Framework of Actions on Youth Employment

The European social partners reject the inevitability of a lost generation. That is why they have included this Framework of Actions as the first priority of the Work Programme for 2012-2014. They agreed to “focus on the link between education, young people’s expectations and labour market needs, while taking account of young people’s transition from school into the labour market, in an effort to increase employment rates in general”.

In this respect, European social partners fully support the objective of article 3 of the TFEU of working for a highly competitive social market economy and article 9 of the TFEU of promoting “a high level of employment, the guarantee of adequate social protection, the fight against social exclusion, and a high level of education, training and protection of human health.”

With this Framework of Actions, we call on national social partners, public authorities and other stakeholders to act together to achieve concrete progress in favour of youth employment. A multi-pronged approach is needed with measures and appropriate resources to secure high quality learning outcomes, promote vocational education and training, and create jobs.

The European social partners are thus committed to putting forward practical solutions to address youth unemployment taking into account the specific situation of each country, in order to contribute to growth, employment and social cohesion.

This Framework of Actions is based on existing and new practices. European social partners aim to promote the most effective initiatives identified across Europe that could be used as inspiration for designing solutions by national social partners in their respective contexts. We also include recommendations to other relevant actors such as the EU institutions and Member States.