1euaGiT

In 2001 the European Commission’s White Paper on Youth 29 defined a framework for
cooperation in the youth field and the open method of coordination was adapted to the
youth sector. In terms of policy priorities, the white paper emphasised fostering
information, participation, voluntary activities and a greater understanding of youth.
The White Paper was the basis for national youth policies right across the Member
States.
Besides the Youth open method of coordination, the European Youth Pact was adopted
by the European Council in March 2005 as one of the instruments to achieve the revised
Lisbon objectives, promoting growth and more and better jobs. Its aim was to improve
education, training, mobility, employment and social inclusion of young people, whilst
helping to achieve a work-life balance.
By 2007 the European Commission launched the Youth in Action programme, a specific
programme set up for young people in the EU. The programme funds mobility and nonformal
education activities such as youth exchanges or EVS (European Voluntary
Service) which target young people.
Starting at the end of 2008, Europe was thrown into an economic crisis and as a result
faces a range of economic and social inclusion related challenges, affecting young
people in particular. Therefore, young people are a priority at EU level as the crisis
reinforces the need to invest in young human capital. With this in mind, the Council of
Youth Ministers adopted the EU Youth Strategy for 2010-2018, which is about providing
opportunities for young people who are in education and on the labour market, and
promoting active citizenship and social inclusion for youth. Young people are consulted
through the structured dialogue process, an essential component of the EU Youth
Strategy.
In 2010 the EU developed a new plan of action to not only overcome the crisis, but to
also put in place a strategy to create a growth model that is smart, sustainable and
inclusive. Whilst young people are crucial to achieving those objectives and are high on
the agenda of the Europe 2020 strategy, it is also young people who have suffered the
consequences of the crisis in terms of unemployment, migration and of course changed
expectations for their futures. As the Council Recommendation on establishing a Youth
Guarantee 30 states, young people ‘are vulnerable because of the transitionary life period
they are going through, their lack of professional experience, their sometimes
inadequate education or training, their often limited social protection coverage,
restricted access to financial resources, and precarious work conditions’.
Young people face many challenges in the EU of today:
■ The unemployment rate amongst young people in the European Union 31 is dangerously
close to being one in four. This equates to more than 5.5 million young people across
Member States.
■
Unemployment amongst the under 25s has risen by 6 % since 2007, this means there is
almost an additional 1.4 million young people who are unemployed today compared to
before the economic crisis.
29 European Commission (2001) European Commission White Paper: A new impetus for
European Youth.
30 Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013 on establishing a Youth Guarantee, [online]
Available at: < .http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.douri=OJ:C:2013:120:0001:0006:EN:PDF>.
31 Eurostat unemployment rate – annual average in % for 2012 under 25 years old for
the EU 27 was 22.8 %.
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