1. Working Group 1 Ulrike STOROST
C.2 Sectorial employment challenges, Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship
Resa KOLEVA
E.1. ESF Policy and Legislation
DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
This is a learning and working seminar:
Learning about the Youth Guarantee
Key questions:
How can the YG be linked to policies and practices in getting young people into work, education and Training?
Which elements have proved to work, which haven't? What are the success factors?
How can the Youth Guarantee be designed to add value over and above what Member States are currently doing?
…and working on the Implementation Plans:
How to draw them up – including with whom?
Key considerations and criteria?
How to tailor them to country-specific factors and challenges?
Next steps: What is left to learn and to do? How can the Commission help?
Social Europe

2. Youth Guarantee: A commitment
Council Recommendation of 22 April: Member States
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.
implementation of the Youth Guarantee is main priority for Commission
Commission's call for Action and related European Council conclusions in June: Member States with regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25% should submit a Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan by December 2013 and in 2014 for the other Member States.
YG Council Recommendation 2: "Identify the relevant public authority in charge of establishing and managing the Youth Guarantee scheme and of coordinating partnership across all levels and sectors"
Mention EPSCO
CZ, HR, PL, LU, LT, SK submitted draft YGIPs – thank them – feedback in bilaterals
DE, EL, FR, LU, HU, MT, FI: plans on the way

3. From commitment to implementation…
April 2013: Youth Guarantee Council Recommendation adopted
Summer: National Youth Guarantee Coordinators appointed
September: Draft template Youth Guarantee Implementation Plans (YGIPs) circulated
17/18 October 2013: Mutual Learning Programme
End 2013: Submission of YGIPs (MS > 25% youth unemployment)
Early 2014: Submission of YGIPs (all other MS)
implementation of the Youth Guarantee is main priority for Commission
Commission's call for Action and related European Council conclusions in June: Member States with regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25% should submit a Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan by December 2013 and in 2014 for the other Member States.
YG Council Recommendation 2: "Identify the relevant public authority in charge of establishing and managing the Youth Guarantee scheme and of coordinating partnership across all levels and sectors"
Mention EPSCO
CZ, HR, PL, LU, LT, SK submitted draft YGIPs – thank them – feedback in bilaterals
DE, EL, FR, LU, HU, MT, FI: plans on the way

4. Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan
Context/Rationale for national Youth Guarantee scheme
Implementation
Formulation of national Youth Guarantee
Partnership approaches
Early intervention and activation
Supportive measures for labour market integration
(key reforms and initiatives)
3. Funding
4. Assessment and continuous improvement of schemes
Going beyond traditional or already existing tools and policies.
Outreach to NEETs
Preventive outreach based on new partnerships between education and training institutions, employment services, social services and youth organisations are therefore needed to identify potential NEETs at an early stage.
Supportive measures both on supply and demand side

5. Key messages from October seminar
The YG is more than…
a collection of existing national policies on youth
an Employment Service responsibility
reaching out to registered young people
an EU funded scheme
a short-term investment

6. … it is a long-term structural reform
a new approach: partnerships (between ministries and sectors)
needs an integrated strategy first
needs backing and investment from MS
about prevention, not only cure
organising good-quality offers along biographic journeys of youth
YG and YGIPs need to be elaborated jointly with all involved partners and should not be "hijacked" by one Ministry or authority. It is namely important to involve, inter alia, employers as well as social partners (to ensure that offers under the YG lead to sustainable employment) and the education authorities (there cannot be a comprehensive YG if the Ministry of Education is not involved, eg in offering second chance courses to Early school leavers, or apprenticeship places – so you are pleased that some MS sent Ministry of Education to LA Hulpe).

7. How the Commission supports implementation?
Staff Working Document in 22 languages
bilateral contacts with Member States
Member State Twinning
Coordination with ILO, OECD, EIB,…
19 Pilot Projects
Consultancy on apprenticeships/traineeships:
EU Funding
The Commission offers a range of other support to assist Member States to build Youth Guarantee schemes. Specifically, the Commission:
Has set up a hotline where Member State authorities can request information and guidance related to the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative. A Youth Guarantee website has also been set up:
Meets regularly with Member State representatives to provide tailored support, in the Member States, in Brussels and through videoconferencing. The Commission will, upon request by the concerned Member State, re-launch and expand the Youth Employment Action Teams to assist with the implementation of the Youth Guarantee scheme.
Will upon request by the concerned Member State, arrange technical assistance notably in the form of Member State twinning. This will primarily be organised through ESF technical assistance and the Mutual Learning Programme.
Is supporting MS to develop high quality apprenticeship and traineeship programmes through a Helpdesk which can also organise training courses (up to 1 week) on setting up and managing apprenticeship or traineeship schemes in the concerned MS:
Has launched 19 Youth Guarantee pilot projects under the European Parliament preparatory action "Supporting partnerships for activation measures targeting young people through projects at national, regional or local level in the context of Youth Guarantee schemes" and will launch an evaluation contract to monitor and evaluate the projects.
Is coordinating with the ILO, OECD, EIB regarding support to Member States on the development of YG schemes.
Is organising several other Mutual Learning Programme (MLP) events to support MS exchange in key areas:
Learning exchange on Dual apprenticeship schemes, Qualifications and labour market needs (involving Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal), Berlin, Germany, 5 and 6 September 2012;
Learning exchange on Apprenticeship Systems (involving Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia and Czech Republic), Vienna, Austria, 7 November 2013;
Peer Review on ‘Youth unemployment: how to prevent and tackle it?’, The Hague, The Netherlands, 25 and 26 November 2013;
Peer Review ‘Emplois d’avenir’, Paris, France, February 2014
Consultancy on apprenticeships/traineeships: Running until end of 2014, IT already entered into a more in-depth consultation with the regional ESF authorities

