Discussie over mogelijkheden om jeugdwerkloosheid aan te pakken (en)

During the Meeting of the Chairpersons of Social Affairs and Labour Committees, Employment Incentives to Implement the Europe 2020 Strategy held at the Seimas, the participants discussed issues concerning youth employment and initiatives to increase employment, and shared the good practices of other members in implementing measures for youth employment.

Member of the European Commission (EC) for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor i, reviewing employment policies directed at increasing youth employment for 2020, emphasised that the EC devotes a lot of attention to fighting high unemployment, social exclusion and low income. According of the EC member, Member States are presented with specific recommendations for solving unemployment issues - they are encouraged to improve their legislation, to ensure more effective employment, and to implement training programmes that reflect labour market needs. The speaker presented the Youth Guarantee initiative as a specific measure that would be used to ensure opportunities for young people under 25 to receive job offers, trainings, apprenticeships and internships. Mr Andor also emphasised the importance of social partnerships.

He emphasised that in Lithuania the problem of youth unemployment is taken very seriously at the political level. “In 2011, youth unemployment in your country amounted to 32 per cent, and within a rather short period of time you succeeded in reducing it to 22.5 per cent as of the second quarter of this year. You are aiming to reduce youth unemployment to 16 per cent by 2020. Let me congratulate you on this commitment, said Mr Andor. According to the EC representative, in its pursuit to solve the matters of youth employment and training young people who lack the required skills, Lithuania has already allocated 26 mln euro from European Social Funds. “And I believe that Lithuania is on the right track and encourage them to continue moving forward,” he added.

During the event of the parliamentary dimension of the Lithuanian Presidency i of the Council of the European Union, Brigitte Van Der Burg i, Chair of the Social Affairs and Employment Committee of the Senate of the Kingdom of the Netherland, and Tarja Filatov, the Chair of the Employment and Equality Committee of the Eduskunta, shared the good practices of their countries in implementing measures for youth employment and perspectives in implementing the Youth Guarantee initiative.

Van Der Burg especially emphasised the importance of internships and apprenticeships, and presented special initiatives applied in the Netherlands. According to her, it is important to continuously develop the social welfare system.

When presenting her country’s experience in reducing youth unemployment, Tarja Filatov, Chair of the Employment and Equality Committee of the Eduskunta, emphasised the importance of sustainability and the stability of decisions. She believes that the implemented measures should be sound and effective to ensure that employers are motivated to offer young people real jobs when they leave school.

The Council of the European Union approved the communication from the European Commission Europe 2020: A Strategy for Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, more than three years ago. One of the main aims of the European Union in this strategy is to achieve increased employment of those aged 20-64 from 69 per cent to at least 75 per cent by 2020.