These are the figures; 5.4 million Europeans under 25 years old are unemployed in the EU, meaning that one in five young people are currently jobless. Even worse, the distribution of unemployment rates across the EU member states is appalling, with 7.9 per cent in Germany and 9.9 per cent in Austria compared to 57.3 per cent in Greece and 54.9 per cent in Spain. A 'social iron curtain'
The shocking aspect of these figures is that they cannot really help to illustrate the disastrous reach of youth unemployment, since the problem goes far beyond what numbers are capable of describing. In fact, every day that a hopeful and motivated young person spends without a job, confronting the challenges of everyday life becomes more and more difficult for them and their faith that better days will come diminishes, eating away at their self-confidence.
This is, in my view, how the economic crisis impacts society, something that the new president of the European commission Jean-Claude Juncker and his newly elected team of commissioners will have to face in order to get the EU out of crisis. They must bring confidence back to Europe, by fixing the economy and showing how Europe can help its citizens to enjoy the better life they deserve.
"The distribution of unemployment rates across the EU member states is appalling, with 7.9 per cent in Germany and 9.9 per cent in Austria compared to 57.3 per cent in Greece and 54.9 per cent in Spain. A 'social iron curtain' has developed"
If something has been done to tackle youth unemployment in the EU, it frankly appears to not be very effective, for now at least. The adoption of the youth guarantee scheme, as well as the frontloading of €6bn to maximise its impact in the short term, were surely positive decisions. Nevertheless, I strongly doubt these measures will be sufficient, or even useful. If we fail to make the European economy grow again, it will be paramount that we find ways to create European structural instruments to cope with the issue of youth unemployment; this is what I will be trying to call for as a member of the employment and social affairs committee in the parliament.
My view is that the correct way to address the problem is to shape it into a triangular form, on the one side, guaranteeing and improving social protection measures and social rights, putting emphasis on intra-EU solidarity aspects, on the other, protecting and capitalising on the free movement of workers, a precondition for a functioning single market. The base of this triangle would be a decisive investment in a more integrated European Union, capable of giving leverage to EU actions on this front.
Far from being a goal in itself, the creation of a genuine fiscal union – alongside the existing monetary union and the establishment of rules to democratically run the European economy, instead of the current approach of permanent crisis management, tied to the sometimes seasonal moods of the member states – is in my opinion the right way to go. A first step in this direction should probably be the establishment of a fiscal capacity for the EU to address some of the macroeconomic objectives - youth unemployment and mobility of workers being good examples. In this sense, I am currently reflecting on the feasibility of a mobility assistance scheme to promote EU labour mobility while at the same time tackling the problem of welfare shopping.
Jean-Claude Juncker says he wants a 'triple-A' Europe on social issues - parliament is ready to judge the quality of his assertion over the next five years.