8. ESF
A number of investment priorities relevant to young people, such as those related to :
- sustainable integration of young people
- access to employment
- early school leaving
- LLL
- VET

9. YG ≠ YEI (Youth Guarantee) (Youth Employment Initiative)
The YG is a policy concept that can be supported from
different financial sources
(national budget, ESF, YEI, etc.)
The YEI is a funding instrument that will support only certain aspects of the YG. 8

10. Youth Employment Initiative
Decided by the European Council on 7-8 February
To support measures set out in the YEP, and in particular the Youth Guarantee (actions to directly support individuals)
To enhance what the ESF already does, but from a new perspective: starting with the needs of the individual persons
EUR 6 billion for the period open to all NUTS2 regions with levels of youth unemployment (15-24 age group) above 25% in 2012
EUR 3 billion from the ESF and a further EUR 3 billion from a specific 'youth employment' budget line 9

11. - Objective, scope and other specific provisions for YEI:
Legal base for YEI
- Objective, scope and other specific provisions for YEI:
Chapter III bis of ESF Regulation :
Youth Employment Initiative
Articles 15 (i) to 15(viii); Annex 2 - indicators
- eligibility criteria for YEI: Annex III ter to the CPR
- adoption of YEI OPs/eligibility of expenditure date: CPR relevant articles 25 and 55
- Annex to CPR on Ex-ante conditionalities (specific one on YEI)

12. Relevant ESF investment priority – Article 3 (1)(a)(ii):
"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 can be programmed ONLY under this investment priority
The IP is broader than the YEI ("in particular NEET")

13. ESF Reg. provisions on YEI – Art. 15(i)
Target group:
- NEETs aged up to 25, or optionally for MS – up to 30 years, who can be:
- inactive or unemployed (+long-term) – regardless of education level
- registered or not as job seekers
- residing in the eligible regions.
MS will themselves define the target population of NEET
YEI will target actions to individuals only (not systems).
10% of the YEI can go to young persons residing in sub- regions with high youth unemployment levels and which are outside the eligible NUTS 2 regions. (MS to decide + propose and COM to agree which ones)

14. Which actions can YEI support?
- actions are not equal to cost items!
- need to focus on policy interventions based on the needs of the person/groups of young people targeted => START WITH THE PROBLEM, IDENTIFY THE NEEDS FIRST
- eligible cost items are the same as those that are typically supported by ESF (training fees, equipment, stipends, relocation allowance, hiring costs, etc.)
- BUT: the costs are linked to the action, which for YEI is on individuals – not system reforms

15. Programming (art. 15iii)
- Programming of YEI is fully integrated into ESF programming
- MS may choose to programme YEI as either:
- a dedicated operational programme
- a dedicated priority axis or
- a part of one or more priority axes
- YEI-dedicated OPs may be submitted and approved before the submission of the respective Partnership Agreement (art. 25 CPR)

16. Examples of measures targeted to the individual young person:
Provision of traineeships and apprenticeships
Provision of first job experience (placements)
Reduction of non-wage labour costs
Targeted and well-designed wage and recruitment subsidies
Mobility measures
Start-up support for young entrepreneurs
Quality vocational education and training courses
Second chance programmes

17. YEI – some additional remarks:
Frontloading of YEI (full budget will be committed and spent according to ESF rules)
early eligibility date of expenditure – 1st September early adoption of dedicated YEI OPs (before Partnership Agreements and normal ESF OPs)
Tracking of results – focus on YEI monitoring and reporting

18. More information Youth Employment
ESF Technical Assistance apprenticeship/traineeship schemes 
ESF web site (includes many project examples fo what ESF already does for young people): 17

19. Youth Guarantee: Success factors
Strong partnerships: employment services, education & training institutions, young people, social partners, ….
Early intervention and activation:
Focus on most vulnerable ones
Personalised guidance
Supportive measures enabling labour market integration
Boost skills & competences
Labour-market related measures
Use of EU Funds: in particular ESF, YEI
Assessment and continuous improvement of the schemes for more evidence-based policies and interventions
Swift implementation of YG schemes
implementation of the Youth Guarantee is main priority for Commission
Commission's call for Action and related European Council conclusions in June: Member States with regions experiencing youth unemployment rates above 25% should submit a Youth Guarantee Implementation Plan by December 2013 and in 2014 for the other Member States.
YG Council Recommendation 2: "Identify the relevant public authority in charge of establishing and managing the Youth Guarantee scheme and of coordinating partnership across all levels and sectors"
Mention EPSCO
CZ, HR, PL, LU, LT, SK submitted draft YGIPs – thank them – feedback in bilaterals
DE, EL, FR, LU, HU, MT, FI: plans on the way