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Document 52012SC0406
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Moving Youth into Employment
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Moving Youth into Employment
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Moving Youth into Employment
/* SWD/2012/0406 final */
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Moving Youth into Employment /* SWD/2012/0406 final */
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Moving Youth into Employment This Staff Working Document accompanies the
Communication "Moving Youth into Employment"[1] and gives more detailed
information on the implementation of the Youth Opportunities Initiative (YOI)[2] at EU level and in the Member States as well as an overview of youth
specific country recommendations. This Staff Working Document has three
annexes: 1. Implementation of YOI actions It contains a detailed table on the state
of play on the implementation of Youth Opportunities Initiative, one year after
being adopted (Annex I). 2. Youth-related country specific
recommendations (CSR) In 2012, nearly all Member States received
CSRs specifically aimed at improving the situation of young people (An overview
can be found in Annex II). 3. 28 country fiches These fiches contain individual data from
the 27 Member States and Croatia on current trends in youth unemployment (the
youth unemployment situation in 2012 is represented through the latest
available monthly unemployment rate for those aged 15-24 in seasonally adjusted
terms), commitments made with a view to combating and preventing youth
unemployment (mostly done under the YOI), progress in the implementation of
these commitments, the mobilisation of funds and amendments. The country fiches
were prepared on the basis of Member States' replies to a questionnaire sent to
them in July 2012 (Annex III). Annex I: Implementation
of the Youth Opportunities Initiative (YOI) – State of play November 2012 || YOI Action Box || Action already taken || Next steps || Mobilising the ESF to support skills development and school-to-work transitions || || 1 || Several Member States could make greater use of available EU funding, including through re-programming and accelerating implementation, to create larger scale support schemes for young people focusing on fighting early school leaving and developing employability. This is particularly important for Member States where youth unemployment and disadvantage are very high. The Commission is ready to work with Member States using fast-track procedures for operational programmes modifications, provide technical assistance from the EU and fast-track recovery of unspent money. || "Action teams" and "bilaterals" with 15 Member States in February 2012 Reporting of preliminary results in SWD YOI of April 2012 Questionnaire to MS in July 2012 Country fiches prepared and will be annexed to the chapeau Communication || Fiches for all MS plus Croatia in Annex III of this SWD 2 || The Commission will use: EUR 1.3 million of ESF Technical Assistance to support setting up apprenticeship-type schemes through the ESF, while another EUR 3 million of ESF Technical Assistance will focus, among others, on setting up support schemes for young business starters and social entrepreneurs. || Call for Tenders TA Apprenticeship published, bids received and evaluated Call for Tenders TA Support Schemes under preparation || Contracting Launch Call for Tenders 3 || The Commission will support Member States on defining youth-related measures in the preparation of their programmes for the next ESF period. || Commission Position Papers to Member States are under preparation since June/July; finalisation in November foreseen. They will be presented to and discussed with MS in the course of programming preparation for the 2014-2020 period. || Sending of Position Papers to MS || Supporting the transition from education to work || || 4 || Member States, in cooperation with social partners, should strive to substantially increase the supply of apprenticeships in the EU and ensure that they represent real opportunities for young people to gain specific, on-the-job training and work experience leading to more stable forms of employment. An increase by at least 10% in the EU by the end of 2013 would add a total of 370,000 new apprenticeships.[3] || Some bilateral initiatives are under way in the EU, mainly between DE and other MS (ES, IT) ESF has been reprogrammed in many MS, inter alia, to support more traineeships and apprenticeships. || Set up of a European Alliance for Apprenticeships 5 || Social Partners should examine, where appropriate with the Member States' authorities, how best to implement the specific objective of 'promoting more and better apprenticeships and traineeship contracts' as part of their autonomous agreement on 'inclusive labour markets' (2010). || The EU social partners' 2012-2014 work programme (adopted in March 2012) includes joint work on youth employment. The social partners have started negotiations on a framework of actions on youth in September 2012. 1st stage SP consultation on Quality Framework for traineeeships (QFT) in Sept 2012 || 2nd stage SP consultation on a QFT 6 || The Commission will substantially reinforce support to learning mobility of higher education and vocational training students. By gearing funds as much as possible towards placements in enterprises, an additional 30% of placements would be within reach, targeting at least 130,000 placements in 2012 under ERASMUS and Leonardo da Vinci. || EUR 120 million additional funds were made available for mobility under the 2012 Budget with the main objective to fund more placements. This objective has been relayed to the participating institutions and organisations. In 2012 there have been 83,090 placements selected through the Leonardo programme and more than 45,000 traineeships are expected to take place under Erasmus during the academic year 2012/2013. || With continued increase in Leonardo and Erasmus mobility, the 2012 target of 130,000 is expected to be reached by the end of the academic year. 7 || The Commission will launch a EUR 1.5 million campaign addressed to enterprises in early 2012 to raise business awareness of ERASMUS and Leonardo da Vinci placements and encourage potential host companies to host European trainees. || Launch event of the "We Mean Business" Campaign in April. The website is up and running, with help for companies and advice on how to get involved. There is press campaign around the national events and a social media campaign. || The final website will also be transferred across to the Europa website. A mapping of potential services that bodies can give in each Member State will also be put on the website. A contact group might be set up amongst several National Agencies. 8 || The Commission will present in 2012 a quality framework supporting the provision and take-up of high quality traineeships, including an EU panorama on traineeships increasing the transparency on the conditions for trainees throughout the EU. || Public Consultation April 2012 with more than 250 replies 1st stage SP Consultation Sept 2012 || 2nd stage SP consultation 9 || Member States and labour market actors need to step up efforts to implement the Youth Guarantee ensuring that young people are either in a job, education or (re-)training within four months of leaving school, especially for early leavers from education and training and other vulnerable youth. The Commission will launch in 2012 a preparatory action for "Activation measures targeting young people - implementing Youth on the move initiative" focusing on Youth Guarantees with a budget of EUR 4 million. || Call for Proposals launched August 2012 || Selection of projects until beginning of 2013 Signature of grant agreements in the first trimester of 2013 10 || The Commission will invest a significant share of the EUR 6 million budget for social innovation in innovative projects, targeting youth in disadvantaged situations and areas. || Call for proposals on social policy experimentation: award of three grants to proposals experimenting youth activation measures. Launch of another call for proposals for social policy experimentation in November 2012: promotion of youth activation measures is one of its three priorities. || Follow-up of proposals selected in 2012 and evaluation of applications to the 2012 call. 11 || The budget allocation for the European Voluntary Service will be reinforced in order to provide at least 10,000 volunteering opportunities in 2012. || Revision of the 2012 budget of the Youth in Action Programme, with a view to increasing the share allocated to the European Voluntary Service Increase (vs. 2012 revised budget) of the share allocated to the European Voluntary Service in the 2013 budget of the Youth in Action Programme || On-going implementation by the network of National Agencies implementing the Youth in Action Programme (2012 outputs available in 2013) || Supporting labour market mobility || || 12 || EURES and the European Job Mobility Portal is currently posting over 1.2 million vacancies and 700,000 CVs. In the course of 2012, Member States should put in place specific EURES recruitment services and support measures to ensure that at least 100,000 of these EURES jobs are successfully filled by young people, hence making an intensified use of EURES. || The members of the EURES network have been strongly encouraged to focus on and give priority to the placement of young jobseekers. There are currently no statistics available regarding the achievement of this particular action point. || The Commission will continue to monitor placements of youngsters through the annual reports of the EURES Network in the context of the current exercise 2009-2013. Once the EURES reform comes into effect, PES will be requested to carry out much more targeted placement actions for jobseekers, including youth, and it is hoped that this will help to achieve the target of 100.000 mentioned in the Employment Package by 2020. 13 || Starting in 2012, the "Your first EURES job" scheme launched by the Commission in 2011 will financially help directly around 5,000 young people to fill vacancies in other Member States during 2012-2013. This will serve as a pilot for further developing the scheme and increasing the number of job placements. || Four EU employment services (DE, DK, ES and IT) selected and granted in the follow up of the 2011 call for proposals. The scheme was officially launched by the Commission in May 2012. Further info at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/yourfirsteuresjob Job placement activities are already being implemented Second call for proposals closed on 20 September 2012 Restricted tender for the evaluation of 'Your first EURES job' published in October 2012 || Evaluation of second call for proposals. Signature of grant agreements with selected applicants by early 2013 Evaluation of tender bids (in progress) Kick-off of the evaluation in January 2013 (16 months) Monitoring of projects and results (on-going) Launch of third call for proposals in 2013 14 || Erasmus for entrepreneurs is expected to finance around 600 further exchanges in 2012. || The Programme is already running since 2009. Cycle 3 of the Programme will come to an end on 31st October 2012, whilst cycle 4 has started on 1st May 2012 and will run until 31st January 2014. Out of the 600 planned exchanges for 2012, 415 have already been reached by end of September. || The results of this year's call (for Cycle 5) will soon be published. Cycle 5 will start on 1st February 2013 (for 24 months). Another call for proposals will be launched in the first quarter of 2013. With the current trend of 20-25 new exchanges agreed per week, it is considered that the objective of 600 exchanges in 2012 can be achieved. || Strengthened policy delivery as part of the European Semester || || 15 || The Commission will carry out further assessment and analysis of the measures taken by the Member States to fight youth unemployment and will report on this to the informal Council of Employment and Social Affairs Ministers in April 2012. || SWD (2012) 98 "Implementing the Youth Opportunities Initiative: first steps taken" as part of Employment Package || completed 16 || The Commission invites Member States to discuss the necessary adjustments to their education and training systems within the Strategic Framework of European Cooperation in Education and Training ("ET2020"). || Adoption of a list of priority areas to be translated into action in the course of the period 2012 - 2014; many of these areas are directly relevant for improving the opportunities of young people (e.g. improving the quality and efficiency of eduation and training). Commission has entered into a discussion on the outcome of the 2012 European Semester and in particular the key challenges identified in the 2012 CSRs. European Survey on Language Competences || A report with key findings to inform the work in ET 2020-working groups in the field of higher education and VET A report with new empirical evidence and analysis (the "Education and Training Monitor") that assesses Member States' progress in improving the performance of their education systems 17 || The Commission will provide specific guidance to Member States on measures to fight youth unemployment during the bilateral contacts preparing the National Reform Programmes 2012. || Bilateral meetings with Member States in early 2012, including technical level discussions. Policy recommendations from the ESF Youth Network The Commission presented and debated in EMCO two studies related to youth employment: apprenticeship supply and traineeship arrangements in Member States. || Multilateral surveillance in the governance of employment and social policies will be strengthened through thematic and country peer reviews in the Employment and Social Protection Committees. Thematic reviews will be an opportunity to look into how the Member States have addressed the CSRs or MoU commitments. Bilaterals were/are going to be held with Member States: - in October to take stock and go through the 2012 CSRs, to understand how Member States intend to implement the CSRs in their policies and in next year's budget; - in December/January 2013 to review the state of play of the implementation of the 2012 CSRs and discuss with each Member State how they will react to the Annual Growth Survey and how its priorities will be reflected in their National Programmes. - in April 2013 following the Spring European Council endorsement/adjustment of the 2013 Annual Growth Survey priorities to hear how Member States intend to finalise their National Reform Programmes and cross-check with each Member State the Commission's preliminary analysis in key areas. 18 || The Commission will address the youth dimension in its country specific recommendations to Member States in May 2012. || 22 youth-related CSRs on skills development, adapting education and training systems and young people`s skills to the labour market needs, availability of apprenticeships, incentives for companies to hire young people, promotion of self-employment, etc. (Overview in Annex II of this SWD) || As part of the upcoming thematic reviews and bilateral meetings on Member States’ progress towards implementing the 2012 CSRs, the Commission will follow up on the progress made by Member States on the priorities related to youth employment as set by the 2012 Annual Growth Survey package and the CSRs. Youth will be a key priority set out in the 2013 Annual Growth Survey Package (tbc) and in the CSRs of the 2013 European Semester. Annex II: Overview
of the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) adopted by the
Council on 10 July 2012 Country || Council doc n° || Youth-specific CSRs (employment, education, social inclusion) Austria || 11241/12 || (5) Continue to implement measures to improve educational outcomes, especially of disadvantaged young people. Take measures to reduce drop-outs from higher education. Belgium || 11244/12 || (5) […] Pursue the initiated reform of the unemployment benefit system to reduce disincentives to work and strengthen the focus of employment support and activation policies on older workers and vulnerable groups, in particular people with a migrant background. Take advantage of the planned further regionalisation of labour market competencies to boost interregional labour mobility and to strengthen the coherence between education, lifelong learning, vocational training and employment policies. Extend existing activation efforts to all age groups. Bulgaria || 11245/12 || (3) Accelerate the implementation of the national Youth Employment Initiative. […] (4) Speed up the reform of relevant legal acts on schools and higher education and of accompanying measures by focusing on modernising curricula, improving teacher training, and ensuring effective access to education for disadvantaged groups. […] Cyprus || 11247/12 || (5) […] Take further measures to address youth unemployment, with emphasis on work placements in companies and promotion of self-employment. […] Czech Republic || 11248/12 || (6) Adopt the necessary legislation to establish a transparent and clearly defined system for quality evaluation of higher education and research institutions. Ensure that the funding is sustainable and linked to the outcome of the quality assessment. Establish an improvement-oriented evaluation framework in compulsory education. Denmark || 11250/12 || (3) Implement announced measures, without delay, to improve the cost-effectiveness of the education system, reduce drop-out rates, in particular within vocational education, and increase the number of apprenticeships. Estonia || 11251/12 || (2) […] Increase the participation of the young and the long-term unemployed in the labour market. (3) Link training and education more effectively to the needs of the labour market, and enhance cooperation between businesses and academia. […] Finland || 11252/12 || (3) Implement the on-going measures to improve the labour market position of young people and the long-term unemployed, with a particular focus on skills development. […] France || 11253/12 || (3) […] improve youth employability especially for those most at risk of unemployment, by providing for example more and better apprenticeship schemes which effectively address their needs […] Germany || 11255/12 || (3) […] Take measures to raise the educational achievement of disadvantaged groups, in particular through ensuring equal opportunities in the education and training system. […] Greece || Programme country || Hungary || 11257/12 || (6) Prepare and implement a national strategy on early school-leaving by ensuring adequate financing. Ensure that the implementation of the higher education reform improves access to education for disadvantaged groups. Ireland || Programme country || Italy || 11259/12 || (3) Take further action to address youth unemployment, including by improving the labour-market relevance of education and facilitating transition to work, also through incentives for business start-ups and for hiring employees. Enforce nation-wide recognition of skills and qualifications to promote labour mobility. Take measures to reduce tertiary education dropout rates and fight early school leaving. (4) Adopt the labour market reform as a priority to tackle the segmentation of the labour market and establish an integrated unemployment benefit scheme. […] Latvia || 11261/12 || (3) Take measures to reduce long-term and youth unemployment by fighting early school leaving, promoting more efficient vocational education and training and its apprenticeship component, enhancing the quality, coverage and effectiveness of active labour market policy and its training component and through an effective wage subsidy scheme. (7) Continue reforms in higher education, inter alia, by implementing a new financing model that rewards quality, strengthens links with market needs and research institutions, and avoids fragmentation of budget resources. […] Lithuania || 11262/12 || (3) Tackle high unemployment, in particular among youth, low-skilled and long-term unemployed, by focusing resources on active labour market policies while improving their efficiency. Enhance the effectiveness of apprenticeship schemes. Amend the labour legislation with regard to flexible contract agreements, dismissal provisions and flexible working time arrangements. (4) Increase work incentives and strengthen the links between the social assistance reform and activation measures, in particular for the most vulnerable, to reduce poverty and social exclusion. Luxembourg || 11263/12 || (4) Continue efforts to reduce youth unemployment by reinforcing stakeholders' involvement, and by strengthening training and education measures, in particular for those with low education levels, with the aim of better matching young people's skills and qualifications to labour demand. Malta || 11265/12 || (3) Take steps to reduce the high rate of early school leaving. Pursue policy efforts in the education system to match the skills required by the labour market. […] The Netherlands || 11275/12 || none Poland || 11267/12 || (3) To reduce youth unemployment, increase the availability of apprenticeships and work-based learning, improve the quality of vocational training and adopt the proposed lifelong learning strategy. Better match education outcomes with the needs of the labour market and improve the quality of teaching. To combat labour market segmentation and in-work poverty, limit excessive use of civil law contracts and extend the probationary period to permanent contracts. Portugal || Programme country || Romania || Programme country || Slovakia || 11271/12 || (4) Enhance the administrative capacity of public employment services with a view to improving the targeting, design and evaluation of active labour market policies to ensure more individualised employment services for the young […] (5) Adopt and implement the youth action plan, in particular as regards the quality and labour market relevance of education and vocational training, including through the introduction of an apprenticeship scheme. Improve the quality of higher education by strengthening quality assurance and result orientation. (6) Take active measures to improve access to and quality of schooling and pre-school education of vulnerable groups, including Roma. Ensure labour market reintegration of adults through activation measures and targeted employment services, second-chance education and short cycle vocational training. Slovenia || 11272/12 || (4) Adjust employment protection legislation as regards permanent contracts in order to reduce labour market segmentation, in consultation with social partners and in accordance with national practices. Further tackle the parallel labour market caused by student work. (5) Improve the matching of skills with labour market demand, particularly of low-skilled workers and tertiary graduates, and continue reforms of vocational education and training. Spain || 11273/12 || (6) […] Implement the Youth Action Plan, in particular as regards the quality and labour market relevance of vocational training and education, and reinforce efforts to reduce early school-leaving and increase participation in vocational education and training through prevention, intervention and compensation measures. Sweden || 11274/12 || (3) Take further measures to improve the labour market participation of youth and vulnerable groups, e.g. by improving the effectiveness of active labour market measures, facilitating the transition from school to work, promoting policies to increase demand for vulnerable groups and improving the functioning of the labour market. Review the effectiveness of the current reduced VAT rate for restaurants and catering services in support of job creation. United Kingdom || 11276/12 || (3) Continue to improve the employability of young people, in particular those not in education, employment or training, including by using the Youth Contract. Ensure that apprenticeship schemes are taken up by more young people, have a sufficient focus on advanced and higher-level skills, and involve more small and medium-sized businesses. Take measures to reduce the high proportion of young people aged 18-24 with very poor basic skills. The documents for
all countries are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/making-it-happen/country-specific-recommendations/index_en.htm Annex III:
Country fiches AUSTRIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 9.9% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 8.3 || +0.3 Youth unemployment ratio || 5.0 || +0.1 NEET rate || 6.9 || -0.2 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 8.3 || -1.8 Tertiary Education Attainment || 23.8 || +1.6 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment In its 2011 National
Reform Programme Austria made two commitments in the area of youth employment: ·
“Training Guarantee” for apprentices: young
people until the age of 18, who cannot find a company-based apprenticeship, are
invited to learn an apprenticeship trade in a supra-company training
institution; ·
“Future for Youth” programme: targeted PES
measures to fight unemployment in the age group of 19 to 24 years. In 2012, the
commitments were extended by several other measures such as “Production Schools”, youth and apprentice coaching, apprenticeship support measures, and youth
foundations. 3. Progress in the implementation of
the commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk In 2011, 11,465
young people up to 25 years benefitted from subsidised employment and 96,861 from
a qualification measure offered by the Public Employment Services (PES). In
addition, the Federal Social Welfare Service offered employment, qualification
and assistance measures to about 18,000 young people with disabilities in 2011.
