over the last two years the number of young unemployed people in the european union has increased by one million
there are now five million young people under the age of twenty-five who cannot find a job
the commission is keenly aware of the difficulties facing young people on the job market today
too many are on short-term contracts which offer slim opportunities for improvement however well qualified the individuals might be
what is more some groups have special difficulty in accessing jobs and staying in the labour market
they include young people from migrant backgrounds and those from ethnic minorities like the roma
at the same time demand for highly qualified people is projected to rise by almost sixteen million and demand for people with medium-level qualifications by more than three point five million
this represents a big employment opportunity for young people and we must make sure that young people can take full advantage of it
the europe twenty twenty strategy which lays out the eu's detailed plans for growth and jobs for the next decade lays special emphasis on young people and sets clear targets for educational attainment
in september the commission presented a set of policy initiatives for young people called youth on the move
it sets out an agenda for improving education and employment for our young people over the next decade
the commission recently presented another flagship initiative an agenda for new skills and jobs
the commission encourages the introduction of a youth guarantee to ensure that all young people are in a job further education or activation measures within four months of leaving school
another point is the need to reduce labour market segmentation in line with the common flexicurity policies
we propose that member states with segmented labour markets should consider introducing open-ended contracts with a sufficiently long probation period and a gradual increase in protection rights
we also need to foster greater labour mobility and encourage innovation
two instruments that will help here are the eu job mobility scheme your first eures job and the european vacancy monitor
your first eures job will promote youth labour mobility and the european vacancy monitor will allow young people and job counsellors to see where there are jobs across the union and what skills are needed
meanwhile the european progress microfinance facility will provide support for young entrepreneurs who cannot find alternative funding to set up businesses
of course there is no single solution to the problems facing us but we can learn a lot from each other by exchanging experience
the youth employment framework we propose gives guidance on how policy makers stakeholders and institutions can help things along
public employment services the social partners employers and support services for young people at local level all have a crucial role to play
we will work to encourage more exchanges of experience and good practice among them at eu level
i firmly believe that by pooling resources at eu level we can help develop and promote successful policies to support young people
