Member States should do more to combat youth unemployment

The European Parliament's Committee on Culture and Education urges the EU and the Member States to intensify their efforts on combatting youth unemployment, to promote all forms of education and training and to increase funding for young people. In a resolution adopted on Tuesday, MEPs also say youth mobility and volunteering needs to be encouraged and more attention should be paid to the participation of youth and to harnessing the effect of social media and new technologies on young people’s lives.

"It is it of the utmost importance that during this period of crisis and high unemployment rates, Europe should find solutions and continue to inspire youth," said Giorgos Papanikolaou MEP, author of the resolution on the implementation of the EU's 2010-2012 Youth Strategy .

“Europe can, for the first time in its history, put into action tools, policies and mechanisms with a potential to respond in an integrated way to the challenges that young generations are facing today.”

His report includes specific measures and proposals for helping young people, such as increasing and improving funding for youth policies, expanding the recently launched 'Youth Guarantee' programme and encouraging youth entrepreneurship by supporting start-ups.

It was adopted a week before a crucial meeting of the European Council on 27-28 June 2013 that is dedicated to find ways to deal with the challenges that young generations face.

"I hope that, following today's decisions, we contribute to a step forward in providing more opportunities for young people. Appropriate and targeted funding both from the current funds and from the new MFF is an undisputable prerequisite for that," Mr Papanikolaou added.