A “Training
Guarantee” for future apprentices until the age of 18 was introduced in 2008
and gives young people who cannot find a company-based apprenticeship the
opportunity to learn an apprenticeship trade in designated training centres
financed by the PES. In the school year 2011/2012, 14,814 young people
participated in this measure. The budget used in 2011 was EUR 150 million, EUR
140 million are foreseen for 2012. Within this measure 3,100 apprentices with
special needs benefitted from an integrated training scheme involving partial
or prolonged apprenticeships in 2011. “Production Schools”
aim at reintegrating young people having dropped out from school or
apprenticeship into the education and training system and the world of work. So
far 20 of those schools have been established in Austria with a capacity of
3,000 pupils. On average, two thirds of the participants have a migration
background and one fifth has not completed compulsory school. A pilot project
called “Youth Coaching” started in 2012 in Vienna and Styria and is
planned to be extended to the rest of Austria in 2013. It aims at early
intervention against school drop-out and supporting young people in their
transition from school to work. The target groups are young people in their
last year of compulsory education, NEETs until the age of 19 and young people
with special educational needs or disabilities. In these first months, 2,500
young people have participated in the measure. The revisited
concept of Youth Placement Foundations
targets registered unemployed in the age group of 19 to 24 years. Companies
having trouble to find adequate staff for certain posts cooperate with PES in
finding the best suitable participants in order to subsequently provide them
with closely job-related qualification measures. Enrolment has only just
started. 3.2. Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Alongside basic
subsidies, quality-related and labour market-related incentives are offered to
encourage employers to establish additional apprenticeship places and improve
the quality of training for ca. 130,000 apprentices per year. In addition, the
PES supports the integration of disadvantaged groups and young women who take
up apprenticeships in male-dominated professions (8,800 young people between
January and July 2012). A pilot project
called "Apprentice Coaching" is starting in the provinces of Upper
Austria, Styria, Tyrol and Vienna providing additional support to apprentices
and to companies offering apprenticeship places including legal advice
services, mediation and crisis intervention. In addition, training manuals have
been drafted for some of the most important sectors with best practice examples
about ways of designing training within a company. A central clearing office
for final apprenticeship exams and a certificate for examiners are being
developed. Traineeships abroad are supported by reimbursing the relevant apprenticeship
remuneration to the sending companies. 3.3. Support
to job creation (including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) In 2011,
approximately 5,400 young people participated in the integration subsidies
(temporary limited wage cost subsidies at the time of hiring). About 430 young
people participated in the business start-up programme of the PES. In addition,
about 4,000 young people benefitted from employment in social enterprises in
2011. 3.4.
Mobilisation of funds The budget spent on
active and activating labour market policy for youth was EUR 452 million in
2011. The ALMP funds together with those provided for additional measures to
support labour market integration of youth (see chapters above) add up to a
total of EUR 632 million spent in 2011. EUR 638 million are foreseen for 2012. Even though there is
no budget allocation for young people in the Austrian ESF, it is estimated that
about one third of the funds of the Employment Operational Programme is
invested in measures for this target group and about one fifth of the ESF
Phasing Out Programme for Burgenland (ESF and national co-financing by the end
of 2011: EUR 255.6 million and EUR 7.4 million respectively). Programme changes
were made in reaction to the financial and economic crisis in 2009, putting the
focus among others on young people with placement difficulties. 3.5.
Amendments to the legislative framework facilitating labour market entry for
young people No developments have
been reported. BELGIUM 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 18.0% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 18.7 || +0.7 Youth unemployment ratio || 6.0 || unchanged NEET rate || 11.8 || +1.7 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 12.3 || +0.3 Tertiary Education Attainment || 42.6 || +0.3 2. Commitments
made with a view to combating and preventing youth unemployment Among
the various elements put forward by the Belgian authorities in recent official
publications (NRP, NSR, etc.), the following key priorities are laid out: ·
Strengthening incentives for young unemployed to
take up work by tightening eligibility conditions for the tide-over allowance
(in force since 1 January 2012); ·
Closer follow-up and guidance of job-seeking
efforts of youth by the regional PES; ·
Enhancing support to self-entrepreneurship; ·
Increasing investment in vocational training and
in-company traineeships to enhance employability and remedy skill mismatches. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth
guarantee schemes and other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor
in education or training (NEET) or other groups at risk[4] At
the end of July 2012, the Federal government budgeted the means to create
10,000 subsidised traineeships as of 2013 for youngsters exiting the education
system without a secondary education degree, to be implemented in close
cooperation with the regions. Implementation arrangements are still under
discussion. The government has also committed the resources necessary to
increase the existing reductions of social security contributions for
low-qualified young job seekers as of 2013. A new social security contribution
reduction will be introduced for medium qualified youngsters. Although
the various regional PES offer labour market mediation services to all age
groups below the regional ceiling[5],
the intensity and type of support offered varies according to the risk profile
of the job seeker in question. Typically, young job seekers (especially those
with low educational attainment level and/or an educational background for
which demand on the labour market is low) are followed up more rapidly and
intensely to prevent long-term unemployment and remedy skill mismatches. At the
regional level, the main novelty is the renewed Flemish "Career Agreement"
for 2012-2014, which provides for closer follow-up of low-qualified youth.[6] 3.2 Youth
traineeships and apprenticeships[7] Support
for apprenticeships is provided in all regions and communities, notably through
various schemes of subsidised Individual Vocational Traineeships. The regional government subsidises the
apprentice's wages and social contributions provided certain conditions with
regard to training and ulterior employment are met. The
concrete modalities and amount of government support vary by region and by
target group. As part of the Career Agreement, Flanders has earmarked a
total of EUR 3.9 million/year and has set at 17,000 the total number of
traineeships to be subsidised by 2014 (around 12,250 in 2011). 3.3. Support to job creation (incl. entrepreneurship and
self-employment schemes[8] The
Walloon Region has started to implement the "Plan Airbag"
(June 2012), aiming to provide financial support to the launching of
self-employment activities (for people below 30 or above 50). To date, 70 dossiers
have been introduced. The administrative side of the initiative is dealt with
by the PES. In Flanders, the Flemish Agency for Entrepreneurial Training
(SYNTRA) provides young people aged 15-25 with training to become
entrepreneurs. In 2012, this type of training has been provided to 547
youngsters. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds[9] The
Federal Government only allocates means from its own budget. Until
end-2011, around EUR 1.3 billion have been disbursed across all the measures
currently under way. In
Brussels, young people are a priority target in the framework of the
ESF OP, but a precise figure for the support to actions targeting young people
is not available[10].
In the Walloon Region, ESF also supports young people, mainly through
individualised guidance (former Job Tonic initiative). For the period
2009-2011, around EUR 1 million (of which 50% from ESF) has been disbursed in
support of this initiative. Flanders relies on ESF for a series of
measures targeting young people, including the Career Agreement referred to
above, the "Work@telier" (budget of around EUR 350,000, of which one
third is ESF support), targeted at long-term unemployed youth[11], and measures for work
placement and traineeship to early school leavers. The German-speaking
Community has allocated roughly EUR 1 million of its ESF programme to
measures focused on young job seekers (15 different initiatives). 3.5. Amendments to the legislative framework facilitating labour
market entry for young people[12] Since
January 2012, the reform of the tide-over allowance is implemented (Federal
level). Eligibility conditions are tightened in several ways: (i) the
9-month 'waiting period' becomes a 12-month ‘vocational development phase’,
during which significant steps should be taken to find a job, (ii) a regular
evaluation of the efforts conditions the extension of the unemployment benefit
scheme and (iii) the duration is limited to 3 years (with exceptions). In the Walloon
Region, the implementation of the "Plan Airbag" initiative has
called for the adoption of legislative measures at regional level. No changes
are reported for Flanders in 2012. BULGARIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 29.7 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 25.0 || +13.1 Youth unemployment ratio || 7.3 || +3.5 NEET rate || 22.6 || +5.2 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 12.8 || -2.0 Tertiary Education Attainment || 27.3 || +0.2 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment In response to
the Europe 2020 strategy and the Youth Opportunities Initiative, Bulgaria adopted a national initiative "Employment for Youth" in March 2012. It
presents a coherent policy framework for the implementation of wide-scale
measures targeting youth. In the framework of the initiative, largely funded by
the ESF, Bulgaria has committed to decrease the youth unemployment rate (15-24
years) to 23% and the share of young people who are neither in employment, nor
in education or training (15-24 years) to 19% by the end of 2013. It has been
agreed with Bulgarian authorities that speeding up ESF implementation should
remain the key priority, which will help achieve the above targets. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk A recently signed (June 2012) national agreement “First job” has
united the efforts of the government and the social partners towards increasing
youth employment by promoting opportunities for first professional experience.
As a result, about 22,000 young people under the age of 29 will be involved in
employment measures during 2012-2013. In particular, the
social partners have committed to guide and encourage employers to hire
unemployed people (aged up to 29 years) under an employment (permanent,
temporary, or a traineeship) contract for a period not less than six months in
order to acquire initial work experience following their secondary or higher
education studies. An Agreement on exchange of
information between the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science (MEYS) and the
Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP) was signed in July 2012 to
facilitate the implementation of the “European Youth Guarantee”. Within four
months of leaving school, young people will be offered employment mediation
services, training and subsequent employment. In the period January-July 2012,
6,753 young people under the age of 29 were included in employment measures
funded by the national budget and 2,077 inactive young people under the age of
29 were activated. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Under national budget measures, 421 young people were employed as
trainees in the first half of 2012. Under the ESF-supported Human Resources
Development Operational Programme (HRD OP) there are four on-going operations
promoting youth traineeships, including for disadvantaged groups. The
operations target 53,670 secondary school and 73,300 university students who
will be involved in traineeships and apprenticeships until the end of 2013;
9,500 young people will receive mediation
services; and, 8,550 trainees are expected to be employed. Up to July
2012, 2,100 people under 29 (of which 988 under 24) were employed under the ESF
operations. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Two operations were launched in the second half of 2012 under the
HRD OP to boos youth employment: "First job" and "New working
place". Both operations strive to provide jobs for young unemployed under
29 by ensuring incentives to employers for their recruitment. Main activities
include providing vouchers for vocational training and key competencies
training as well as providing funds at the amount of the minimum insurable
income and the employers' social security payments for 6 to 12 months. Expected
results in 2012-2014 include: 4,530 young people involved in training and 4,100
young people employed after training. Unemployed young people who wish to start
their own business are included in the training and have access to specialised services
(provision of start-up capital and relevant vocational training) under the
scheme "Promotion of self-employment" within HRD OP. Approximately
2,400 people under 29 were included since the launch of the project. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds EUR 4.9 million were allocated from the national budget for the
implementation of youth employment measures in 2012 and EUR 2.3 million were
disbursed until the end of July. For its part, the ESF HRD OP (2007-2013) has
so far allocated EUR 106 million (ESF: EUR 90 million, National Funding: EUR 16
million) supporting youth employability directly or indirectly. The total
amount of contracts signed under ten on-going operations is EUR 70.5 million.
Most operations are in the beginning of their implementation and the payments
to beneficiaries account for EUR 2 million. The target group includes more than
0.5 million young people. More than EUR 39 million was allocated for the implementation of the
agreement “First job”, of which about 75% from ESF and 25% from the national
budget. As regards traineeship measures, EUR 392,638 from the national budget was
spent during January-July 2012. HRD OP support to traineeships extends to EUR
69 million (ESF: EUR 58.6 million, national funding: EUR 10.4 million) over
2010-2014. HRD OP support to job creation under the above-mentioned key
operations amounts to EUR 19.4 million (ESF: EUR 16.5 million, National
Funding: EUR 2.9 million). EUR 2.6 million was allocated from the national
budget in 2012 for a first job in public administration to 1,720 unemployed
university graduates under the age of 29 years. During the period January-July
2012, 1,131 young people worked under the programme “Career Start” and EUR 1.6
million were disbursed. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people A working group under the national initiative "Employment for Youth" has initiated
discussions on potential changes to the Labour Code, the Employment Promotion
Act (EPA) and the Corporate Income Tax Act
(CITA). The Labour Code will introduce an apprenticeship contract for people
under 29. The EPA will include two new measures to support youth employment:
part-time employment of young long-term unemployed (under 29) and
apprenticeships for young people with low or no skills. The CITA will see the
introduction of tax incentives for employers who hire young unemployed under
29. CYPRUS 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 29.3% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 22.4 || +13.4 Youth unemployment ratio || 8.5 || +4.7 NEET rate (15-24) || 14.4 || +4.7 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 11.2 || -2.5 Tertiary Education Attainment (30-34) || 45.8 || -1.3 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Setting up a new incentive scheme for the
employment of the long-term unemployed and the young; ·
Establishing post-secondary Institutes of
Vocational Education and Training; ·
Establishing a new Apprenticeship System. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
"Scheme for the Job Placement and Training of Tertiary Education
Graduates" (Human Resource Development Authority, HRDA) is a consolidated
programme focused on the integration of highly qualified young people into the
labour market by providing on-the-job experience in a company for a period of
12 months. During 2009-2011, 2,432 graduates participated in it. For 2012, the
target is to have 670 participants. The scheme is considered to be a good
practice since it helps graduates find suitable employment and, at the same
time, helps host companies increase their awareness of new knowledge. According
to an external ex-post evaluation study, 93.5% of graduates who participated in
2009-2010 were still employed after completing the scheme, and 84.1% were employed
by the same enterprise. The
HRDA is implementing a number of training programmes for improving the
employability of the unemployed. Under the accelerated initial training
programmes for newcomers and other unemployed people in occupations currently in
demand, priority is given to young people under 25 years. During 2011, there
were 392 participants. Under the scheme for improving the employability of the
unemployed through training and work experience programmes, which is
implemented with ESF support, the aim is for at least 30% of participants to be
under 30 years of age. During 2011, there were 997 participants. Under
the ESF co-financed Operational Programme, post-secondary Institutes of
Vocational Education and Training are to be established (Ministry of Education
and Culture). During 2012-2013, it is expected that around 200 people will be enrolled.
