EN
EUROPEA COUCIL
THE PRESIDET
Berlin, 3 July 2013
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PRESSE 317
PR PCE 142
Press statement by President of the European Council
Herman Van Rompuy
following the Berlin Conference on Youth Employment
Good afternoon. Before anything else – let me thank Chancellor Merkel for hosting this
important conference on how to tackle the perhaps most pressing problem facing Europe
right now: youth unemployment.
The conference here in Berlin was in line with the conclusions of the European Council
meeting last week in Brussels. A Council that was likewise – almost fully – devoted to the
fight against youth unemployment. This conference was a good opportunity to exchange
Europe-wide experiences and ideas on how Member States can – in practice – stimulate the
creation of jobs for youth.
Let me first of all say that the ultimate goal of all our endeavours of the last three years is
precisely employment. Financial stability, fiscal consolidation, competitiveness, structural
reforms are intermediate goals - or means to an end. The real objective is to get people
back at work. In Europe, we have a comprehensive strategy aiming at long-term economic
growth and jobs. We should not lose direction. But we can of course modulate the pace.
Exactly because we have a long-term strategy, we need actions for the short-term. We
cannot just await strong economic growth to foster jobs for young people. We cannot just
await the completion of the banking union to combat financial fragmentation and credit
crunches for our small and medium-sized enterprises.
At the summit last week, all 27 – today 28 – European leaders took a number of important
decisions for joint action - having in mind that social and employment policies are mainly
national policies. Let me mention the four main decisions.
Firstly, we succeeded to turn the summit into a rallying point for all key actors - mobilising
Member States, social partners and European institutions for the same cause - more job
opportunities for the young. And clearly, everybody is mobilised.
PRESS
Dirk De Backer - Spokesperson of the President - ( +32 (0)2 281 9768 - +32 (0)497 59 99 19
Preben Aamann - Deputy Spokesperson of the President - ( +32 (0)2 281 2060 - +32 (0)476 85 05 43
[email protected] http://www.european-council.europa.eu/the-president
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Secondly, we agreed to scale up and speed up our Youth Employment Initiative, for which
we had initially foreseen 6 billion euro, to a projected 8 billion euro, with most of the
money concentrated in the next two years. As the EU budget unrolls in the years ahead,
funds available will go to youth employment as a matter of priority. This will help
implement the national Youth Guarantee schemes to ensure that within 4 months of
leaving school or becoming unemployed, every young European gets a good offer for a
job, education or training. If there is one main lesson to draw from experiences in Member
States it is that the better educated and the better trained young people are, the lower the
unemployment is.
Thirdly, we agreed to help millions of European small and medium-sized enterprises, the
biggest employers in our countries, to get through the credit crunch in some countries. To
this end we will combine funds from the EU budget and the European Investment Bank helping to restore a better access to credit for SMEs - so they can create jobs. This is also
why the European Council agreed on a new Investment Plan for Europe via our seven year
EU budget of one trillion euro and via the European Investment Bank with new lending
opportunities of 150 billion euro. And this is why we decided to take stock of its
implementation already in October this year.
Finally, the European Council took a number of other decisions – for instance promoting
cross-border mobility, including for vocational training, as well as high-quality
apprenticeships. They will help bring down hurdles, giving a perspective to hundreds of
thousands of young people in the European labour market.
Let me thank Chancellor Angela Merkel wholeheartedly for organising this conference in a
true European spirit of cooperation.
During his intervention at the Conference, President Herman Van Rompuy said:
(…) I'm pleased that already three days after the European summit, this day is devoted to
identifying the operational follow-up to our decisions. At the European Council we have
set out a clear goal for every government (with the Youth Guarantee), and we have made
sure EU means are there to get started (from our EU budget and the EIB). ,ow it's about
rolling out actions, by governments individually and jointly, to make sure we have a
maximum impact.
(…) It is my intention to put the issue again on the European Council's agenda, both in
October and December. In October, the EIB and the Commission will report back on the
implementation of measures to finance the economy. In December, in particular, right
ahead of the foreseen entry into force of the new MFF, we will assess the progress made
on all the actions in the fight against youth unemployment. Follow-up by the European
Council is an essential part of economic governance.
It is important to keep the momentum: we've got six months ahead of us, and no time to
lose. We should not lose a generation! Much can be achieved already in that time. We must
show that Europe is not the problem, but part of the solution – and Europe, that is all of us
together.
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