implement the youth guarantee in all European Member States was adopted
  
  
• At the same time, in Dublin, EU ministers in charge of Employment and Social Affairs ministers (EPSCO) met to discuss the Commission’s proposal for a European-wide introduction of the youth guarantee. The social democratic and socialist ministers met ahead of the EPSCO to discuss a common line, ensuring that an ambitious Council recommendation is adopted as soon as possible. They are very committed to bring young people back to work as soon as possible, for example by creating new jobs, improving active labour market policies and enhancing vocational and educational training systems

So, this is a really important victory, but the devil lies in the detail…

• Funding – it is important that the agreement on a youth guarantee in Europe will be given the means to become a concrete policy. We said we would need 10 billion for a genuine European-wide guarantee – we will keep pushing for this!
  
  
• Implementation – once the Council recommendation is adopted, we need to ensure that it is actually implemented. We need to increase the pressure on every national government to introduce an ambitious youth guarantee as soon as possible
  
  
• Keeping the pressure on – In order to make sure the youth guarantee becomes a reality, we need you to keep the momentum for a European Youth Guarantee
  
  
• What can you do?
  • Join our campaign, organize and join events in your region and spread the word to your family and friends. Need more ideas?
  • Activists from Italy have been very active in promoting the European Youth Guarantee campaign, spreading the word via conferences, articles and online actions
  • We have the example of the engagement of the Irish Labour Party fighting to advance on a youth guarantee during the Irish Presidency of the EU. Make sure you support MEPs campaigning for a youth guarantee

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

COMING UP

Brussels, 28 February, 9.00am
Youth Disengagement – what costs and what remedies?
Joint event by the Eurofound and European Youth Forum

Järna, Sweden, 7-10 March
ECOSY - Young European Socialists Congress

Budapest, 8-10 March
PES activists Forum

Original article

L’accordo siglato dai capi di stato e di governo UE per il budget 2014-2020 è insufficiente per contrastare la crisi, tuttavia, grazie all’impegno dei leader progressisti in Europa e del PSE, è previsto un fondo per la Garanzia europea per i giovani.