Young unemployed people will be awarded extra points, to facilitate their
enrolment in a study programme. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships A
subsidy scheme co-financed by the ESF and implemented by the Cyprus
Productivity Centre (CPC) is in place to promote employment and in-company
training of apprenticeship students. From June 2011 to July 2012, 81 students
aged 15-18 participated in the scheme. The
HRDA subsidises wages paid by employers to apprentices who attend classes in
technical schools. In 2011, 111 apprentices participated in the scheme. The
HRDA also funds practical training of final year students who follow the
practical direction of technical schools. In 2011, 188 students participated in
this scheme. The enterprise-based practical training of students of the Higher
Hotel Institute of Cyprus is also subsidised by the HRDA. 142 students took
part in the scheme in 2011. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Young
people are offered grants to promote their integration in the labour market
through entrepreneurship. Moreover, in general, efforts are made to create an
environment of cooperation with employers that will help youth into employment
or training. A
new incentive scheme for the employment of the long-term unemployed and the
young has been set up by the Labour Department of the Ministry of Labour and
Social Insurance in the framework of the ESF co-financed OP “Employment, Human
Capital and Social Cohesion”, with a budget of EUR 8 million. It targets young
people up to 29 years who have been registered as unemployed for at least 3
months, and people registered as unemployed for at least 7 months. 19 people between
15-24 years and 114 people over 24 years participated in the scheme until 1
August 2012. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Until
August 2012, EUR 276,344 of ESF and national funding was committed to the
incentive scheme for the employment of the long-term unemployed and the young.
EUR 176,545 has been committed to the CPC scheme for apprentices. The HRDA 2012
budget for measures relevant to youth employment and employability amounts to
approximately EUR 14 million, out of which EUR 5.7 million is committed to the
scheme on job placement and training of tertiary education graduates. The
budget allocation for the post-secondary Institutes of Vocational Education and
Training amounts to EUR 4.4 million (ESF and national funding). The
ERDF co-financed intervention "Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurship"
(Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism) has a total budget of EUR 6
million. The ERDF also co-finances a number of interventions with a youth
component: "Women entrepreneurship" (EUR 5 million), "SMEs in
the manufacturing sector" (EUR 23 million), "Promotion of innovative
actions in SMEs" (EUR 4 million), "Research and innovation" (EUR
53 million), "Agrotourism" (EUR 15 million). In
the framework of the planned modification of the two Operational Programmes,
the Cypriot authorities are currently exploring the possibility of shifting
funds between Priority Axes, which will allocate additional funding to youth
measures. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people No
recent developments can be reported. CZECH REPUBLIC 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 19.3% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 18.1 || + 8.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 5.4 || + 2.3 NEET rate || 8.3 || + 1.6 Early leavers from education and training || 4.9 || - 0.7 Tertiary education attainment || 23.8 || + 8.4 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment No specific commitments were made by the Czech Republic. However,
within the framework of the Europe 2020 strategy, the Czech Republic set the following national targets for 2020 concerning youth: the number of
early-school leavers at 5.5%; tertiary educational attainment at 32%; and
reducing youth unemployment by a third. The 2012 Czech National Reform Programme foresees: ·
strengthening active employment policy, putting
emphasis on youth employment and expanding the use of flexible working
arrangements to facilitate the reconciliation of professional and family life; ·
developing innovative tools for active labour
market policy, implementing innovative projects focused on staff training,
retraining vulnerable groups and supporting youth employment by interlinking
education, vocational training and counselling during the transition from
school to work; ·
completing the National Qualifications Framework
and the National Occupations Framework and introducing a lifelong career
counselling system by the end of 2015. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Young people are defined as a priority group within the active
employment policy. Individual Action Plans are being used which define the
procedure and timetable for implementation of measures to increase job
opportunities. It is elaborated and signed if a job applicant is registered as
unemployed continuously for more than 5 months. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In order to offer the possibility of gaining work experience, a new
ESF-funded project called 'Traineeships in Companies - education through
practice' is to be implemented between September 2012 and October 2014 providing
several-months internships in companies. It will have a budget allocation of
approx. EUR 32 million and will cover a minimum of 5,000 participants. The
project is focused on sectors of the future and will involve mainly graduates,
but also other groups who lack work experience to complete their skills
profiles. If the project proves to be successful, the internships might become
a 'standard' offer of assistance to the unemployed. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Youth is a priority group of active labour market policy, including
job creation programmes (e.g. investment incentives etc.), but data broken down
by the number of young people covered is not available. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds The second priority axis of the ESF Human Resources Operational
Programme predominantly focuses on achieving the objective of reducing
unemployment among young people up to 25 years of age. By August 2012, EUR 54.9
million were allocated, EUR 46.6 million committed and EUR 20 million
disbursed. The Education for Competitiveness Operational Programme contributes
to integration into the labour market and reducing unemployment of young people
through all of its priority axes. By August 2012, EUR 820 million were
allocated, EUR 678 million committed, EUR 353 million disbursed. The Prague Adaptability Operational Programme attempts at increasing
the quality of education and vocational training, directly targeting young
people. It also addresses, among others, disadvantaged people, including youth.
Furthermore, the Programme supports activities aiming at developing lifelong
learning systems and strategies in businesses, professional training and
services for employees, promoting entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as
supporting self-employment. By August 2012, EUR 32.5 million were allocated,
EUR 22.7 million committed and EUR 16 million disbursed. The revisions of the ESF Programmes in 2011 and 2012 focus on
strengthening priority axes and areas of intervention when youth is one of the
target groups. There is no information provided on the ERDF funding to youth
employment measures. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The amendment to the Employment Act enables a person getting
prepared for a future job (so excluding only pupils within compulsory
education) to register at the Labour office to get a full spectrum of its
services, thus improving a possibility to acquire professional practice even
during studies. The Amendment to the Labour Code introduced since January 2012
differentiates severance pay according to the length of employment (lower
severance pay for employment relation shorter than 2 years). This is aimed to
encourage employers to hire young workers, while reducing firing costs. As of January 2013 the current lower statutory minimum wage levels
applicable to those aged 18 to 21 shall be eliminated which may adversely
affect the employability of young people to some extent. DENMARK 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 14.2 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 14.2 || +6.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 9.6 || +3.8 NEET rate || 6.3 || +2.0 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 9.6 || -2.9 Tertiary Education Attainment || 41.2 || +2.0 2. Commitments made with a view to combating and preventing youth unemployment The budget agreement for 2012 placed
emphasis on increased employability of young people by making additional
resources available for education/training and labour market experience of
young people. In August 2012, the Danish Government proposed a Youth Package
for the 2013 draft budget agreement with a total value of EUR 90 million. The aim is to help more young people (aged 18 to 30) into education,
internship and work. The Youth Package includes the following initiatives: ·
bridging education programmes for uneducated
young people (EUR 6 million/600 young people); ·
placing internship consultants in schools to
help young people find an internship (EUR 2.1 million); ·
improving adult apprenticeship schemes also
covering young adults (EUR 24 million /1,050 people); ·
allocating funds for long-term unemployed
skilled and un-skilled young people (EUR 3.5 million /1.500 young people); ·
improving the job rotation scheme (EUR 36
million/2,100 young people); ·
developing graduate job partnerships (EUR 0.8
million/600 young people). 3. Progress in
implementation of the commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes
and other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Young people under 30 are entitled to a
first interview at a jobcentre within one month of unemployment. Everyone has a
right – and duty – to receive active labour market measures within three months
of unemployment. Young people under 25 receive lower
benefits in order to create an incentive to take up education or find a job. In
addition, the 2013 draft budget agreement, proposed by
the Danish Government, provides that an education and apprenticeship guarantee
should be offered within the vocational youth education system. 3.2. Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In order to increase the employability of
young people and lower the drop-out rates, the Danish Government proposed to
better target vocational youth education towards the needs on the labour
market. Since 2009, the Danish Parliament has agreed
upon five agreements focusing on increasing training places in companies. The
latest agreement from November 2011 ('Increased efforts for more company
training places in 2012’), which has a budget of approximately EUR 347 million,
entails: ·
the creation of 7,400 internships and 3,000
school-based training positions in 2012 (a 25% increase compared to 2009); ·
the continuation of a bonus of up to EUR 9,333
to private and public employers who enter into a training agreement with a
trainee. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) In 2010/2011, 25 % of the 252,000 young
people in upper secondary education and in vocational education and training
participated in education programmes or competitions in the field of
entrepreneurship. In the same period, 1,908 teachers at the same education
system levels participated in entrepreneurship courses. In 2010/2011, 6.3% of
the students in Bachelor and Masters-level programmes participated in
entrepreneurship courses. In addition, Denmark's overall innovation strategy aims to enhance creativity and
entrepreneurship throughout the education system, including in adult education.
The ESF is involved in activities to promote the entrepreneurial spirit in the
education system. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Denmark is among
the countries which has relatively low levels of youth unemployment and which
continues to target young people through the ESF. According to recent figures,
young people (15-24 years) account for 40 % of the participants in ESF-funded
measures (as of December 2011, 11,205 young people had participated in ESF
projects). For young people aged 15-24 years a
total of EUR 17.4 million has been disbursed for projects with
activities related to youth employment and educational and vocational
training in the Danish ESF programme. This includes a
disbursement of EUR 9.2 million towards activities for young people
with special needs. The Danish ESF programme for the 2007-13
period aims to strengthen youth education and increase employability by
adapting youth education to labour market needs. The first results of several
ESF projects aiming to reduce drop-out rates in youth education have been very
positive (for example mentoring schemes, induction periods and
apprenticeships). In 2011, the Danish ESF programme was modified in order to
reallocate resources towards youth. The ERDF may also invest in measures aiming
at ensuring a qualified workforce in relation to the three focus areas of the
ERDF; innovation and knowledge sharing, use of new technologies and
entrepreneurship. There is no specific targeting on youth in the ERDF programme
(and there are no statistics on youth participation in the ERDF). 3.5. Amendments to the
legislative framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The Danish Government has taken
considerable steps to combat rising youth unemployment, such as the Youth
Packages 1, 2 and 3 from 2009 – 2011 and the recent youth package from August
2012 (see section 2 above). ESTONIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 20.2% (August 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 22.3 || + 10.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 9.1 || + 4.1 NEET rate (18+24) || 11.8 || + 3.0 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 10.9 || - 3.1 Tertiary Education Attainment || 40.3 || + 6.2 2. Commitments made
with a view to combating and preventing youth unemployment Estonia has set a national target in the NRP at 10% in 2020 (15% in 2015)
on combating youth unemployment. Under the EuroPlus Pact 2012, it furthermore
made a commitment to develop new programmes for improving employment among young
people with low competitiveness. Programmes will be developed to offer formal
education to young people aged 16-29 who lack specialised education, as well as
for outreach to at-risk youth and their inclusion in active labour market
measures and education. 3. Progress in implementation of the commitments Public employment
services’ intervention is provided on the basis of individual action plans.
Also, in cooperation with youth centres and organisations 11 youth targeted
workshops named “tööklubi” ("work clubs") took place with 300
participants during the first half of 2012. As regards ESF support, roughly 23%
of all projects have been supported under open calls for proposals since 2009,
directly addressing young unemployed participants. In 2010-2011, two special
calls for projects targeted youth. In 2011, 31,994 youngsters participated in
the activities of the ESF programme “Development of Youth Work Quality”, (15,588,
1st half of 2012). 3.1. Youth
guarantee schemes and other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor
in education or training (NEET) or other groups at risk The KUTSE programme,
co-financed from ESF invites students who have dropped out from vocational
education back to school to finish their studies. The TULE programme, also
co-financed by ESF allows university drop-outs to finish their higher education
studies free of charge. The wage subsidy is the main incentive measure for
employers to recruit long-term unemployed people. Young unemployed people (aged
16-24) are entitled for a wage subsidy under more favourable conditions. 3.2 Youth
traineeships and apprenticeships The process of
entering the labour market for young people is most effectively supported
through career counselling services and work practice schemes provided by the
PES. An apprenticeship training scheme offers unemployed people practical work
experience and improves their professional skills and knowledge. Nine pilot
projects are running for youth aged 16-29 without any professional education. 3.3. Support
to job creation (including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Business start-up
grants of maximum 4,474 euro are paid to registered unemployed people who are
at least 18 years of age and have completed business training, etc. In order to create
business incentives among undergraduate students, a business plan competition “Ajujaht”
(“Brainhunt”) has been carried out under the Enterprise Estonia awareness
programme co-funded by the ESF. The competition is open for teams of 1-7
members of which 50% must have Estonian residency and be aged 17-35[13]. The new curricula
for general education includes an entrepreneurship subject. An internet portal
for the entrepreneurial education[14]
was introduced in January 2012. Youth
entrepreneurship and self-employment is also supported through the Youth in
Action programme (youth initiatives sub-programme: 31 projects in 2011) and the
state programme for youth work camps (about 6,000 young people every summer). 3.4.
Mobilisation of funds ESF resources
allocated to ALMPs through ESF programme ‘Increasing the supply of qualified
workforce in 2007-2013’ amounts to EUR 97,349,162. Additionally ESF has
co-financed employment related vocational training projects EUR 2,143,610
(disbursed: EUR 475,743). Also ESF funds have been allocated to open calls
under the measure “Developing Learners-Centred and Innovative Vocational
Education and extending the opportunities for Lifelong Learning” EUR 3,459,285.
ESF resources allocated to other projects targeting youth unemployment were EUR
2,204,788 (disbursed: EUR 670,487). Under the ESF programme “Development of
Youth Work Quality”, EUR 1,020,490 were committed and EUR 776,343 were
disbursed. ESF resources allocated to the Programme for Continuing Studies in
Vocational Education – KUTSE EUR 1,629,747 and to the Programme for Continuing
Studies in Higher Education- TULE EUR 4,553,705. ERDF investments
allocated to non-formal learning infrastructure (e.g. youth centres, hobby
schools) were EUR 20,199,276 (disbursed: EUR 15,165,487). 3.5.
Amendments to the legislative framework facilitating labour market entry for
young people In December 2011 the
Government approved the Employment Programme 2012-2013, whereby among other
target groups young unemployed can benefit from new measures under the
programme that are aimed at supporting readiness for work including work clubs,
job search workshops, voluntary work etc. Estonia has an EPP commitment to modernise vocational education curricula,
making them outcome-based and linked with the qualification framework with
practical studies becoming even more important. By spring 2013 the necessary
methodological and legislative basis for the new curricula will be in place and
the new Vocational Education Institutions Act will come into force in September
2013. FINLAND 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 18.9% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 20.1 || +3.6 Youth unemployment ratio || 10.1 || +1.3 NEET rate || 8.4 || +0.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 9.8 || 0 Tertiary Education Attainment || 46 || +0.3 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment A revamped
Youth Guarantee for young people[15]
will be launched in January 2013: each person younger than 25 and each recent
graduate under 30 will be offered work, a traineeship, or a study, workshop or
labour market rehabilitation place, within 3 months of becoming unemployed. The
Guarantee also includes an “Education Guarantee”: each comprehensive school
graduate will be guaranteed a place in further education, workshop activity,
rehabilitation or similar. A temporary “Skills programme for young adults” will
be implemented in 2013-2016: additional places will be targeted for those 20-29
year olds who have only attended comprehensive school. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
Youth Guarantee is aimed at reducing the time a young person spends as a NEET. Finland also uses youth outreach work to reach young people under the age of 29 at risk of
exclusion as early as possible and to direct them to low-threshold services
that promote their growth and independence as well as access to education and
work. About 70% of young people reached out to by youth workers have only basic
education. Youth
workshops provide young people with the opportunity to work under guidance and
support as well as a tailored pathway to education, help towards completing
one’s education by working together with the education provider, or support
finding employment through the open labour market. In total, 73% of
participants have not completed vocational education. At the moment there are
196 workshops and their activities cover 80% of the municipalities in Finland but they are being extended to cover the whole country. In addition, more training, language courses and counselling will be provided to
reduce the NEET risk among young immigrants for whom this risk is four to five
times higher than for other young people. Other
measures being implemented include more study places in vocational education,
regional re-distribution of the study places according to changes in age
groups, changes of the acceptance criteria for vocational education &
training, additional resources and more career counselling for young job
seekers in the employment offices, increased municipal responsibility in
counselling comprehensive school graduates. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships There
were around 3,200 people under the age of 25 in traineeships with labour market
subsidy in 2011. Furthermore, the Education Guarantee includes an
apprenticeship training pilot project that supports both the training organiser
and the employer by providing additional resources. The pilot project's
objective is to develop apprenticeship training into a suitable form of
training for young basic education graduates. The training compensation for
employers of young people covered by the guarantee will rise to EUR 800/month,
while the students’ number will be around 500. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The so-called Sanssi ("chance") Card, a wage subsidy
measure for lowering employers' threshold for hiring young people, was
introduced in 2010 and will now be made permanent. The
Sanssi Card supports employment of recently graduated young people under the
age of 30 through a pay subsidy system. The card has made pay subsidy more
visible for both youth and employers. Between June 2010 and the beginning of
2012, the Card was granted to around 24,000 young people of whom around 5,300
got a job (some 3,100 men and 2,200 women). Start-up
grants of EUR 670–1,080 may be granted for up to 18 months. The percentage
of young people from all applicants awarded a start-up grant is approximately
10%, which is about 800 young people per year. Finland estimates that of all
labour policy measures, the start-up grant is one of the most effective ways to
get a position in the labour market. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds EUR 60 million/year
will be given for the Youth Guarantee in 2013–2016, and EUR 27 million in 2013 and
EUR 52 million/year in 2014-2016 for the temporary “Skills programme
for young adults”. Priority
2 of the Finnish ESF OP covers e.g. training for young people and school
drop-outs, preventing discrimination in education, training and access to jobs.
