Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The European Court of Auditors (ECA), responsible for supervising the initiative Guarantees for Youth, admitted to not finding a single young person having found employment through the program. After the first audit, the auditors indicate some of the EU members provided none, while other gave them only scant data on EU budget spending for the youth program. The goal of the initiative is to have as many young people as possible find employment, since the unemployment rate of persons under 25 in those EU states hardest struck by the crisis is above 50%, while in numerous countries it is above 30%. At the same time, youth representatives warn that internships cannot and should not replace proper employment, but help young people in building up their career.

The initiative was started as a response to the decreasing prospects for employment for youth due to the Eurozone crisis. The EU earmarked 12.7 billion euros for the youth initiative for the 2014-2020 period, while member states should provide additional funds.

Reports on spending the funds for the youth program were not submitted by Estonia, Spain, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Sweden and Great Britain. The implementation of the initiative was monitored in five EU member states – France, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal. Despite the European Commission requesting it, none of the countries submitted the assessed price of structural reforms required to implement the youth program.

Although Guarantees for Youth may appear as an expensive initiative, its alternative are even greater costs for unemployment benefits, assessed at 153 billion euros annually, or over 1% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the EU, excluding the social aspect in case of many young people being unemployed for a longer period.

Source: EurActiv.rs