Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-10-Speech-2-344"
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"en.20070710.55.2-344"2
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"Mr President, honourable Members, the labour market in Europe is improving overall, and is doing so very quickly and very positively. Never have so many people worked in Europe, and unemployment figures are at their lowest for a long time. It remains true, however, that the unemployment rate among young people remains high, at around twice the EU average. Youth unemployment is first and foremost the responsibility of the Member States, within the context of their labour market policies. It is also true, however, that the EU must contribute towards resolving this problem.
The European social fund has already yielded practical results. Every year, some 2 million people gain access to employment after taking advantage of support from European social fund projects. In 2007, 25% of unemployed people in the EU will take part in European social fund projects, from which some 1 million of society’s marginalised or disadvantaged people benefit every year. Around 4 million people every year graduate from vocational courses as part of the lifelong learning programme, which is supported by the European social fund.
Given that, as I emphasised, the issue of youth unemployment remains a problem, the Commission is looking for more effective solutions. For this reason, the Commission is now finalising a draft communication on bringing young people into education, employment and society, the adoption of which is planned for September of this year. This communication will be accompanied by a Commission working document on youth employment.
Honourable Members, as I emphasised, the question of youth unemployment is of course mainly a matter for the Member States, their employment policies, their education policies and so forth, although the EU cannot and will not remain inactive.
The EU’s key task consists of supporting the Member States in the following two areas:
coordination and monitoring of national Member State policy on unemployment in the context of the Lisbon Strategy and
financial support, in particular via the European social fund.
The framework for policy coordination is provided by the relaunched Lisbon Strategy. The Commission is monitoring national unemployment policies very closely. In the latest Community report on unemployment, the Commission and the Council underlined the urgent need to improve the situation for young people in the labour market. Although the Member States have undertaken to offer young people a fresh start, most of the 4.6 million unemployed young people do not receive a job offer, an offer of education or vocational training in the first six months of their unemployment. Young people who do find a job often have insecure contractual conditions. The Commission takes the view that this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs and has recommended that the Member States improve the situation for young people, in particular in the field of education or vocational training.
In the Commission’s view, steps should be taken in particular in the following three areas:
firstly, social inclusion, which is a vital prerequisite for sustainable development in Europe. The Commission will support active cohesion aimed at helping people who are on the margins of the labour market to integrate into the labour market, as well as programmes ensuring an appropriate minimum wage and access to high-quality social services.
secondly, lifelong learning, because there can be no doubt that education engenders education and people who are educated and who have higher qualifications have greater access to lifelong learning than those who most need it, that is, people with low qualifications or older people with outdated skills. As regards the Lisbon Strategy, the Commission has issued a number of recommendations to the Member States in the area of education and vocational training, especially concerning early school leaving, with a view to raising the levels of the education that Europeans receive. I should like to point out that the EU’s reference target is to bring the number of early school leavers down to below 10%. The figure is currently 15.2% and in some countries significantly higher than that. Reducing early school leaving is in our view one of the most important factors in improving opportunities for young people on the labour market. Another Commission recommendation is that of supporting geographical mobility. Despite unemployment, we are in a situation where some regions and sectors do not have enough people in the labour force. Young people should therefore be urged to take advantage of these opportunities to work.
A further possibility is EU financial support via the European social fund. As well as coordinating policy, the Union supports the Member States’ efforts to modernise the labour market. During the period 2007-2013 the Member States will receive EUR 72.6 billion towards funding the reform of national labour markets, over 90% of which will go directly towards fulfilling the Lisbon goals. Investment in human capital, which represents one third of the budget of the European social fund, is the most important priority for 2007-2013. A further 30% of that amount will be earmarked for social cohesion in respect of disadvantaged groups."@en1
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