Within the framework of the TYEC project, led by UIL Italy, ALDA contributed, as partner organisation, to the success of the first international Seminar on “Youth generations and labour market” organised in Madrid on 23 May 2013.
The event brought together different stakeholders such as Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, CIREM Foundation, European Trade Union Confederation, CEOE Spanish Employers’ Association, UIL Tuscany, Youth Secretariat of Comisiones Obreras and Maison de l’Europe de Caen Basse-Normandie and was an occasion to debate on an issue of strong impact such as youth unemployment.
The panel adopted a wide perspective involving academic figures, trade unions as well as representatives of youth organisations and several measures were identified to tackling youth unemployment: structural reforms of labour markets at national level and application of the Youth Guarantee schemes, foster youth mobility, more coordination between the education sector and the labour market (Youth in the Move was mentioned as a good flagship measure of the EU in this direction), link the education system to enterprises’ demands, foster cooperation between educational policies and policies on economic growth, stronger involvement of all interested actors in smoothing the transition from the education system to the labour market and avoid the market as only regulator of the transition, more resources on the analysis of the data as in many contexts there is a lack of a clear view on youth unemployment, more welfare measures for protecting those who cannot find or lose the job, improve the role of job agencies as in some cases the lack of information is the main problem of the gap between job demands and job offers, and foster youth entrepreneurship.
ALDA’s contribution to the session brought in examples of tested and successful measures drawn from concrete actions put effectively into place by the partnership LAs-CSOs. The multi-stakeholder perspective was showcased by Mr Luigi Romildo, Coordinator of Maison de l’Europe, Caen Basse-Normandie who was identified as a panellist among the many members of ALDA.
Mr Romildo highlighted a few relevant indicators related to youth unemployment: the gap is not only between generations, with the youngsters as main category affected by the crises, but differences are also significant within the youth category itself, given the strong disparities among territories; successful experimental projects in France showcased that the multi-stakeholder approach, gathering not only governmental actors at different levels but also CSOs, is a winning approach; in France, youth policies are not specifically focused on tackling youth unemployment as such but are part of a more general framework that encompasses youth social inclusion and youth active citizenship as well.