Photo: Labour Party UK

Original article

Liam Byrne MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, responding to an OECD report which shows young people in the UK spend almost two and a half years out of work, longer than in many of our competitors, said:

“A jobless generation is paying the price for this Government’s failure to get young people into work.

“Young people in the UK spend almost two-and-a-half years out of work on average – more than double those of our competitors and over 30 per cent more than in Germany and Australia.

Original article published on The Guardian

Forget talk of the 'burden' of government debt on future generations. Look at how austerity scars young people now

Austerians, as supporters of fiscal austerity have become known, frequently bemoan the hefty burden on future generations of the debts run up by spendthrift governments in battling the banking collapse.

But a salutary report from the International Labour Organisation last week suggested that today's generation of young people is already bearing more than its fair share of the costs of the crisis.

"At last - a glimmer of hope for Britain's lost youth," said Glenis Willmott MEP, Leader of Labour MEPs, on hearing today's news that an EU-wide ‘youth guarantee’ was agreed by government ministers at the Employment and Social Affairs Council (EPSCO). 

Campaign update 8

After the winter break, the campaign for a European Youth Guarantee is back with great news!

• On January 16, European Parliament members voted overwhelmingly for a resolution by socialist MEP Pervenche Berès proposing a European Youth Guarantee. This resolution backs the EU Commission’s proposal from December, tabled by EU Social Commissioner László Andor, and puts an emphasis on quality framework for education and training, as well as on the role of the European Social Fund in the financing
  
  
• Last week, French President François Hollande announced a youth guarantee scheme to be implemented at national level. The measures include a minimum salary for unemployed citizens aged 16-25 who have not complete secondary education  and a first professional experience for young unemployed in public and private enterprises with a contract of up to three years. President Hollande also underlined the importance of intergenerational solidarity by the implementation of a ‘generation contract’, benefiting employees over 57 and young workers with a temporary contract.

But it is not all good news.

While your actions have made it possible to get a commitment from the EU to a youth guarantee and while progressive leaders work hard to tackle youth unemployment, conservatives in Europe continue to oppose to a European Youth Guarantee:

• In the UK, the Tories refused to back the plan proposed by the Labour Party to implement a national compulsory jobs guarantee for the long term unemployed 
• Despite its 546 votes in favour, the youth guarantee resolution overwhelmingly approved by the European Parliament still faced the stubborn opposition of conservative MEPs

In addition, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) draws our attention to the total number of young unemployed worldwide (73.5 million). The report mentions that the number is likely to further increase by half a million by 2014.
Concerning Europe, the ILO estimates that because of the crisis and the lack of growth and job creation, youth unemployment rates and the average duration of unemployment are set to rise further.

 So you see, we are close to implementing a system that can efficiently tackle youth unemployment, but we won’t get there without your help.

Conservatives are ready to take us back to square one. Your engagement is crucial in making sure this does not happen!

Join our campaign, organize events in your region, support MEPs campaigning for a youth guarantee and spread the word to your family and friends.

Coming up:

Genoa, 8 February, 5.15 pm
Debate on a European Youth Guarantee

Dublin, 8 February
PES ministers meet ahead of the EPSCO Council to discuss a European Youth Guarantee

Brussels, 28 February, 9.00 am
Youth Disengagement - what costs and what remedies?

Tory MEPs were almost isolated today in the European Parliament as MEPs from across the political united in their calls for a guarantee to unemployed youth to get a job for a fixed period.

"MEPs today backed Europe-wide scheme for internship offers after four months' unemployment, yet British Tories and their allies failed to vote with the rest of us," said Stephen Hughes MEP, who speaks for Labour MEPs on Employment.

Original article

Labour will today challenge the Government to back its plan for a compulsory jobs guarantee for the long term unemployed as new figures from the IFS show 7 million working people will be hit by the Government's 'strivers tax'.

Both the biggest single reason for Britain to stay in Europe and the most needed reform of the European Union centre on jobs.

