The Europe Experience

- The Facts -

More than 4.5 million young people are unemployed in the EU-28 and more than one in five young Europeans in the labour market cannot find a job.	More than 7 million young Europeans between the ages of 15 and 24 are not employed, not in education and not in training and some 11% of children leave school without a secondary education.	In the last 5 years, there was a 32% increase of working on Sunday, 32% of workers worked more than 10 hours a day at least once a month, and 20% consider their working hours do not fit well with their family commitments.
How can the EU fight against youth unemployment?	Can the EU do anything about it?	Is it possible for the EU to intervene and ensure a better balance between work and family life?

- What can the EU do? -

Despite it being principally a part of national policy fields, the concept of “Youth“ is also included at European level. The EU defines its objective in the Youth strategy 2010-2018 as the promotion of active citizenship and social inclusion as well as solidarity and equal opportunities for young people.

In the area of education, the EU fulfills a supporting and coordinating role complementing the national policies. In particular, EU action in this field aims at fostering mutual recognition of diplomas and promoting cooperation between educational institutions. The EU Commission launched the new Erasmus+ programme in 2014. It aims to boost skills and employability, as well as modernising education, training, and youth work. The seven year programme will have a budget of €14.7 billion; a 40% increase compared to current spending levels.