The Youth Guarantee is designed to offer young people quick and targeted support when they enter the labour market. Based on a Recommendation of the Council of the European Union of 2013, all member states have implemented the EU Youth Guarantee.
Under the Youth Guarantee, all young people are to receive a good quality offer of employment, initial vocational training or continued education and training, or a traineeship within a period of four months of having completed their school education or vocational training and/or having become unemployed.
The idea at the heart of the Youth Guarantee is early support in order to avoid longer periods of unemployment for young people from the outset.
As part of the Youth Employment Initiative, member states with high youth unemployment rates received financial support from EU funds until 2023 in order to be able to finance the implementation of the Youth Guarantee.
Under the Youth Guarantee new opportunities have been created for young people and member states have developed new ideas for structural reforms and innovation.
As a result, most public employment services have improved and expanded their services for young people. As early as in the first seven years after the introduction of the Youth Guarantee, the number of young people in the EU decreased that are not in employment or training (NEETs) by about 1.7 million. After an intermediate increase in the COVID-19 pandemic, both the NEET rate with 11.7 per cent and the youth unemployment rate with 11.3 per cent reached their lowest levels in the EU-27 since the Youth Guarantee was launched.
The European Commission uses indicators for a regular monitoring of the national implementation of the Youth Guarantee by the member states in the framework of the European Semester, that is the socio-economic coordination at European level. The indicators measure the effectiveness of the provision of services for young people.
In October 2020, the EU member states unanimously adopted a Council Recommendation for a reinforcement of the Youth Guarantee.
The recommendation is based on the Commission’s proposal for a Bridge to Jobs from 1 July 2020, which in turn is part of a package to support youth employment.
Compared to the 2013 Recommendation, the reinforced Youth Guarantee has lowered the age limit from under the age of 25 to 29 years so that more young people can benefit from the Youth Guarantee. Another new feature is the focus on particularly vulnerable young people, such as those living with a disability, belonging to a minority or living in remote rural areas or disadvantaged urban districts. Young people are to receive early and tailored guidance and are to be given the opportunity to acquire the digital and green qualifications required due to the transformation of the world of work.
The unanimous adoption of the reinforced Youth Guarantee sends an important message: the fight against youth unemployment remains one of Europe’s priorities.