The European Parliament today backed an S&D Group initiative to make an extra 500 million Euro available to tackle youth unemployment across Europe. The money comes as part of an amendment to the EU’s budget for 2017, increasing funding for the Youth Employment Initiative.

S&D Group MEP and Parliament negotiator for the amending budget Jens Geier said:

“Despite recent positive news about EU economies, the number of young people not in work is still disgracefully high. The rate of unemployment for people between 16 and 25 years old is more than double the average rate in many EU countries. Over a third of all young people in Spain, Italy and Greece still are not in education, training or work. This extra 500 million will help support new job placements, traineeships and further education for those most in need. However, it is still nowhere near enough. We will continue to push the Council and Commission finally to provide the resources necessary to get to grips with the scale of the crisis.

Eider Gardiazabal Rubial, S&D spokesperson for the budget committee, added:

“It is now 10 years after the beginning of the financial crisis and we are still dealing with the consequences. The fact so many young people across the EU are still struggling is not acceptable. Youth unemployment may not be as widely covered as before but the issue has not gone away. Ensuring that initiatives to help young people secure good quality training or work remains an absolute priority for our Group in the negotiations on the EU 2018 budget.”