1. The Youth Employment Initiative
Manuela GELENG
Head of Unit E1, ESF and FEAD Policy and Legislation
European Commission - DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Brussels, 12 November 2014

2. Overview
YEI – scope and main principles
State of play of YEI programming and implementation

3. Youth Guarantee Recommendation
Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013:
Member States need to:
ensure that all young people up to 25
receive a good-quality offer of
employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship
within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.

4. Other EU programmes/instruments: EaSI, ERASMUS +, ERDF support,…
Youth Policies & Funding…
EU level policy
Funding
Young NEET
QFT
EAfA
EURES/YfEj
ESF
YEI
National budgets
Youth
Guarantee
Max 4 months
Traineeship
Apprenticeship
Job
Continued education
& training
Member States
level policy
Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan, involving partnerships
Other EU programmes/instruments: EaSI, ERASMUS +, ERDF support,…

5. European Social Fund 2014-20:
Dedicated investment priority for young people:
Sustainable integration of young people in particular those not in employment, education or training, including young people at risk of social exclusion and young people from marginalised communities, into the labour market, including through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee;
YEI is programmed within this ESF investment priority
Other relevant investment priorities

6. Youth Employment Initiative
Launched by the European Council on 7-8 February 2013
To support in particular some aspects of the Youth Guarantee schemes (actions for individuals)
EUR 6.4 billion for the period open to all NUTS2 regions with levels of youth unemployment (age group 15-24) above 25% in 2012.
EUR 3.2 billion ESF +EUR 3.2 billion from a specific 'youth employment' budget line in the EU budget = YEI Resources
The YEI is front-loaded to , n+3 spending rule applies

7. ESF Regulation provisions on YEI (1)
YEI will target actions to individuals only (not systems and structures). ESF can support systems reform
YEI target group:
- NEETs aged below 25, or optionally below 30 years
- who could be: inactive or unemployed (+long-term); registered or not as job seekers; residing in the eligible regions
N.B.: NEETS are a heterogeneous group (can be both high and low-educated). MS will themselves define the target population of NEET

8. ESF Regulation provisions on YEI (2)
4-month criterion of the YG does not apply legally to YEI
Early eligibility date of expenditure – 1 September 2013/ early adoption of dedicated YEI OPs
Direct and speedy results expected – YEI result indicators
Ex-ante conditionality on YEI: need for a strategic policy framework on youth employment to be in place before the MS access this funding. => Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan

9. YEI – possible measures:
provision of traineeships and apprenticeships;
first job experience;
hiring incentives for employers to recruit youngsters;
job and training mobility measures;
start-up support for young entrepreneurs;
vocational education and training leading to a qualification;
where relevant for early school leavers - second chance programmes.
Aim: deliver these actions as part of integrated pathways and based on the individuals' needs/ individual actions plans.

10. YEI and the ESF
YEI has a specific purpose, to act in the worst-affected regions
YEI is fully integrated in ESF programming
YEI will enhance and complement, not replace ESF actions
MS are expected to allocate more ESF for youth actions than only YEI resources

11. State of play – YEI Programming
All 34 YEI-relevant OPs are officially submitted
3 YEI-relevant OPs adopted: FR, IT and LT – worth EUR 1.6 billion (YEI resources); pre-financing payments made
COM observations sent to 30 OPs
COM estimates it could adopt 23 OPs by end-2014, worth EUR 3.8 billion

12. State of play – YEI implementation
Letter by Cssr Andor of 16 July 2014 requesting MS estimates for both YEI and ESF spending since September 2013 for YEI and in 2014 for ESF
Questionnaire to all ESF (and YEI) Managing Authorities – by 26 September
Replies received from all MS (though some very late)

13. Main findings from the MS questionnaire replies (1)
Most MS indicate they are still spending funding for youth employment measures, incl. reallocated amounts from the Youth Action Teams:
- considerable volumes
- substantial coverage
Few MS take advantage of early eligibility of expenditure date and are mobilising funding in the absence of adopted OPs

14. Main findings from the MS questionnaire replies (2)
Summary of estimates as provided by MS:
By end of 2014 (new progr.period only):
YEI + other ESF spending in 2014: 844 MEUR
Number of young people targeted: 886,000
Number of persons receiving quality jobs, apprenticeships, traineeships or continued education (=YG offer): 376,000

15. Thank you for your attention!15