The share of people under 25 years participating in measures under this
priority has been considerably higher than in the others. The ESF and national
co-funding allocated by August 2012 is circa EUR 140 million. The
amount of ESF and national co-funding paid by August 2012 is circa 57 million
euros. The
monitoring system does not allow for reporting on ERDF funding to youth employment
measures that usually have an indirect effect on youth employment. No
reallocations or reprogramming have been made or are foreseen in the context of
the YOI. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people No
recent developments can be reported in this respect. FRANCE 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 25.7% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 22.9 || +3.6 Youth unemployment ratio || 8.4 || +1.3 NEET rate || 12.0 || +1.8 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 12 || +0.5 Tertiary Education Attainment || 43.4 || +2.2 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment As
the last YOI bilateral meeting between French authorities and the Commission
coincided with French presidential elections, no specific commitment was made
by France at the time as regards youth unemployment. Nonetheless, in the
context of the Euro Plus Pact, France announced it would increase the number of
young people in combined work and traineeship/apprenticeship programmes from
600,000 today to 800,000 in 2015. Moreover, youth has been at the core of the
new government's priorities and policy. Two of its major reforms target
unemployed and disadvantaged young people. The 150,000 full-time "Emplois d'avenir" (100,000 in 2013,
50,000 in 2014) are meant for young people aged 16-25 with no or low
qualification, living in urban or rural deprived areas with
high unemployment rates. They will be open-ended contracts or one-year
contracts, renewable over three years, mostly in non-commercial sectors and in
areas with social utility and sustainable recruitment perspectives (such as
green jobs, social economy or tourism…). The State will pay for 75% of the young
person's gross remuneration for three years. The second
measure, the "Contrat de génération", aims to promote both
young and older workers’ employment, by providing training for young people
(aged under 30) delivered by senior colleagues. It is currently under
negotiation with the social partners, who, amongst others, are invited to
reflect on means to ensure young people's effective entry into the enterprise
(training, interns, work-training combinations or alternance). 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk A
few projects have been operational for several years and have provided
low-skilled young people with personalised support. The
"Contrat d'insertion dans la vie sociale" (CIVIS) is a contract between a young person and a local
authority, responsible for integrating young people both professionally and socially.
135,000 young people have received a grant from the State with CIVIS in 2012
and 850,000 have been followed up by local bodies (“missions locales”). The
"Contrat d'autonomie" is present in 11 French "départements[16]" where young people face major difficulties in accessing
employment. It consists in guidance towards employment, a training leading to
qualifications or entrepreneurship, within six months. It has involved 15,000
young people in 2012. The
"Ecoles de la deuxième chance" ("second-chance schools") target young people under
26 who left the education system without a diploma or professional skills.
12,000 young people have attended such schools in 2012. 20
centres "Défense deuxième chance" offer guidance and training to
2,430 young people with no skills or diploma. They are
managed by the "Etablissement public
d'insertion de la Défense",placed under the authority of the Ministry
of Defence. Since February 2012, it has also been taking care of young,
underage offenders. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In
France, there are two types of contracts blending training and work
experience: the "Contrat d'apprentissage" (apprenticeship
contract), for young people aged 16 to 25, and the "Contrat de
professionnalisation" (youth aged 26 years or more). These contracts
apply to almost 600,000 young people (430,000 and 160,000 respectively). New
measures were announced in March 2011 to foster apprenticeships and
work-training combinations ("alternance") for young people,
mostly consisting of financial incentives to enterprises and more flexibility.
Apprenticeship in enterprises is based on a system of quotas: in case of an
insufficient number of apprentices, the company has to pay a fee. Since March
2011, this quota has been raised. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) There
are no specific programmes in France targeting young entrepreneurs. However,
the programme "Nouvel accompagnement pour la création et la reprise
d'entreprise" (NACRE) supports entrepreneurship for
people facing employability issues and job seekers. It allows them to build or
take over a business through provision guidance at each stage of the process
over 3 years. Young people account for 8% of the participants. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Young
people have accounted for 39% of the ESF beneficiaries in France. EUR 473 million out of the total ESF amount spent since the beginning of the
current programming period (EUR 1.5 billion) have been dedicated to youth
measures. Taking into account programmed actions, the ESF will involve 3.4
million young people for a total amount of EUR 1.1 billion, out of the EUR 3.5
billion total ESF allocation. Young people also benefit from non-age targeted
projects. Out of 17,963 operations, 12,600 involve young people while 1,998 are
designed exclusively for them. Both "Ecoles de la deuxième chance"
and the centres "Défense deuxième chance" are supported by the
ESF with EUR 33 million and EUR 62 million respectively. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people No
information available. GERMANY 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 8.0 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 8.6 || -2.0 Youth unemployment ratio || 4.5 || -1.0 NEET rate || 7.5 || -0.9 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 11.5 || -0.3 Tertiary Education Attainment || 30.7 || +3.0 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Implementing the National Training Pact,
signed between the Federal Government, the Länder and the representative
employers' organisations; ·
Adapting and extending existing instruments
(career start coaches, placement officers) to support and promote young people. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Some
2,000 schools can now profit from the assistance of career start coaches under
the Career Entry Support programme to help their students successfully
complete the transition to career training. Until March 2012, 87,000 school
students participated in the programme. In
addition, Public Employment Services (PES) supported 232,406 young people in
preparing and getting qualifications needed on the labour market. Finally,
38,240 participants with disabilities could get the assistance. The
initiative "Jugend Stärken" aims to give individual support to
disadvantaged young people and to integrate them in the labour market.[17] Some 35 municipalities take place in this initiative. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
well-established dual apprenticeship system attracts 61% of pupils to pursue
vocational training. In 2011, 600,000 apprenticeships were offered and 570,000
Vocational Education and Training (VET) contracts were concluded. The National Training Pact aims at
increasing the educational attainment of young people. It aims at offering a
training or apprenticeship option to every young person who is interested in vocational
training and who fulfils necessary requirements. Every year, 60,000 additional
apprenticeships are agreed to be provided and the number of training-companies
is aimed to be raised by 30,000 per year. Furthermore,
30,000 additional entry-level qualifications will be provided (plus 10,000
entry level+ qualifications for less performing people). Entry-level
qualifications offer 6 to 12 months of company-based pre-training courses in
order to qualify individuals for apprenticeships and to improve the matching
between applicants and companies. Participating companies receive up to EUR 216
per month to cover the social security contributions. The
Federal Government has doubled the number of placement officers assigned to the
ESF programme for matching traineeships with companies seeking trainees. The "Abschluss
und Anschluss – Bildungsketten bis zum Ausbildungsabschluss"
initiative aims to support young people entering the workforce and to prevent
long transition periods from school to work With
the Initiative to Support Structural Change, low-skilled individuals are
helped to acquire vocational qualifications or learn employable skills through
modular courses if it is not possible for them to complete a full vocational
programme in one go. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Employers
can get a wage subsidy for less performing workers in order to compensate their
lower productivity. Unemployed people who start a business can get initial
financial support as well as an investment grant to start up a business. Additionally,
self-employed people can be supported by grants and subsidies, as well as by
receiving counselling. These schemes are open to everybody. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds The budget line for
youth employment measures in Germany is about EUR 3.74 billion (EUR 2.05
billion from the ESF and EUR 1.69 billion from national co-financing). EUR 1.64 billion of
the ESF shares have been already committed and EUR 963.2 million have been
already paid. From
the co-financing, more than a half (EUR 939.9 million) is already disbursed. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The
Career Entry Support became a regulation instrument as of April 2012
(codified in social code III). The
legal obligation to give career guidance to pupils with special need has been
introduced in social code III – in line with the inclusion principle of the
UN-convention on rights of people with disabilities. GREECE 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 57.0% (August 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 44.4 || +22.3 Youth unemployment ratio || 13.0 || +6.3 NEET rate || 17.4 || + 5.7 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 13.1 || - 1.7 Tertiary Education Attainment || 28.9 || + 3.3 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Expansion/reinforcement of existing initiatives
co-funded by the EU funds operational programmes to support youth unemployment,
and a re-allocation of resources across operational programmes (away from
non-performing actions towards youth actions); ·
Preparation of an action plan consisting of targeted interventions to boost employment and
entrepreneurship among young people, to be mainly supported with funds under
the Greek National Strategic Reference Framework 2007 – 2013. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Various
schemes, largely co-financed by the ESF, aim to promote youth employment. These
schemes comprise various training programmes for skills acquisition, job search
assistance to unemployed youth through the Greek Manpower Organisation (OAED),
career guidance services offered by vocational training and tertiary education
institutions, acquisition of first work experience for vocational education and
training graduates and employment subsidy schemes. Furthermore, an on-going ESF
co-funded operation is offering work-based training opportunities for students
in the upper secondary, post-secondary and tertiary education. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
Greek PES (OAED) operates 51 vocational education schools combining in-class
education and remunerated apprenticeships in undertakings of both the private
and public sector. In addition, OAED provides incentives to employers to accept
students for internships (where the employer pays 80% of the wage of an unskilled
worker to the trainee and OAED reimburses the employer up to 50% of the total
amount/wage paid). The Ministry of
Education, Religious Affairs, Sport and Culture operates work-based training
schemes for tertiary education, as well as for vocational training students. An
ESF co-financed scheme for post-secondary maritime education students is also
running. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The Ministry of
Education, Religious Affairs, Sport and Culture operates with ESF support
career offices at vocational education and tertiary education institutions, as
well as entrepreneurship units for tertiary education students. A significant part
of the Structural Funds' financial envelope is currently allocated to the
promotion of entrepreneurship and business creation opportunities for young
unemployed and young professionals (in general up to 35 years of age). Moreover, several
schemes, mostly ESF co-financed, provide subsidies for employers to hire
unemployed people. Although most of these schemes are targeted to the
unemployed in general, selection criteria often present priority for youth. Three
schemes are targeted in particular to youth: a) an ESF co-financed scheme
providing support to employers to hire young people aged 15-24 years old, with
a total budget of approximately EUR 27 million addressed to 5,000
beneficiaries, b) an ESF co-financed scheme providing support to employers to
hire unemployed university graduates aged up to 35 years of age, with a total
budget of approximately EUR 68 million, addressed to 5,000 beneficiaries, and
c) an ESF co-financed scheme aiming to enhance access to employment and
business creation for people threatened by unemployment, unemployed/job-seekers
and inactive people. The scheme is addressed to women and youth between 18-35
years of age, has a total budget of EUR 52 million and the expected number of
beneficiaries is meant to reach 5,000. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds A total of EUR 786 million under the ESF is reportedly committed to actions
supporting job-creation, the acquisition of skills and work experience, the
promotion of entrepreneurship, and overall facilitating access to employment.
However, it is noted that this amount does not correspond to actions targeted
only at youth. Comprehensive information on ESF reallocation/reprogramming actions
is not yet available. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece puts emphasis on the
rapid adjustment of labour costs to help overcome the high unemployment rates.
In this frame, minimum wages in the private sector for workers under 25 years
old have been reduced by 32% compared with previous values defined in the
latest General National Collective Agreement (10 percentage points lower than
for workers older than 25 years of age). Any benefits connected to the GNCA are
also reduced proportionally i.e. unemployment benefits, remuneration for
apprenticeships and so forth. Other reforms aiming at rendering the labour
market more flexible have also been implemented, but are not targeted only at
youth. HUNGARY 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 29.0 % (August 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 26.1 || +6.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 6.4 || +1.4 NEET rate || 13.3 || +1.8 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 11.2 || -0.5 Tertiary Education Attainment || 28.1 || +5.7 2. Commitments with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Development and implementation of various
initiatives and programmes to support employability of young people; ·
New measures for the development of the
vocational training system; ·
A modification of the ESF Operational Programme
aimed at reallocating more sources to Active Labour Market Policy. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Public
Employment Services implement their major active labour market policy
programmes aimed at improving employability of disadvantaged people, including
youth. Job-seekers receive tailor made support including training, employment
subsidies and job-search assistance. According to recent plans, housing subsidy
will be introduced in order to promote mobility among others of young people.
Young job-seekers will represent 23% (ca. 21,000) of the participants. Furthermore,
advisory system and career services will be provided to students and pupils in
order to better plan their education path and prevent early drop-out. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
Traineeship programme gives opportunity to young career starters to gain work
experience as trainees at 2,000 – 4,000 SMEs. The call for proposals will be
published in September 2012. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The
National Employment Fund finances the "START programme" aiming at
providing contribution allowances to employers employing young job-seekers.
Thanks to the initiative, around 25,000 young entrants were employed in April
2012. Building
on the good experience of the START schemes, in the framework of an action plan
to protect jobs, employers who employ people under the age of 25 will be
eligible for tax relief as of 2013. Relevant legislation is under preparation.
It is estimated that around 200,000 young employees could benefit from the
initiative. Another
programme ("First job guarantee") financed by the Employment Fund
supports young job-seekers to gain work experience by ensuring full wage
compensation to employers. The programme was launched in September 2012 and
will last until the end of the year. It may contribute to the employment of
3.000-3.500 young job-seekers. A
programme to support entrepreneurship provides complex support to young people
willing to start their own business. Training programmes start in the 4th
quarter of 2012 and financial support will be available as of 2013. The programme
is expected to reach at least 3,200 participants in training and 1,500 newly
established ventures until 2014. Young
people are encouraged to obtain a first job experience in NGOs. The call for
proposals is to be launched in the 3rd quarter of 2012 targeted to
around 2,000 young career starters. Hungary is also going to implement
innovative projects supporting – among others – the labour market entry of
youth, where strict follow-up of the number of young participants is required. In
addition to the ESF, EAFRD and ERDF are also used to finance youth employment
programmes. EAFRD programme aims at encouraging young farmers to start an own
venture in the agricultural sector, whereas ERDF supports job creation in SMEs
by increasing intensity rate of aid to 70% (from 50%) if at least half of the
new employees are young job-seekers. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds From
national funding, EUR 152.8 million has been allocated and EUR 28.4 million
disbursed to youth employment measures. By
ESF co-financed measures, an amount of EUR 189.9 million was allocated and EUR
19.8 million disbursed for the same purposes. In
addition, the ERDF contributed to the target by allocating EUR 32.1 million and
EAFRD by EUR 14.2 million to youth employment measures. A
modification of the ESF Operational Programmes has been finished successfully,
no further reallocation is envisaged. A total amount of EUR 96.5 million has
been reallocated to the priority axis aiming at increasing employability of the
labour force. In the priority axis aiming at increasing adaptability, EUR 30.4
million have been reallocated to establish a new traineeship programme for
youth. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people There
have been several amendments and new initiatives introduced in Hungarian labour
law concerning the legal basis of youth employment, aiming at increasing the
flexibility in the labour market thus enabling a higher rate of employment
including young workers. The new Act on vocational
training aims at establishing a more effective, dual vocational training
system. Measures like lowering the compulsory age in education as well as putting
more emphasis on practice-oriented approaches in vocational education and
training enable young people to acquire a qualification and step into the
labour market already at the age of 17. This goes together with a decrease in
the time allocated to acquiring key competences in vocational education and
training. The representatives of economic players and chambers will play a more
important role in the new vocational education. IRELAND 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 34.5% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 29.4 || + 16.1 Youth unemployment ratio || 11.7 || + 5 NEET rate || 18.4 || +3.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 10.6 || -0.7 Tertiary Education Attainment || 49.4 || +3.3 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Modification of the ESF Operational Programme,
requested in December 2011, to shift EUR 25 million to “Youthreach” activity to
maintain 3,700 training places for early school leavers until end 2013; ·
A New Labour Market
Education and Training Fund will be co-financed by the European Social
Fund (ESF) and create up to 6,500 training places, in particular for
the long-term unemployed. Four targeted, sectoral themes have been set out for
the provision of this funding, one of which is aimed specifically
at those aged under 25.. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The Irish Government
is tackling unemployment generally through the twin strategies: Action Plan
for Jobs and Pathways to Work. The aim of the Action Plan for
Jobs is to support the creation of 100,000 net new jobs by 2016, while the
objective of Pathways to Work is to provide those who are unemployed
with the appropriate training and skills to avail of the job opportunities
which will arise as the economy recovers. The Government is committed to
supporting over 85,000 job placements, work experience and Back to Education
beneficiaries in 2012, including through the “JobBridge” internship programme.
