YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT : LEADERS DEVOTE TWO MEETINGS TO PROBLEM.

• Position: European Council in Belgium and Germany

The agenda of the European Council of 27-28 June and the meeting that followed it a few days later in Berlin attest to the concern of heads of state and government in the European Union, who seem to have pushed fiscal consolidation into the background in order to tackle youth unemployment. Youth organisations see this change of priorities as a positive signal but fear "election-driven hype".

Meeting in Brussels, on 27-28 June, European leaders agreed to release 6 billion in 2014-2015 and then to tap into margins left available within the multiannual financial framework ceilings for the years 2014 to 2017. The 6 billion of the Youth Employment Initiative - which could turn into 8 billion through leverage effect - will go to regions with youth unemployment rates of more than 25% in 2012. Three million euro will come from the European Social Fund (ESF) to co-finance national measures (the co-financing rate will range from 55% for the richest regions to 85% for the less developed regions). Another 3 million, which will not necessarily be subject to co-financing, will come from its own budget line.

According to Eurostat figures, 16 countries will be eligible: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, the UK and Croatia. Spain, Italy and France are expected to take the lion's share with 1.7 billion, 1 billion and 570 million, respectively.

The June European Council conclusions also highlight youth mobility, apprenticeship and quality training. They stress the need for measures focused on the most vulnerable young people and for "shifting taxation away from labour, including by reducing social contributions".

ROAD MAP

Eighteen heads of state and government also met, on 3 July in Berlin, on an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The road map adopted at the meeting gives...