Remarks by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis at the press conference on the Youth Employment Support package and the European Skills Agenda

Met dank overgenomen van Europese Commissie (EC) i, gepubliceerd op woensdag 1 juli 2020.

Good afternoon,

Before passing on to the main topics of today's conference, I want to present to you some of the points which we discussed during today's College.

  • Professor Thygesen, Chair of the independent European Fiscal Board, presented to the College the main conclusions of the Board's annual Report.
  • This is Board's fourth report and this time around the exceptional degree of uncertainty surrounding the development of our economies made the Board's task particularly difficult. Nonetheless, as always, the report provides many useful insights.
  • The EFB shared the Commission's view that the economic outlook for 2021 is surrounded by large uncertainty, which - by the way - was the reason why the fiscal Country Specific Recommendations for 2021 were of a qualitative not quantitative nature.
  • With the recovery still ahead of us and public finances burdened by the crisis and shouldering support measures, we agree with the professor Thygesen that the protection and prioritisation of investment will be very important for the economic recovery.

Now, moving to today's Youth Employment Support Package.

Even at the best of times, getting your foot on the jobs ladder is a challenge. And now, these are not the best of times. For Europe's young people, this pandemic has made it even harder to enter the job market. This is why we are today providing much-needed targeted support.

The figures speak for themselves. Youth unemployment rises two times faster than unemployment in general. If we look back, at the height of the last crisis in 2012, a staggering 25% of young people who wanted a job did not have one.

Young people are now facing a similar situation: while we will not know the full picture until the Autumn, unemployment in general stands at around 7% while youth unemployment has already risen to 15%.

Young people entering the work force not only have to cope with a stagnant labour market, they are also very likely to be employed on more insecure contracts - which means they are the first to be let go.

Today we are proposing clear and specific ways forward for our young people to get the professional chances that they deserve.

The Youth Employment Support package we are providing today contains three proposals to provide a ‘bridge to jobs' for the next generation:

Firstly, we want to strengthen the Council Recommendation on the Youth Guarantee, which dates back to 2013 and which has already helped some 24 million young people get access to work. If you sign up to it, you will receive an offer of employment, education, apprenticeship or training within four months. Within “Bridge to jobs” we are now:

  • Expanding the targeted age group to 24-29 year olds;
  • Widening the outreach to more vulnerable youth groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities and the disabled.
  • Better matching the needs of companies with the right skillsets
  • Providing tailored guidance and mentoring

Secondly, we are proposing a Council Recommendation on vocational education and training.

This also builds on existing Recommendations that focus on ensuring quality and recognition of vocational education and training. The new proposal aims to make systems more agile, attractive, and fit for the digital and green economy. This means that they should be more learner-centred, with more on the job training and more students ending in employment after their degree.

Thirdly, the Commission proposes to relaunch the European Alliance for Apprenticeships. Indeed, this was one of the first - if I may say so - victims of COVID - apprenticeships posts, even though apprenticeships benefit both employers and young people. The Alliance brings together national and regional authorities, businesses, trade unions, education and training providers. It has made more than 900,000 opportunities available since 2013 and now we are reinforcing it.

Today's proposals also set out what EU funding is available to support Member States in boosting youth employment. The Commission has already proposed significant EU financing opportunities for youth employment:

  • REACT EU in the short term,
  • the European Social Fund+ from 2021 with earmarking for youth employment,
  • the Recovery and Resilience Facility supporting investments and reforms.

Now it is up to Member States to prioritise these investments.

These funds could be used for example to pay for:

  • Start-up grants and loans for young entrepreneurs;
  • Bonuses for hiring apprentices in SMEs;
  • Training sessions to acquire new skills;
  • Investments in digital learning infrastructure and technology.

Last but not least, today the Commission also adopted the European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience. Even before the coronavirus, we knew that labour markets are changing rapidly and that people will need to upskill and reskill throughout their working lives. So while this initiative is about youth, it is not only about youth.

This is an enormous challenge that requires commitment and contributions from many different sources: the EU, its Member States, training providers, businesses, trade unions, and of course people themselves.

To conclude,

This package is not only about learning the lessons from the previous crisis. It is also about the future of the EU's labour market. Our recent report on demography showed that with an ageing population we face a real challenge in terms of making our labour market fit for the future.

By investing in youth and skills today, we will help to create a competitive, resilient and inclusive labour market for tomorrow.

Thank you and here I pass the floor to my colleagues Margaritis and Nicolas to explain these proposals further.