Many young people will benefit from these opportunities. In addition, over
450,000 education and training places will be provided in the higher education,
further education and training sectors. These places will include provision for
school leavers, although the long-term unemployed are a priority target. Young people, who
are unemployed, once they have been on the Live Register for three months, are
referred to the employment service for a guidance interview and additional
support in order to identify and address specific difficulties they face in
securing employment. The aim is to profile newly unemployed people when they
enter the Live Register, as a basis for immediate referral of those most
needing assistance. Young people leaving
education with Leaving Certificate or higher qualifications who face difficulty
in finding work can register with the employment service for assistance with
job search. Access to training and other labour market programmes is not made
available immediately after leaving education, to ensure that labour market
programmes are not seen to encourage exit from education. For
early school leavers (under 18 years and with no Leaving Certificate) who seek
to register with the employment service, the emphasis is on encouraging them to
stay on at school and complete it. If this is not possible, they are considered
eligible to register with the employment service and may be referred to
specifically designed training programmes, such as Community Training Centres or
“Youthreach”. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The total population
of registered apprentices at the end of May 2012 is 11,653 of which 4,309 are
redundant. For 2012, 587
apprentices were registered at end of May 2012. The main areas with an increase
in registrations are in the Engineering, Electrical and Motor Family of Trades. A
special Redundant Apprentice Placement Scheme was continued in 2012 and at the
end of May 2012, 717 redundant apprentices are currently placed with employers
and 227 redundant apprentices have completed an on-the-job placement. In
addition, 43 redundant apprentices of Electrical, Plumbing and Carpentry &
Joinery are to complete on-the-job-training in Magdeburg/Germany. A further
group of apprentices will follow on in September 2012. The "Action Plan for Jobs"
confirmed a commitment to initiate a review of the Irish
apprenticeship model which is now underway. Traineeships programmes provide entry-level
occupation-specific training and integrate formal training from the Irish
National Training and Employment Authority (FÁS) and workplace coaching with a
host employer. All programmes are fully certified. Traineeships are open to all
unemployed people including young job seekers. Funding for circa 5,000
beneficiaries has been allocated to this programme in 2011 and a similar level
of funding has been allocated for 2012. The
national “JobBridge”[18]
programme provides work experience placements for 6-9 months. The national
budget allocation to the “JobBridge” internship programme is EUR 65.7 million
in 2012 and 5,000 people participated until end of July 2012. All
these measures are financed through national funding only. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Ireland is implementing a number of measures to
enable young people to get access to a first job (see section 3.2) but there
are no specific measures to enhance entrepreneurship or job creation for youth.
Young people can however make use of the general support for self-employment/small
business start-up: Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, entrepreneurship training
and advisory and financial support through local County Enterprise Boards. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds The
committed budget allocation to youth employment measures is EUR 102.6 million
from the ESF and EUR 102.6 million from national funding (EUR 205.22 million in
total) (see also information under section 2 above). 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people No
amendments have been reported. ITALY 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 35.1 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 29.1 || +7.8 Youth unemployment ratio || 8 || +1.4 NEET rate* || 19.8 || +3.2 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 18.2 || -1.5 Tertiary Education Attainment || 20.3 || +1.1 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment The
Italy YOI action team meeting identified a number of actions to boost education
and employment of young people, including: ·
supporting actions in the field of education for
convergence regions through transferring regional resources to the national
"Education" operational programme (worth some EUR 300 million);
reprogramming the Sicily regional operational programme (worth EUR 452 million)
in order to launch a Youth Action Plan; ·
extending the tax credit scheme to encourage
companies to hire young people and promoting youth entrepreneurship (currently
worth EUR 100 million); ·
promoting apprenticeship schemes; supporting
mobility through the co-financing of Erasmus and Leonardo Da Vinci mobility
schemes; ·
making better use of available funds to improve
the quality of Public Employment Services; ·
supporting care services for children and the elderly. 3. Progress in the implementation of
the commitments 3.1 Support to youth guarantees
and/or other measures targeting NEETs or other young people at risk The
Italian Government programme provides for an education and apprenticeship
guarantee to young people within the vocational education system. In addition,
under the June 2012 Labour Market Reform, public employment services must
provide people, within 3 three months after losing their job, with a set of
basic services (including vocational training). The Labour Market Reform also
includes new provisions to combat early-school leaving and improve the
situation of NEETs. The Ministry of Labour allocated EUR 10 million to work
placements of up to 6 months for young people aged 24-35 in the four convergence
regions (Campania, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily). Some 122,000 NEET could
benefit from this measure in fields such as cultural heritage, tourism and
social services. Practically
all the regions have taken specific measures to address the situation of NEETs.
Actions range from providing orientation and guidance to promoting transition
to work (e.g. by increasing participation to apprenticeship-like vocational
training), giving incentives to hire young people and fostering
self-employment. Several of them are taken in the framework of wider
"youth plans", which may encompass other Community/national/regional
funds. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In
order to implement the 2011 reform on apprenticeships, the Labour Ministry has
put in place a series of support measures under the AMVA programme ("Apprendistato
e Mestieri a Vocazione Artigianale") worth around EUR 100 million
(co-financed by the ESF), including support to employment services,
identification of skills requirements, promotion of apprenticeships and
financial incentives to companies. In
addition, the FIXO programme ("Formazione e Innovazione per
l'Occupazione") aims to facilitate school-to-work transition by
providing guidance services and other active labour market policies. The programme,
worth 36 million EUR, will involve 365 schools (55,000 secondary school graduates),
70 universities (35,000 university graduates) and 800 PhDs. Companies can
receive support to hire apprentices in higher education or research. In
addition to national initiatives, several regions have taken measures to
promote apprenticeships. Italy has also used the EU Lifelong Learning
Programme to support traineeships abroad. Some 14,500 young people in
vocational education and 12,238 active young people have taken part in mobility
schemes. 3.3 Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment) Apart
from the AMVA programme mentioned under section 3.2, Italy adopted a new
measure to promote entrepreneurship: people aged under 35 years may start a
limited liability company with only EUR 1 capital. In addition, almost all the
regions have taken measures to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment
ranging from integrated paths for business start-up, support to the creation of
spin-off companies, to micro-credit. 3.4 Mobilisation of funds Italy adopted a Cohesion Action Plan to
speed up implementation of structural funds in Italy's southern regions. The
first phase (December 2011) focused on reprogramming
resources from regional operational programmes towards four priorities
(education, employment, railways, and digital agenda) and amounted to EUR 3.7
billion (of which EUR 1.4 billion for actions aimed at boosting education and
employment). The second phase (May 2012) focused on reprogramming resources
from national and interregional operational programmes and amounted to EUR 2.3
billion (including EUR 600 million for actions directed at young people).
Actions of particular relevance under the Cohesion Action Plan include: a youth
action plan in Sicily (EUR 452 million); promoting transition from education to
work (EUR 99 million); supporting linguistic internships abroad (EUR 186
million); tackling early school-leaving and developing key-competencies (EUR
125 million). 3.5 Amendments to the
legislative framework facilitating labour market entry for young people Italy adopted a major labour market reform in June
2012 aiming to promote an efficient, dynamic and inclusive labour market.
Measures focus on tackling labour market segmentation, adapting employment
protection legislation, reducing the excessive use of atypical contracts,
adapting social protection (unemployment benefits) to the needs of the labour
market. The reform provides for a series of measures which will contribute to
facilitating young people's access to the labour market, including promoting
apprenticeships as the main route to employment and better regulating
internships. LATVIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 29.0% (June 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 31.0 || +16.5 Youth unemployment ratio || 11.2 || +5.6 NEET rate || 15.7 || +4.3 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 11.8 || -3.7 Tertiary Education Attainment || 35.7 || +8.7 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment As
a part of the YOI, Latvian authorities took commitments to support around 25
thousand young people through: ·
A range of Active Labour Market Policy
activities to promote inclusion into the labour market; ·
Education activities to prevent early school
leaving and bring early school leavers back to education. Latvian authorities have no plans to use ESF to support
student mobility grants under the Life-Long Learning programme. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk In
order to target the groups at risk, Latvian authorities have implemented
multiple projects funded by several funding sources. The ESF supports the improvement and implementation of vocational education programme; promotion of primary vocational education;
support measures for social exclusion decrease for youth and integration of
disabled youth into education (2,000 more youth participants were attracted to vocational training
programmes). The
national budget finances measures to improve education programmes for primary
schools (introduction of new
education content is planned starting with 2013/2014 academic year);
development of general education programmes for distance learning; promotion of
career consulting in 11 vocational schools to reduce number of early school
leavers; informative measures on creative
and innovative youth initiatives and youth work (182 participants);
general training measures for youth (1,470 participants). The Swiss Financing
Instrument cooperation project „Support
for Development of Youth Initiatives in Peripheral or Disadvantaged
Regions" supported 10 seminars organised for youth (incl. unemployed) on
stimulation of youth initiative and activity, attracting 191 participants) in 2012. Studies
of Latvian students in Valga Vocational education centre to obtain professional
qualification beginning from 2012-2013 have been funded
under a cooperation agreement between the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science and Estonian Ministry of Education. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Youth traineeship and apprenticeships
have been facilitated by three projects (ESF and national budget funded): the “Training and practice
for State Employment Agency (SEA) assistants” project (planned 79 participants
in 2012, EUR 250,376), within which young unemployed participate in a 5-day theoretical
training course and then have an 18 months internship at the SEA. The "Support to volunteer
work" project (planned 1,563 participants, EUR 404,428) includes participation of
young people in voluntary work activities thus improving their competences and
competitiveness. The
"Workplace for young people" project
(planned 539 participants, EUR 329,068) gives young unemployed
people the chance to be employed for a trial period of up to 9 months in order
to acquire work experience and to continue in permanent employment after the
trial. Priority is given to young people who have been unemployed for more than
4 months, who are trying to return to the labour market after a break for
childcare reasons or who are disabled. Employment is based on a work contract
remunerated at no less than the national minimum wage, while the employer
should pay social contributions. Employers receive a decreasing subsidy (its
amount is initially higher at the beginning, to compensate the lack of skills)
to cover payment of the young person and a contribution to the costs of a
trainer. Another
activity “Youth workshops”, allowing to try three
different vocational fields (for maximum 3 weeks each), will be introduced at
the end of 2012. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) General measures to support
job creation are funded under two activities of the OPs[19]:
support to entrepreneurship and self-employment (ESF co-financed) and measures to encourage innovations and business
start-ups (ERDF co-financed). In
addition, a Micro Crediting Programme for
Latvian SMEs, a Crediting Programme of Latvia and Switzerland and the SME Growth Loan Programme are also available. However, none of these programmes
are providing more privileged conditions for youth. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds By 1 August 2012, EUR 32.93 million has
been disbursed to youth
measures related to education and EUR 496,127 to
employment-related active labour market policy measures. To provide support for youth initiative measures, the
over-commitments from the national budget of EUR 90.2 million were assigned to
projects implemented under the ESF OP (EUR 26.3 million) and one ERDF OP (EUR 63.9 million) in 2012-2014. ESF and ERDF have been reprogrammed to reach
more young people within the existing activities. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people In 2012, the Ministry of Education and Science
has drafted a Regulation on traineeships and apprenticeships for vocational
education students promoting the attractiveness of vocational education and
developing the quality of traineeships and
apprenticeships to attract young people to the education process and urge them
to obtain a professional qualification that will promote their competitiveness
on the job market. LITHUANIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 26.0% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 32.9 || +19.5 Youth unemployment ratio || 9.6 || +5.5 NEET rate || 12.5 || +3.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 7.9 || +0.5 Tertiary Education Attainment || 45.4 || +5.5 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Extend, refocus or make more attractive to young
people the existing ESF measures; create new or
redesign ESF measures (pilot scheme for young volunteers, wage subsidies
instead of social security reduction scheme for the first job, improvement of apprenticeship
and internships); ·
By refocusing of ESF funding, provide support to
around 18,000 additional young people (facilitated access to the first job,
improved access to finance for start-ups or self-employment, relevant
vocational training, wage subsidies etc.); ·
Reallocate ERDF resources to support youth to
commercialise business ideas and improve accessibility of financial resources.
Overall, some 12,000 young entrepreneurs would be mentored or coached and some
25,000 young people would be better informed on business financing
opportunities; ·
Reform the labour law in order to remove
disincentives for employers to take on more staff. In particular: facilitate
temporary work contracts for up to two years; flexibility in setting working
hours; teleworking; transparent and equal remuneration for work (as agreed
during the Youth Action team visit in February 2012). 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk In
April 2012, the ESF project “Integration into Labour Market” was refocused on
youth, offering vocational training programmes to about 6,000 young people.
From the ERDF, EUR 1.3 million were transferred to measure “Assistant-3” and
EUR 12.45 million to measure “Invest LT-2”for actions dedicated to young
entrepreneurs and various business services for young people. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
Ministry of Education and Science is implementing several ESF projects with the
aim to create modern traineeship organization models (systems) for
undergraduate students and the students of integrated studies in companies and
(or) non-profit organisations, including the preparation of students’
supervisors (tutors), increasing their competences, introducing information
systems at traineeship places, trial traineeship of students in accordance with
the developed traineeship organisation model (system). Lithuania is also implementing several ESF
projects aimed to improve study programmes and traineeships. It is planned inter
alia for postgraduate students to go through a complementary traineeship in
educational institutions, in Lithuanian or European companies or foreign
universities. The complementary traineeship refers to additional practical
independent activities (no less than 320 academic hours) offered for
postgraduate students. Several
ESF projects, aiming to improve the qualification of scientists and other
researchers offer additional scientific practices, scientific research projects
and traineeships for doctoral students in foreign scientific centres. ERDF
projects invest in infrastructure, which is necessary for practical studies:
the renewal and establishment of educational laboratories, practical bases,
practical training centres, purchase of equipment for educational laboratories,
establishment of mobile scientific and demonstrative laboratories etc. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The
Entrepreneurship Promotion Fund (ESF EUR 14.5 million), currently provides
loans and training services for start-ups and self-employment, with youth among
the prioritised focus groups under this measure. A new ESF measure (EUR 3
million), “Subsidies for entrepreneurship promotion”, has been approved
recently by the government in order to increase the attractiveness of loan
schemes provided for start-ups and self-employment. In
August 2012, the project "Be active on the labour market" (providing
first-job skills for young participants) was extended until 1 September 2013
and its budget was increased by EUR 6 million (ESF), with a view to supporting
around 6,000 young people. Another
new ESF measure (EUR 9.3 million) “Support for the first job” has been recently
approved, replacing the existing social security reduction scheme for the first
job by wage subsidies. Several
ESF projects are being implemented with the aim to promote entrepreneurship in
higher education, developing entrepreneurial knowledge and skills of students,
including developing teachers' knowledge, providing necessary pedagogical
tools, etc.
