mr president two months ago the commission presented the youth on the move flagship initiative as part of the europe twenty twenty strategy
this sends a clear signal that the commission has a special concern for young people
closer policy coordination under the european semester which we are currently preparing with the member states will offer the right framework for stimulating the development of policy and reforms that will benefit young people
youth on the move has three objectives to improve education increase employment and foster mobility for young people across the european union
it will involve action to make education and training more relevant to young people's needs encourage them to take advantage of eu grants to study or train in another country and overcome obstacles to entering and making progress in the labour market
the two labour market problems which the honourable member has raised namely traineeships and labour market segmentation are among the topics youth on the move takes up
i am grateful for the opportunity to explain the commission's views and aims regarding these two topics
i want to stress first and foremost that both fall within the member states national competence in terms of practical implementation
let me start with traineeships or internships as they are also sometimes called
i know that the european parliament regards these as very important as ms turunen's report earlier this year showed
the underlying problem is that employers are reluctant to recruit young workers with little or no practical experience
this is why acquiring initial work experience through traineeships has grown in importance for young people over the years
however they must be of high quality and have clear learning objectives
in addition they should not replace normal jobs or probation periods at the start of a work contract
the commission intends to develop a quality framework for traineeships but as a first step we need to improve our knowledge in this area
the commission will soon be launching a study to gain an overview of existing legal arrangements and practice across the member states
this is part of a pilot project involving measures for employment maintenance for which parliament has provided the commission with an extra budget for twenty ten
a second set of issues is labour market segmentation
young people are in a difficult position in terms of job security
too many have short-term contracts often alternating with unemployment and many young people even those who are well qualified have little chance of getting more stable contracts
we need to tackle labour market segmentation as a matter of urgency in particular because it affects young people and their employment prospects most and because it endangers the future competitiveness of the european economy
a report on employment in europe to be released by the commission in a few days finds that temporary workers are paid fourteen less and receive less training than workers on permanent contracts
this has a negative impact on productivity
this applies to young people especially
those with temporary jobs account for forty of the total against thirteen among the overall working-age population
this means that young people bear the brunt of adjustment
in addition young people are experiencing more and more difficulties in getting into the labour market
the percentage of young people who are not in education employment or training ranges from about four in denmark and the netherlands to sixteen to twenty in italy cyprus and bulgaria
reducing labour market segmentation is first and foremost the responsibility of the member states
the commission has identified this as one of the priorities the member states should focus on in line with the common flexicurity principles under eu twenty twenty and the european employment strategy
in practical terms the commission proposes that member states with segmented labour markets should consider introducing an open-ended single contract that provides for a sufficiently long probation period and a gradual increase in protection in place of the current legal disparities between permanent and temporary contracts
the youth employment framework under youth on the move gives guidance on how policy makers stakeholders and institutions can make progress in this area