Three million British jobs directly depend on our membership of the EU and the single market. In my own region of the north-west tens of thousands of people are employed in the defence and auto industries, which are located in the UK in part because of the access this gives to the world’s biggest single market.

Original article

Amidst the obsession with EU budget battles you’d be forgiven for not noticing the announcement by the European Commission yesterday of a package of measures to assist Member States in tackling unacceptable levels of youth unemployment.

Campaign update 7

This week and the next one will be decisive in implementing an EU-wide Youth Guarantee.

Our supporters continue to mobilize all around Europe, organizing events and spreading the campaign, but now more than ever we need you to make your voice heard in calling for a European Youth Guarantee:

• Just yesterday, the European Commission presented its Employment pack, including a proposal for a European Youth Guarantee. Thanks to the commitment of Commissioner Laszlo Andor, the model of such a guarantee strongly resembles the one we are demanding, including the deadline of four months to give young people in unemployment a job, professional training or the possibility to pursue further education. Laszlo Andor also made sure that the jobs proposed in this context are ‘quality’ jobs. However, the devil lies on the detail: the funds for such a guarantee are not clearly defined and we risk losing the battle for a lack of clarity and funding. Reactions to the Commission’s proposal included an appeal by German MEP Jutta Steinrück, German MP Michael Roth and Irish MEP Emer Costello for a swift implementation of a Youth Guarantee and its financing by the European Social Fund
  
  
• Next week, as the European Council meets on 13-14 December, we need to make sure EU leaders strongly support a European Youth Guarantee. It is up to you to build pressure on your government ahead of the Council so all EU countries support and implement, without delay, Youth Guarantee schemes tailored to the specific needs of every national context. Furthermore, EU leaders need to make a clear commitment to use the European Social Fund to back the scheme.

If you need more arguments to persuade your national leaders, please feel free to refer to campaign events taking place all over Europe that keep building momentum for our Youth Guarantee demand:

• In Nottingham (United Kingdom), the Labour Party together with the Socialists & Democrats Group in the European Parliament organized a big event to debate youth unemployment. The discussions focused on the extremely high levels of youth unemployment around Europe and the need for a European Youth Guarantee. Dominic Hannigan TD, Chair of the EU Affairs Committee in the Irish Parliament, spoke of the commitment that the incoming Irish Presidency of the EU would give to the Youth Guarantee.
  
  
• In France, campaigners met with Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to discuss the situation facing young people in the country and to call on the Prime Minister to support a Youth Guarantee implemented at EU level.
  
  
• Last week, Spanish and Belgium youth representatives met with PES Women President Zita Gurmai in Brussels to discuss youth unemployment. They also handed hundreds of signatures of the petition Rise up to Mrs. Gurmai. “Rise up” is a campaign created by socialist and social democrat youth organizations calling on the European Council to change European eco­nomic policy of austerity and to build a Europe of jobs, democ­racy and ecology.
  
  
• In Ireland, Emer Costello MEP is promoting an active campaign to sensibilise people to the need of a Youth Guarantee. The launch of the campaign gathered Pat Rabbitte TD, Minister for Communications, Hannes Swoboda MEP (Austria), Leader of the EP's Socialists and Democrats Group, and John Lyons T.D.
  
  
• In Switzerland, European Socialists in Geneva organized a conference on youth employment in Europe. The main speaker was Dr. Ernst Ekkehard from the International Labour Organization (ILO)

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

7 December – 14.15-15.00

Twitter Chat with László Andor (@LaszloAndorEU) on Youth Employment & the European Youth

Original article

Sabato primo dicembre il presidente del Gruppo S&D, Hannes Swoboda, ha raggiunto a Nottingham, in Gran Bretagna, il leader del Partito Laburista britannico, Ed Miliband, e il capo dell’EPLP, Glenis Willmott, per l’ultimo evento della serie Relaunching Europe. La giornata di dibattiti interattivi si è concentrata sulla minaccia che pongono all’Europa gli attuali livelli esorbitanti di disoccupazione giovanile. I politici europei e britannici hanno esortato all’introduzione di una Garanzia Europea per i Giovani.