The study programmes under these projects shall involve
2,560 students of higher education and 323 lecturers. Similar projects are
being implemented in secondary schools. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds In
the 2007-2013 ESF programmes, EUR 240 million are committed to actions/projects
particularly dedicated to youth. Under ERDF programmes,
EUR 157 million are currently committed to youth employment measures. Around
EUR 31 million were recently mobilised for youth employment measures by
amending programmes or making internal reallocations between measures. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people On
30 June 2012, with the view to facilitating youth integration into the labour
market, the Lithuanian Parliament adopted Labour code amendments. The possibility
to conclude a fixed-term work contract for permanent jobs in newly established
work places was prolonged until 31 July 2015. It is expected that this
amendment will facilitate youth integration into the labour market and will
have a positive impact on employment of young people, in particular of those
without job experience. LUXEMBOURG 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 18.6 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 16.4 || - 0.9 Youth unemployment ratio || 4,2 || - 1 NEET rate || 4.7[20] || - 1,1 (compared to 2009) Early Leavers from Education and Training || 6.2[21] || - 1.5 (compared to 2009) Tertiary Education Attainment || 48.2 || + 1.6 (compared to 2009) 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment The
Luxembourg Government has demonstrated a strong commitment to combat youth
unemployment. An ambitious action plan for youth employment has been announced,
which envisages a "Youth Guarantee" (Garantie Jeune): a job,
an apprenticeship or a tailor-made training scheme in the first four month
after unemployment registration. The PES' Youth Employment Service responsible
for the employment measures of the young unemployed will see a staff increase
and become more decentralised. Other measures will include: ·
Employment measure for (very) unqualified
young job seekers (18-25): "social"
training of two months followed by either returning to education, practical work
experiences (such as an apprenticeship) or other individualised outcomes; ·
Major reforms of the education system: e.g. consolidation and extension of basic education, new
orientation procedures for the school year 2012/2013. Orientation and
professional initiation courses are foreseen for the under 18 years old who
cannot access directly the professional education system, as well as promotion
of language courses organised by associations and communes; ·
Creation of a "Maison de
l'Orientation (Counselling House)":
regrouping the key public orientation services in a same place and therefore
allowing a better coordination and creating synergies. Its creation is linked
to both educational reforms and changes in the management of youth unemployment; ·
A Youth pact 2012-2014: inter-ministerial pact for national actions targeting youth. 3. Progress in
implementation of the commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes
and other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
government introduced, as maintaining in employment measure, specific contracts
to help young people acquire practical experience (i.e. Initial Employment
Contract-Practice). According to national data, published by the Employment
Ministry, more than 1,500 young people (1,000 in the private sector) benefit
from specific contracts. A large number of them are catapulted into permanent
employment. A majority of young jobseekers are non-Luxembourgers with
linguistic difficulties in education and on the employment market. An
evaluation of employment measures for youngsters ("employment support
contract" and "employment initiation contract") have been
undertaken and the results will be used this year by the Ministry of Labour and
Employment to decide if and in which way the measures will be modified. The above mentioned "Youth Guarantee" will establish
schemes to offer further education, (re)training or activation measures to the
younger jobseekers within four months of unemployment registration. The "Action
locale pour les jeunes" (Ministry of Education) is in charge of the
follow-up of early school leavers. A "second
chance school" opened in 2011 for the 16-24 years old school leavers who
face difficulties to return to the education system. The education is
individualised and the support reinforced. The duration varies between 1 and 4
semesters according to the individual needs 3.2. Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In
response to the EU2020 country-specific recommendations, Luxembourg introduced new financial incentives for employers in order to increase the
number of apprenticeships (from 27% to 40%). The measure is temporary and
applies only to the category of apprentices studying for a "Certificate of
professional capacity" (Certificat de capacité professionnelle, CCP).
Traineeships and apprenticeships cover, in 2011, 1,582 young people. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Support
to job creation covered, in 2011, 1,330 young people. The
association "Jonk Entrepreneuren" aims to promote entrepreneurship
spirit and allows students of all levels of education in Luxembourg to learn how to start and manage a business. The Junior Chamber International
Luxembourg offers people aged between 18 and 40 the possibility to engage in
projects that affect society in a positive way. The business and
entrepreneurial world are one of the primary subjects. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds The
national budget allocation to youth employment measures was EUR 35.8 million
(2012) and EUR 31 million disbursed (2011). Support to
job creation measures amount to EUR 18.6 million. The budget
for traineeships and apprenticeships measures was EUR 12.5 million in 2011. As
regards ESF, one of the ESF funding priorities is support to young people (in
particular the low-skilled and non-EU nationals), through guidance, preparation
and training, to get their first job and get on in their first job. In 2011
funds were reallocated to increase the budget of objective 1.3 "Facilitate
youth insertion in the labour market". For 2007-2011, EUR 2.9 million has
been committed under this objective; extension until 2015: EUR 6.6 million EUR
2,2 million disbursed. The idea of a cross-border project with Germany to fight against youth unemployment is envisaged and considered for co-financing by
the ESF (job monitoring and job coaching). The government created an Employment
and labour market observatory to better understand the functioning of the job
market and to evaluate measures promoting employment. The observatory has a
budget of EUR 1.8 million, allocated equally over three years (2011-2013). The
project will be co-financed by the ESF in the amount of half of the budget, or
EUR 900,000. 3.5. Amendments to the
legislative framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The
reform of the public employment service ADEM is still on-going and based on a
new legal framework (i.e. opening of three new regional agencies and 34
additional councillors within ADEM). Improved supervision of job seekers will
be accomplished through personalised monitoring. MALTA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 (latest possible figure) || 16.2% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 13.8 || +1.6 Youth unemployment ratio || 7.1 || +0.7 NEET rate || 10.6 || +1.1 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 33.5[22] || -4.6 Tertiary Education Attainment || 21.1 || +0.2 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment Malta is addressing the youth employment issue
through a number of measures aimed at assisting youth in training and seeking
employment, such as initiatives undertaken by the Employment and Training
Corporation (ETC): ·
Dedicated Youth Employment Advisors who offer
individualised career guidance and personalised action plans for employment; ·
Schemes and Programmes, which also target youth,
of which the Work Trial Scheme, Bridging the Gap Scheme and the
ESF Employment in the Social Economy Project; ·
The Youth Employment Programme (YEP) is a
programme co-funded under the European Social Fund (ESF) and
designed to increase the employability of young people and facilitate labour
market integration of youth through the services provided through a number of
professions. 3.
Progress in implementation of the commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Malta launched several projects and initiatives
targeting young people, especially NEETs or other groups at risk. By August
2012, 101 individuals participated in the ESF funded project ‘Care
Creates Change in People’s Lives and the Environment’. This project seeks
to create employment opportunities in the area of products and waste. The
target groups for this project include domestic violence victims, young
drop-outs, asylum seekers, ex-convicts and substance abusers. The ESF
funded project ‘E4L – Embark for Life’ registered a total of 254
participants as at end of June 2012. The project provides individualised
intervention and skills-based workgroups to institutionalised youths, homeless young
people or those in inappropriate housing. It aims to help young people to
develop the necessary skills for their inclusion in the labour market and
maintaining stable employment, among others. The
ETC also manages the Employment Aid Programme (EAP). The project
contributes towards the integration of disadvantaged and disabled people in the
labour market by facilitating access to employment through financial assistance
and upgrading the skills of those furthest away from the labour market through
work experience. To date, the EAP has contracted over 1,666 grants. The ETC
also offers a wide range of services that are beneficial to young people,
including the Work Trial Scheme which targets young jobseekers aged
16-24, and the Entrepreneurship
Scheme (INT) through which jobseekers are offered the
possibility of starting their business by providing a package of counselling,
entrepreneurship training, mentoring and financial assistance. Registered
unemployed mentees, whose business plans are approved and who have all official
documents/permits in order, are awarded EUR 5,000 as an enterprise grant.
Finally, the ETC also offers the scheme ‘Bridging the Gap’ which
offers registered disabled person, including young people, a period of work
exposure with an employer to enable them to demonstrate the skills needed for a
particular job. 3.2 Youth traineeships and apprenticeships The
ETC manages two apprenticeship schemes namely the Extended Skills
Training Scheme (ESTS) and the Technician Apprenticeship Scheme
(TAS). One of the aims of these schemes is to support youngsters so that
they receive adequate training prior to entering the labour market. The
apprenticeship format is a combination of on-the-job and off-the-job training.
A total of 648 candidates were registered with ETC as active apprentices
under both schemes. Traineeships are also organised under the Employability
Programme funded through the ESF. By end July 2012 a total of 153
young people participated in this programme. 3.3. Support to job creation (including entrepreneurship and
self-employment schemes) The
ESF-funded Youth Employment Programme aims to increase the
employability and labour market integration of young people and as at end of
June 2012, the total number of young people participating in this project
amounted to 2,827. ETC also operates the Entrepreneurship Scheme
(INT) through which jobseekers are offered the possibility of starting
one’s own business by providing a training and financial assistance. So far
this project has involved 3 young participants. The ESF-funded ME2
– Integration of people with disability in the labour market project
aims to engage disabled people in education and employment. In doing so, the ME2
Co-op Limited was created and was officially launched in April 2012. The
aim of this co-operative is to serve as an opportunity to enhance a disabled
person’s skills to become more independent, to empower and to promote inclusion
into an integrated society. The number of young participants as at end July
2012 amounted to 55. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Since
the ESF Operational Programme (OP) is rather flexible, if it is deemed
necessary to have more youth-oriented measures, it has the capacity to do so
without the need for reallocation and/or reprogramming within the OP.
Throughout the programming period all the calls for project proposals were open
to projects addressing specific initiatives targeting YOI. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative framework facilitating labour
market entry for young people There
have been no changes to the legal framework. THE NETHERLANDS 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 9.7% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 7.6 || + 1.3 Youth unemployment ratio || 5.3 || + 1.4 NEET rate || 3.8 || + 0.4 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 9.1 || - 2.3 Tertiary Education Attainment || 41.1 || + 0.9 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment Among the various
elements put forward by the Dutch authorities in the recent official
publications (mainly NRP), the following priorities have been set out: ·
Measures to improve matching of
education/employee skills and labour market demand; ·
An integrated regional approach in which
municipalities, educational institutions, companies (the labour market) and
youth care institutions work together in order to help vulnerable youth in
their transition from school to work and to prevent early school leaving; ·
Measures to increase the quality of education
and limit high drop-out rates especially in tertiary education; ·
Increased support to self-entrepreneurship. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
Dutch government has implemented a range of general measures with a special
focus on improving the transition from education to work and to prevent early
school leaving. Municipalities are made increasingly responsible in the process
of combating youth unemployment given their ability to adapt to local labour
markets and regional conditions. Youth care and outreach programmes are
available especially for vulnerable youth, for example from families facing
multiple risks. In
the period 2009-2011 the "Action Plan Youth Unemployment" was carried
out. This boosted regional cooperation between municipalities, education,
employers, employment services and knowledge centres. In addition, government
measures stress on the young person's own responsibility to actively search for
a job and in the case of NEET, to register at employment agencies. Successful
approaches that have been strengthened by the Action Plan Youth Unemployment
are now being continued. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships In
secondary vocational education, apprenticeships or internships are mandatory.
In higher education they are not mandatory but recommended. Education and
business are brought together in the Foundation for cooperation on vocational
education, training and the labour market (SBB). One of the aims of the SBB is
to optimise the connection between the education system and the labour market.
Quality of apprenticeships is seen as an important aspect. Therefore it is
required by law that the institutions that provide apprenticeships and
internships are accredited for offering a good and safe working and learning
environment. According to the SBB the number of internships/apprenticeships has
declined, but, given the economic conditions, is still adequate (220.000). 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The Netherlands encourages entrepreneurship through several projects. The Ministry of
Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Economic Affairs,
Agriculture and Innovation has launched the action programme "Education
and Entrepreneurship". This programme focusses on stimulating,
facilitating and professionalising educational institutions with regard to
entrepreneurship on all education levels. The programme includes for example: ·
Investing in 78 regional or sector networks to
stimulate entrepreneurship; ·
Evidence-based research and showing good
practices; ·
Development of Centres of Entrepreneurship
(universities and business sector); ·
Organising events like Global Entrepreneurship
Week and the National Student Entrepreneurship Prize; ·
Providing options for self-employment for the
unemployed. After business start-up people are able to maintain their benefits
for a maximum of six months. In addition, municipalities have the possibility
to provide social assistance, coaching and microloans based on the Social
Assistance Decree for the Self-employed. An evaluation of this system has shown
that 74% of starters are no longer dependent on benefits four years after
start-up. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Only
details regarding ESF funding have been provided by the Dutch government's
reply to the questionnaire. No details were provided regarding ERDF or national
funding. A
large part of the ESF budget in the Netherlands is reserved for actions aimed
at youth. For example, EUR 194 million is reserved for training with a
vocational focus for the special education sector (VSO and PRO; mainly for
disabled children, children with serious learning problem or behavioural
problems and children with low IQ) and for the "Action Plan Youth
Unemployment" (see 3.1). Another EUR 63 million is reserved for projects
aiming at improvement of the labour market position of detainees. In these
projects roughly 75% of the budget is spent on the education of people in youth
detention. The job creation measures described under 3.3 above are not
ESF-supported. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people Some amendments were
stated in the reply: ·
An amendment of the ESF national rules in 2009
to enable the implementation of the "Action Plan Youth Unemployment"; ·
Amendment of the Social Assistance Act in order
to encourage young people to search more actively for a job themselves and to
complete education; ·
Plans for simplification of the dismissal
procedures, making it easier for young entrants to the labour market to obtain
a job (plans are not yet implemented and will depend on the outcomes of
government formation after the September 2012 elections). POLAND 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 26.5% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 25.8 || +8.5 Youth unemployment ratio || 8.7 || +3.0 NEET rate || 11.6 || +2.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 5.6 || +0.6 Tertiary Education Attainment || 36.9 || +7.2 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Development of active labour market policy
instruments and programmes addressed to young unemployed and job seekers; ·
Expansion/reinforcement of existing initiatives
co-funded by the ESF Operational Programme. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk In
2011, the Public Employment Services (PES) offered various vocational
activation instruments to 104,800 unemployed young people. In addition, the
Ministry of Employment prepared a programme "Youth on the labour
market" aimed at preventing and combating youth unemployment. The
Programme is composed of a number of activation measures addressed to people
aged up to 30 and registered in the labour office. The Programme will be
implemented from May 2012 to November 2014 and the expected number of
participants is minimum 3,000. Support to young
people at risk of social exclusion is delivered by the Voluntary Labour Corps
operating in the structure of the PES. In 2011, nearly 0.5 million young people
participated in the labour market services offered by the Labour Corps,
including 180,000 benefiting from job placements (100,000 of them had
subsequently been employed). One
of the targets of the ESF Operational Programme is to improve the situation of
young people on the labour market. There are no specific measures targeted to
NEET, however the project selection criteria adopted annually by the Monitoring
Committee favour inactive young people or those at risk of social exclusion. The
scale of the Programme is extensive, with over 282,000 people aged 15-24
participating so far. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Traineeships
and apprenticeships are financed from national resources for the unemployed up
to 25 years old or for the unemployed graduates up to 27 years old. In 2011,
traineeships were the most popular form of vocational activation with 62,800
young people participating. The
Programme "Youth on the labour market" introduced an apprenticeship
voucher for unemployed young people who will find an apprenticeship place. The
employer, who accepts an apprentice, has to employ this person for the next 6
months. Support
to traineeships and apprenticeships is also provided by the ESF, with 27,125
students of vocational schools participating by the end of 2011. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The
maximum amount of ca. EUR 5,000 can be granted by PES to the unemployed
(including youth) who want to start economic activity. Similar amount can be
granted similarly to entrepreneurs who are willing to create new job places
(whether for youth or not). In 2011, ca. EUR 148 million were disbursed for
this purpose allowing for establishing 26,108 businesses and creating 10,657
job places. Besides,
start-up grants for job creation with the maximum amount of EUR 100,000 are
financed by the ESF. By the end of 2011, 21,314 young people received such
grants and started they own economic activity. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Under
the ESF Operational Programme approximately EUR 3.4 billion will be allocated
to support to youth policies, with EUR 1.327 billion allocated directly to
youth employment measures. By 1st August 2012, EUR 2.3 billion have
already been committed, including EUR 1.027 for youth employment measures. By
the same month, over EUR 1.6 billion have been spent, including EUR 789 million
for youth employment measures. The ESF Managing
Authority is expected to submit the amendments to the Operational Programme
which will include proposals for the reallocation of EUR 75 million towards
measures addressed to support young people. Furthermore, another modification
is expected in 2013, including a subsequent reallocation of EUR 34 million for
the same purpose. Poland decided to use the ESF to support students' mobility grants under
the Lifelong Learning Programme. Respectively, changes are to be introduced to
the Operational Programme. There
is no information provided by Poland on ERDF funding to youth employment
measures. In
2011, around EUR 212 million were spent on youth traineeships programmes. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people Poland introduced changes to the Law on Employment
Promotion and Labour Market Institutions concerning the Voluntary Labour
Corps but details on the amendments are not yet available. PORTUGAL 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 35.1% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 30.1 || +9.9 Youth unemployment ratio || 11.7 || +4.9, note: break in series in 2011 NEET rate || 12.7 || +2.4 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 23.2 || -12.2 Tertiary Education Attainment || 26.1 || +4.5 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment In the context of
the YOI, the Portuguese Government developed a strategic programme to foster
the employability of young people, called “Impulso Jovem”, which was
launched as of August 2012 and is co-financed by European structural funds
(both ESF and ERDF): Measures
to be co-financed by ESF that are meant to cover 56,000 young people: ·
“Employment Passports”: professional internships
in key areas of the economy and which can promote territorial cohesion. These
professional internships have a duration of 6 months and establish compulsory
provision of vocational training and the attribution of an integration bonus in
case a subsequent employment contract is signed. The measure targets young
people aged between 18 and 30 years old (up to 35 years in case of internships
in the agriculture sector) who have been enrolled as unemployed in PES for at
least 4 months; ·
Professional internship programme in public
administration; ·
Support to contracting via reimbursement of
employer's social security contributions. Measures
to be co-financed by ERDF that are meant to cover 33,000 young people: ·
“Employment passports”: professional internships
in the areas of industrialisation, innovation and internationalisation, under
the same conditions as mentioned above; ·
Measures to support contracting and foster
entrepreneurship; ·
National microcredit programme; ·
Support to investment directed at small and
medium-size enterprises. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Some
of the internships contained in “Impulso Jovem” are targeted at NEETs as
well as the measure of support to contracting via reimbursement of social
security contributions. The same applies to the National Microcredit Programme. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships “Impulso Jovem” initiative created a new
range of internships (“Employment Passports”) which are available for a
larger amount of young people, targeting those who have been unemployed for 4 months
and focusing on industries related to tradable sectors. This initiative
complements the traineeships programme already in place, which focuses on
professional qualification. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) On
top of the already existing measures that support self-employment, the
following ones were created as part of “Impulso Jovem” programme: Entrepreneurship
Employment Passport, Entrepreneurial Portugal/Network of Perception and
Business Management, COOPJOVEM (Creation of cooperatives for Youth). The
National Microcredit Programme, which already existed, was adapted within “Impulso
Jovem”, assigning priority to projects, which are either promoted by young
unemployed or that promote hiring of young unemployed. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds 90,000
young people are expected to be covered by different measures contained in the
strategic “Impulso Jovem” programme. The overall allocation of structural
funds for this programme amounts to EUR 344,133,702 and is to be co-financed by
both ESF (EUR 143,269,421) and ERDF (EUR 200,864,282). 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people In
the context of “Impulso Jovem” programme, the government has adopted the
above mentioned internships as well as a measure of support to contracting via
reimbursement of social security contributions to employers, conditional to net
job creation. The target beneficiaries are unemployed people, aged between 18
and 30 years old, who have been enrolled for at least 12 months in PES. In
addition, the measure “Estímulo 2012” was published in February 2012. It
will provide financial support to companies who hire people who have been
enrolled in PES for at least 6 months. The financial support is higher in case
the company hires a person under 25 years old - 60% of the worker's wage – and
is given during the first 6 months of work, subject to net employment creation.
The employers are obliged to provide training to the employee. Portugal
has also adopted a restructuring of its PES, officially published on
09/02/2012, which aims to increase the match between supply and demand of jobs
and it is also targeted at young people, namely to address the new profile of
young unemployed with higher levels of education (tertiary education).
Recently, it has also been adopted the measure “Vida Ativa”, whose
implementation started by the end March 2012, which consists of
high-employability training modules targeted at the young unemployed, with the
aim of promoting their employability and consequently their transition to the
labour market. Portugal is also reforming its labour law -e.g. the
definition of individual fair dismissals is eased, working time flexibility is
increased- and severance payments have been reduced from 30 to 20 days per year
with the aim of improving the efficiency of the labour market and reducing
labour market segmentation, which severely affects the younger population. ROMANIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 23.0% (June 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 23.7 || +5.1 Youth unemployment ratio || 7.4 || +1.7 NEET rate || 17.4 || +5.8 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 17.5 || +1.6 Tertiary Education Attainment || 20.4 || +4.4 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Reallocation of EUR 216 million inside the ESF
Human Resources Development Operational Programme (HRD OP) in order to assist
329,000 young people; ·
Changes in the Employment Stimulation Law aiming
at more flexible conditionalities in case of subsidies granted for employing
young graduates, increasing the age and reviewing the categories of young
people eligible for solidarity contracts; ·
Adoption of a National Jobs Plan focused on
improving the situation of youth. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or training
(NEET) or other groups at risk The
National Employment Agency provides personalised services through solidarity
contracts for young people aged 16-25 at risk of social exclusion. Employers,
who agree to hire them, can receive grants of a maximum amount of 75% of the
average wage for a period of up to 2 years. They can also receive a monthly
grant equal to 50% of the unemployment benefit if they hire the young employees
under an open-ended contract. In January-July 2012 almost 500 young people
facing social exclusion were employed (budget: EUR 130,000). Within
the ESF HRD OP projects are being implemented aiming at promoting social
inclusion, developing the social economy and improving access of vulnerable
groups to the labour market. The current number of young participants aged 15 –
24 is 23,222 (24% of all participants). There are also measures implemented in
order to prevent and reduce early school leaving addressed to 2,014 people aged
15 – 24. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Young
people can get a job opportunity for 1 to 3 years through an apprenticeship
contract and the employer has the obligation to provide theoretical and/or
practical training. So far 43 apprenticeship contracts have been concluded. ESF
projects finance smoother transition from school to work through developing
work skills of apprentices, students and young graduates in their first job.
Almost 70,000 people under 25 participated in education and training projects
so far. It is estimated that in 2011 – 2013 about 2,700 students will take part
in traineeships in other EU Member States, with support from the Leonardo da
Vinci Programme and 16,000 young people would be involved in projects
implemented within the Youth in Action initiative. Finally, in the academic
year 2011/2012, 1,215 Romanian Erasmus students benefited from grants for
placements in organisations/companies in other EU countries. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Job
subsidies are offered for a period of 12 months to employers who hire young
graduates with the obligation to keep contractual relations for additional 2
years after the subsidised period. The number of graduates employed in
January-July 2012 was 1,960. Special
allowances are granted to those graduates registered with employment agencies
if they conclude a working contract exceeding 12 months while receiving the
unemployment benefit. The number of young people who so far benefited from
these measures was 543. A
special programme for students and pupils to get a fixed-term job during
holidays is implemented. By end-July 2012, 325 people benefited from this
measure. The
Government created about 5,500 jobs by developing and implementing in 2011 a
programme to stimulate the creation and development of start–up
micro–enterprises by young entrepreneurs. By
the end of July 2012, 86,331 young participants were registered in projects in
the areas of promoting active employment measures and entrepreneurial culture
financed from the ESF. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Under
the ESF HRD OP, at the end of July 2012, the total amount allocated for the key
area of intervention "Developing and implementing active employment
measures" (aimed directly - but not exclusively – to young people) was EUR
298.46 million, with an ESF contribution of EUR 257.49 million. The total
amount committed was EUR 259.74 million (ESF contribution: EUR 207.96 million),
while the total amount disbursed was EUR 131.35 million. In addition, the
Managing Authority finished the process of reallocation of EUR 216 million
within the priority axis "Linking lifelong learning and labour
market", but no calls for proposals have been launched yet. Romania envisages using ESF in order to support mobility programmes under the lifelong
learning programme. Under the HRD OP a special
Technical Working Group for Youth has recently been created. Almost
EUR 130,000 was spent in the first seven months of 2012 for the measures
related to solidarity contracts. Funding
allocated under Leonardo da Vinci and Youth in Action for the above measures
amounted to EUR 19.8 million in total, while EUR 2.6 million were spent for Erasmus grants. The total resources
(both ESF and national) spent for the job creation measures described under
section 3.3 above were EUR 320.86 million. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The
Law regarding the apprenticeship at work was amended and supplemented in 2011
in order to provide an adequate framework for increasing the work opportunities
of youth with low or no qualification. By the Government's
decision of July 2012 a state aid scheme has been established for investments
promoting regional development by using ICT technologies and creating at least
200 jobs. SLOVAKIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 28.4 % (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 33.5 || +14.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 10 || +3.8 NEET rate || 13.8 || +2.7 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 5 || -1 Tertiary Education Attainment || 23.4 || +7.6 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
ESF: Reallocation of EUR 70 million from the
Education Operational Programme to the Employment and Social Inclusion
Operational Programme to create 13,000 new jobs for young people in regions
with high unemployment; ·
ERDF: Reallocation of EUR 170 million from the
Information Society Operational Programme and of EUR 55 million from the
Transport Operational Programme to the Competitiveness and Economic Growth
Operational Programme to support SMEs in creating 1,000 jobs mostly for young
people; ·
Speeding up the implementation of the Education
Operational Programme with a call for proposals worth EUR 118 million in 2012
for i.a. making Vocational Education and Training, and higher education more
relevant to labour market needs; ·
Financing additional lifelong learning
traineeships under the Education Operational Programme; ·
Reform of the active labour market policies
including measures supporting young graduates ('Graduate's practice' scheme); ·
Further exploration of the support to possible
projects on dual apprenticeship system, including via greater cooperation with Austria. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
Act on Employment Services covers active labour market measures for
vulnerable groups, including young people (school leavers younger than 25 who
have completed education within last two years). Public Employment Services
offer individual consultation services and prepare action plans for young
people. Training could be also offered to young unemployed people, with
costs for accommodation and travel covered. A measure
"Graduate's practice" is being implemented offering young graduates (under
26 years old) a possibility of getting a first job experience for up to 6
months for 20 hours per week. In 2011, approximately 17,300 graduates took part
in the measure, out of which 7,620 found a job. In the first half of 2012,
another 9,372 young people participated. For
most vulnerable people living under the minimum income level, the activation
allowance (63 EUR/month) is available. It is a social assistance tool to help
them to continue education or to maintain their employability by offering
participation in small communal public works. However, no statistics on young
people receiving this support is available. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
system of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Slovakia formally does not
foresee apprenticeships. The vocational part of VET is provided through schools
and practical training centres. Apprenticeships in companies are exceptional
since the legislative framework provides few incentives to employers to accept
apprentices. Only
very few students (less than 1%) receive grants for international mobility
financed within lifelong learning programmes. Slovak companies do not offer this
possibility to foreign students. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Young
people can receive grants for starting up business. In 2011, around 4,700, and
until June 2012 another 770 people aged 18-29 established their own company. They can also
receive an allowance for commuting to work (up to 135 EUR per month) and/or a
work reallocation grant (EUR 1,327 once per two years) if they will find
employment or establish a company outside their place of living. Two
projects are to be launched by the end of 2012: "Support to employment
of young people in self-governing bodies" targeting around 4,700
participants under 29 and "Promotion of job creation"
addressed to at least 7,100 young people. Employers will be reimbursed 95% of
the labour costs (wages, social contributions, training and equipment) provided
that they will retain a workplace for at least 6 months. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds EUR
70 million from the ESF was re-allocated from the Education Operational
Programme to the Employment and Social Inclusion Operational Programme. EUR 31.8
million within the Programme have been earmarked to finance the
"Graduate's practice" scheme, while EUR 23.9 million have been
already disbursed. Within
the ERDF, a decision has been adopted on the reallocation of EUR 170 million
from the Information Society Operational Programme and of EUR 55 million from
the Transport Operational Programme to the Competitiveness and Economic Growth
Programme. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people No
changes implemented however a reform of active labour market policy has been planned
since 2011. SLOVENIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 17.2% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 15.7 || + 5.3 Youth unemployment ratio || 5.9 || + 1.4 NEET rate || 7.1 || + 0.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 4.2[23] || - 0.9 Tertiary Education Attainment || 37.9 || + 7.0 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment In
the 2012 National Reform Programme Slovenia indicated measures targeting young
people. In the framework of Active Labour Market Policy special programmes
adapted to young people are to be developed, the form of student work
arrangements is to be modified and a programme for promoting self-employment to
be continued. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Project
"Learning for young adults", addressed to unemployed people under 26
years of age who left school, includes a number of activities to improve
participants’ general and practical knowledge necessary for successful
reintegration in school environment and everyday life. In 2012, 200 people were
included in the project. Furthermore,
Slovenia implements a range of projects that – although targeted to
unemployed in general – can also bring a positive impact on the situation of
youth neither in employment, nor in education and training. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships A
project "First challenge" was introduced to
encourage employment of the unemployed and of the first job seekers under 30.
This measure helps to integrate participants in the working environment and
improves their job possibilities. The programme began in August 2012, the budget
is EUR 9 million. The purpose of the
project "On-the-job training" is to obtain and strengthen the competences, knowledge, skills and
aptitude of unemployed people who cannot find a job on the basis of their
existing work experience. Out of 1,633 people under 30 who
took part in the programme, 909 found employment in 2011 and an additional 270
in 2012 (72%). A new edition of the project for 2012/2013 was published in
March 2012. Until the end of July, 199 young people had enrolled in the
programme. Another
project assists up to 500 first-time job seekers with a degree in social assistance
in traineeships for a maximum period of 12 months in social welfare entities
(humanitarian organisations, geriatric care centres and working with the
disabled). Until now, 262 unemployed graduates have been enrolled. The budget is
EUR 10.103 million for a five-year period.
3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) The
purpose of the Self-employment Programme is to
encourage entrepreneurship among the unemployed through self-employment
subsidies. In 2011, 1,124 young people under 30 applied for the subsidy and 816
of them are now fully employed. For the implementation of this measure EUR
83,701,469 is allocated. The
"Employ me" Initiative targets young people, first job seekers and young people under 30 with
higher education by offering the companies a subsidy for employing such person.
Until August 2012, about 12 young people participated in the project. The
budget allocated is EUR 61,700,634. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Within
the ESF Operational Programme for Human
Resources Development various instruments target young people up to
24 years and first job seekers. Considering a constantly increasing number of
young unemployed and adverse labour market conditions, additional instruments
were prepared this year. The following
programmes specifically target young people: ·
Regional scholarship
schemes (EUR 14.7 million); ·
Promoting employment of first job seekers in the
area of social assistance (EUR 10.2 million); ·
First challenge (EUR 9 million). 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people In
addition to the Act on Labour Market Regulation, the Act on
Promotion of Balanced Regional Development and the Competitiveness and
development support programme for the region Pokolpje 2012-2016 were
adopted. They target employment through certain tax relief measures, mainly
through reimbursement of social security contributions for newly employed
people. SPAIN 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 54.2% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 46.4 || +21.8 Youth unemployment ratio || 19 || +7.3 NEET rate || 18.5 || +4.1 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 26.5 || -5.4 Tertiary Education Attainment || 40.6 || +0.8 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
Examine a reallocation of ESF financing towards
actions to support the employability of young people; support public employment
services to develop active labour market policies including for young people
and reinforce the measures to combat early school leaving and promote vocational
training; explore the possibility of pilot projects for dual vocational
training; explore ideas of financing additional Leonardo/Erasmus traineeships
under the ESF Ops; ·
Refocus EUR 400 million (ERDF) on a
reindustrialisation aid scheme on investment loans primarily for SMEs; create a
working capital fund for SME finance (up to EUR 155 million estimated funding);
support innovative SMEs in the agri-food sector (with significant scope for
youth employment with low skills); establish measures to seed capital and
micro-credit to support an upcoming Law on Entrepreneurship; increase
investment in education infrastructure in Andalusia; ·
Examine whether subsidies for the newly
introduced apprenticeship contract could benefit from EU structural funds'
support. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Although
there is not a youth guarantee scheme in Spain, the Spanish system provides for
concrete measures regarding apprenticeship and training, such as the "on the job training contract" and a new "training
account" for each young unemployed. Furthermore, the labour market reform
of February 2012 established a new individual right to professional training
(20 hours per year). ESF co-finances specific measures for disadvantaged young
people, mainly through the national OP Fight against Discrimination. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships The
Royal Decree 1543/2011 of 31 October 2011 introduced traineeships in
enterprises without the obligation of a subsequent job offer, for 3-9 months,
aimed at young unemployed people aged 18-25 who have a specific academic degree
or a professional accreditation certificate. The participants receive a grant
for at least 80% of the current minimum wage (EUR 641/ month). The labour
market reform of February 2012 introduced a "training and learning
contract" (1-3 years) which foresees a system of alternating remunerated
work and vocational training activity for workers aged 16-25 who lack
professional qualification and seek an internship. On the other hand, the
Spanish government approved on 8 November a Royal Decree which implements the
contract for training and learning and provides the basis of dual vocational
training. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Spain is currently finalising the preparation of
the National Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Strategy 2012-2015. The Strategy
will recall the measures already introduced by the Labour Market reform of
February 2012 (see section 3.5). Other upcoming legislative measures to support
entrepreneurs aim to promote an entrepreneurship culture in schools, lower the
administrative burden for starting up a business, and introduce financial
incentives and mechanisms to access credit and to support business’
internationalisation. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds In
the current programming framework, all ESF Spanish operational programmes include
a series of both general and specific actions that have benefited young people.
Under the national OP Fight against Discrimination approximately EUR 384
million were dedicated to vulnerable young person's measures until 30 June
2012. According to national data, in the period from 01/01-30/06/2012 total
costs of EUR 233 million (estimated sum over 22 OP) were spent on youth
employment measures. The Spanish authorities estimate that, between 2012 and 2015,
this figure will rise to EUR 2.5 billion. In 2012, several ESF Spanish OPs were modified, particularly driven
by the YOI and in the context of the aggravating youth unemployment situation.
ESF reallocation focused on support to the PES to develop active labour market
policies, including for young people, redirecting overall 135 million under the
national OP “Adaptabilidad y Empleo”. Some regional OPs increased also
support to actions targeted at young people at a total of EUR 33.8 million (Madrid, Navarra, Asturias, Melilla, Baleares, País Vasco) and the national thematic OP “Lucha
contra la Discriminación” (EUR 50 million). Other regional ESF OPs
increased attention to early school leavers and vocational training (Murcia 6.8 million, Baleares 7.9 million). Andalucía will also reinforce actions addressing
early school leaving. Spanish authorities do not
consider it feasible to support the Leonardo Programme with ESF funding during
the present programming period. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people The
labour market reform of February 2012 entails a comprehensive set of measures
intending to, among others: Reform apprenticeship and training contracts by
extending the age limit ceiling to 30 years beyond 31.12.2013 so long as
unemployment stays at 15% or higher; create a permanent contract for
"Entrepreneurs" addressed to SMEs providing fiscal and other
financial incentives to hire unemployed aged under 30; re-organise incentives
for hiring indefinitely young people, support part-time indefinite contracts,
introduce a dual training-employment model for young people; introduce an
individual "training account" (20 hours/year) and a reform of
vocational training; increase support to young self-employed and
microenterprises through a single unemployment insurance instalment for young
people to become self-employed. The Ministry of Education,
Culture and Sport has developed the Organic Law for the Improvement of
Educational Quality, now under discussion, expected to be adopted in early
2013. SWEDEN 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 23.4% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 22.9 || +2.7 Youth unemployment ratio || 12.0 || +1.3 NEET rate || 7.51 || -0.31 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 6.61 || -5.61 Tertiary Education Attainment || 47.51 || +5.51 1: Provisional data 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment ·
The Commission invited the Swedish authorities
to set a much more ambitious target for support to young people in the next
programming period, particularly in view of Sweden's persistent high youth
unemployment rates; ·
During the finalisation of the 2012 Country
Specific Recommendations Sweden committed itself to take further measures to
improve the labour market participation of youth and other vulnerable groups,
e.g. by improving the effectiveness of active labour market measures,
facilitating transition from school to work, promoting policies to increase
labour demand for vulnerable groups and improving the functioning of the labour
market. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk Since
the ‘job guarantee’ for young people had not achieved the activity and quality
levels intended, the Swedish government has provided the Public Employment
Service (PES) additional resources 2012 to increase the staff for executing the
guarantee. Until mid-June the PES had increased the number of case handlers for
the ‘job guarantee’ to the extent that the number of young people handled by a
case handler (on average) was reduced to 57, from 80 in October 2011. The full
quality effect of the staff increase is only expected to become effective in
the second half of 2012, after the full introduction of the new case handlers.
In July 2012 some 30,400 young people participated in the guarantee programme. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Since the autumn of 2011, following the adoption of the new
Education Act, in vocational upper secondary education more time is devoted to
vocational subjects in the curriculum. A Vocational Diploma can be attained
either throughschool-based vocational programmes, where at least 15 per cent is
work-based training, or alternatively through apprenticeship programmes, where
at least 50 per cent is work-based training. State grants of up to EUR 2,750,
per pupil and year, have been introduced to stimulate the provision of
apprenticeship positions in work places. The Government recently presented its budget bill proposal for 2013,
including budget forecasts also for the years 2014 – 2016[24]. In line with the “Youth Pact”
(2013-2016), the government proposes to spend some EUR 240 million ‘extra’ in
2013 to combat youth unemployment, of which 80% should be used for funding some
18,000 additional student places in various regular education institutions to
balance the weak economy and demand for labour. In addition, a strengthened
state grant to further stimulate the provision of apprenticeship positions is
proposed. The extra spending is forecast to continue in the years 2014 to 2016.
3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) A
lower VAT on restaurant and catering services was introduced from January 2012
to make it easier for young people to get a first job, often in the restaurant
and catering services sectors. Entrepreneurship
education is an integrated part of school education, vocational training and higher
education programmes. As part of the support to entrepreneurship among young
people a programme for promoting innovation among the young has been developed
(“Youth’s innovation power”), with a budget of EUR 1.9 million per year, during
2010–2012. The programme is to be continued in 2013-2014. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds In
March 2012 99% of the ESF funds available for Sweden in the current period had
been allocated to projects. 26,560 unemployed youth had participated in ESF
supported projects, already exceeding the target for this period (15,000). The
final number for the whole period is estimated to reach some 35,000. Thus,
changes in the current period have not been discussed. Preparatory discussions
in Sweden for the next period have started, but will only be concluded in 2013.
3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people. No
commitments were made for this area. UNITED KINGDOM 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 20.4% (July 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 21.1 || +6.1 Youth unemployment ratio || 12.4 || + 3.2 NEET rate || 14.3 || +2.2 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 15 || -2.0 Tertiary Education Attainment || 45.8 || +6.1 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment The
UK Government launched in April 2012 the "Youth Contract" with total
funding EUR 1.3 billion over three years (2012-15). It includes: ·
160,000 wage incentives for employees recruiting
18-24 year olds from the Work Programme; ·
250,000 additional work experience or sector-based
work academy places; ·
20,000 additional apprenticeship grants; ·
Extra adviser support through Jobcentre Plus for
all 18-24 year olds. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
"Youth Contract" started in April 2012 to help young people to
prepare for and find long-term sustainable employment. It provides 0.5 million
places and includes wage incentives to employers to recruit 18-24 years old and
voluntary work experience places. There is additional support for Jobcentre
Plus and for advisor time. The “Youth Contract” offers funding for private
providers (paid by results) to target disengaged young people aged 16-17.
National Careers Services are to be started in 2012 providing advice,
guidance on careers, skills and labour market prospects. Northern Ireland developed a strategy towards
NEETs for 16-18 and then for 18-24 years old. "Training for Success"
addresses personal and development needs and helps youth to gain skills and a
vocationally related qualification at Level 1 in order to be able to gain
employment or to progress to pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship.
Programme-led apprenticeships gives 16 and 17 year old school leavers (and up
to 24 years for those requiring additional support) the opportunity to gain a
full apprenticeship qualification in a chosen skill area. This provision is
running parallel to the 'employer-led' apprenticeships programme and is
partially financed by the European Social Fund. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Access
to apprenticeships started in 2011 providing extra support and skills
development open to NEETs and some 10,000 places were expected in the first
year of implementation. A
substantial budget has been allocated by the Government to fund
apprenticeships. Employers benefit from the lower minimum wage rate for
apprentices, which, at GBP 2,50 (+/- EUR 3,11) per hour, is much lower than
that for other UK workers. October 2011 figures show 50,000 apprenticeships
more compared to 2009/2010. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Wage
incentives were launched in April 2012. There are up to 160,000 incentives
worth up to EUR 2,590 available over the three years of the "Youth
Contract". The
New Enterprise Allowance (NEA), available across Great Britain since the end of
August 2011, helps unemployed people to start their own business. It is
available to people aged 18 and over who have been claiming jobseeker's
allowance for three months or more. It provides access to business mentoring up
to 13 weeks and offers financial support. Till end of February 2012, 12,050
claimants have started working with a NEA business mentor and 4,560 claimants
have started claiming the NEA weekly allowance. Sector-based
work academies, introduced in August 2011 in England and January 2012 in
Scotland, support employers to take on unemployed people through a package of
pre-employment training, work-experience and a guaranteed job interview. It is
not aimed specifically at young people, but is available for their support.
From August 2011 to May 2012, 14,340 people have started on the pre-employment
training of a sector-based work experience. Work
experience is a scheme aiming at young people aged 16 to 24 years (in justified
cases aged 25 years and over) on jobseeker’s allowance. Until May 2012, 64,680
people have started on a work experience opportunity. From
April 2012, the "Youth Contract" will provide funding for 250,000
additional work experience and sector-based work academy places over three
years. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds The
budget for the "Youth Contract" is EUR 1.3 billion funded from
national resources. From
the current ESF funding, more than EUR 700 million are committed to youth
employment measures (this includes only provision targeted mainly at 15-25 year
olds). Young people are also helped as part of
priorities/measures that are not targeted by age, and this funding cannot be
disaggregated by age. The
Scottish and the Welsh Government aim to award remaining ESF and ERDF support
to traineeships and apprenticeships project supporting youth employment. The
exact amounts are not known yet. The
UK does not envisage using the ESF to support student mobility grants under
the Life-long Learning Programme. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative framework facilitating labour
market entry for young people No
changes reported. CROATIA 1. Trends in youth unemployment Youth unemployment situation 2012 || 39.5% (September 2012) || 2011 (%) || Variation 2008/2011 (pp.) Youth unemployment rate || 36.1 || +14.2 Youth unemployment ratio || 11.3 || +3.7 NEET rate || 15.7 || +5.6 Early Leavers from Education and Training || 4.1[25] || +0.4 Tertiary Education Attainment || 24.5 || +6 2. Commitments made with a view to
combating and preventing youth unemployment In order to decrease youth unemployment, particularly in the crisis
period, Croatia made commitments during the pre-accession JIM (Joint Inclusion
Memorandum) and JAP (Joint Assessment of the employment
policy Priorities) processes. The following measures
are planned: ·
Raising awareness of employment possibilities
after secondary school education and improving the link between the labour
market and the education system through apprenticeships and probationary
employment; ·
Development of incentives, tax reliefs and other
incentives for recruiting young people (by introducing special credit lines and
incentives for young entrepreneurs); ·
Stimulating the decentralised model of housing
for youth through subsidised housing construction, distribution of land for
construction and inexpensive rent and buy-off of apartment property. 3. Progress in implementation of the
commitments 3.1. Youth guarantee schemes and
other measures targeting youth neither in employment, nor in education or
training (NEET) or other groups at risk The
Croatian Employment Service (CES) pays special attention to career guidance for
people with disabilities and other hard-to-reach groups as well as to
vocational guidance of students with disabilities. As a measure to prevent
long-term unemployment, CES is taking “early intervention” activities among
which a set of vocational guidance services, such as information and
counselling, aimed at students in their final years of school, VET or tertiary
education. Particular
attention is paid to students who, according to evaluations, face particular
problems to enter the labour market after completing their education, e.g.
students with health problems, learning disabilities and behavioural disorders.
During the period January-July 2012, 5,986 secondary education students were
involved in individual career guidance activities and 1,171 students were
involved in group career guidance. Children in foster care are involved in
career guidance performed by CES in cooperation with civil society
organisations. Former drug addicts are involved in a support system for their
rehabilitation, managed by the Governmental Office for Combating Drug
Addictions. During the first semester of 2012, 120 former drug addicts were
involved in career guidance, 24 in subsided education and 19 were employed. 3.2 Youth traineeships and
apprenticeships Occupational
training for people with no work-experience is conducted, whereby the employer
provides a mentor for the participant and is reimbursed on the obligatory
monthly pension insurance contributions, while the participant receives
financial aid from the CES. In 2011 there were 4,760 participants in this
measure and 2,502 participants until August 2012. In the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci programme, 198
young Croatian VET students got the opportunity to participate in international
traineeship activities. Another 306 are about to start their training
activities. 3.3. Support to job creation
(including entrepreneurship and self-employment schemes) Employment
aid for first-time jobseekers is provided to employers who meet the criteria
under state aid rules. The employer receives a lump-sum payment of the subsidy
which amounts to up to 50% of the annual gross wage cost. The employer is
obliged to retain the person in employment for 12 months. There were 1,147
young people in subsidised employment in 2011 and 694 people in 2012 (until
August). Furthermore,
a self-employment subsidy is allocated to unemployed people willing to start
their own business. This subsidy varies according to the education level and
falls under the category of state aid for employment. In 2011 self-employment
was subsidised for 79 people under 25, and till August 2012 for 62 people. During
2011, 1,107 people under 25 were employed in public works programmes and 1,180
more till 1 August 2012. 3.4. Mobilisation of funds Croatia is currently implementing the Instrument
for Pre-Accession (IPA Component IV, Human Resources Development). The problem
of youth unemployment is being particularly addressed through the operation Youth
in the Labour Market. This grant scheme enabled implementation of 31 projects
with the objective to reduce youth unemployment at the regional level and to
promote and foster employment of youth (following partnership approach) through
measures that could facilitate their easier labour market entry. The total
amount allocated to this operation is EUR 1.5 million. Youth unemployment is
also addressed in other operations under Priority Axis for Education and Social
Inclusion. 3.5. Amendments to the legislative
framework facilitating labour market entry for young people In
May 2012, the Employment Incentive Act expanded the possibilities for a wider
target group of unemployed people to gain work experience through on-the-job
training. Additionally it provided obligatory health and pension insurance
contribution relief for a period of up to two years for the recruitment of people
with no work experience in their professional field. [1] COM(2012) 727 of 5 December 2012 [2] COM(2011) 933 final of 20 December 2011 [3] European
Commission (2012), Apprenticeship supply in the Member States of the
European Union. [4] Answers provided by Federal
government, Wallonia (WAL), Flanders (FL), Brussels (BRU) and German-speaking
Community and complemented on the basis of Commission sources. [5] 50y in WAL and BRU, 58y in
FL. [6] As of 2008, young jobseekers with low and medium skills
are invited for a collective information session on career orientation
possibilities, available vacancies, counselling
trajectories, etc. This is followed by an individual dialogue with a personal
counselor, no later than 4 months after registration as jobseeker. A similar
procedure was implemented for young job seekers with a higher education degree
since January 2009. As of
January 1, 2013 the youth with
no degree , who did not manage
to build up any significant work experience, will be guided towards the
existing vocational training, in-company training and/or apprenticeship
schemes. The ambition is to have the entire target participate in an intensive
activation trajectory (work experience or vocational training) by June 2013. [7] Answers provided by FL and
German-speaking Community only and complemented on the basis of own sources. [8] Answers provided by WAL, FL and German-speaking Community only. [9] Answers provided by Federal
government, WAL, FL, BRU and German-speaking Community. [10] The PES of BRU, WAL, Germany and Austria are involved in a PROGRESS project “Labo Jeunes” (2011-2013), aiming at better
understanding school-to-work transitions. [11] i.e. for more than six months. [12] Answers provided by Federal
government, WAL and FL. [13] http://www.ajujaht.ee/english [14] http://www.ettevotlusope.ee [15] See http://www.tem.fi/files/33973/English_version.pdf
[16] The administrative subdivision corresponding to level
NUTS 3 [17] http://www.jugend-staerken.de/ [18] JobBridge is explained in more detail in part II of the
questionnaire on good practices [19] Due to identified deficiencies by the Commission auditors
in both activities using Financial Engineering instrument, these activities are
pending possible financial correction [20] Uncertain data due to small sample size [21] Uncertain data due to small sample size [22] The Maltese series on 'early leavers from education and
training' are under review by the Maltese Statistical Office and Eurostat. The
review is about the classification of people of certain qualifications at
secondary level ('O levels') and not in further education and training. The
weight of this group in the current series is about 8 percentage points on
average. [23] Uncertain data due to small sample size [24] http://www.regeringen.se/sb/d/2548, 20 September 2012 [25] Uncertain data due to small sample size