The European Parliament’s resolution, which puts forward proposals to address the most vulnerable young persons, supports, inter alia, a reinforced Youth Guarantee and the EU’s new ALMA (Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve) programme and calls on the European Commission to “propose in 2022 new tools and initiatives aimed at developing youth entrepreneurship and youth social investment in the action plan for social economy”. Indeed, alarming statistics on NEETs, youth unemployment, mental health and social exclusion call for immediate intervention as part of the post pandemic recovery to bring back the wellbeing of young Europeans.

In 2019 one in four youngsters in the EU was at risk of social exclusion or poverty. High NEETs rates have staggering negative consequences for economies but more importantly they impact negatively the health, wellbeing and stability of young generations to come. Many fear that the perpetuation of this situation could lead to irreversible generational effects on youth.

In line with the European Parliament resolution, CESI advocates in favour of more decisive European and national responses to facilitate youth access to quality jobs and traineeships, affordable housing, mental health support mechanisms. To mitigate the negative consequences of the pandemic for the inclusion of young people in education, the European Union and Member States should invest more in labour market policies and in school-to-work transitions.

CESI welcomes proposals and demands put forward by the European Parliament on the European Year of Youth 2022, Erasmus+, a boosted Youth Guarantee, Youth Employment Initiative and new EU ALMA programme, and agrees that more investment in the future of young people should also be made also through the national plans of the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility.

CESI also supports the resolution’s condemnation of unpaid work -be it as part of a professional internship, traineeship or apprenticeship-, salutes the resolution’s recommendation on including youth mental health recovery in the forthcoming EU Care Strategy, and notes that the inclusion of social partners in the design, implementation and delivery of youth policies, which is reiterated throughout the resolution, is instrumental in achieving effective and positive support for young people.

In support of the resolution CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski declared: “In order to prevent young people from losing themselves and maintain an economic, social and health-promising perspective, we need to invest in youth! Strong interest representation of young people is vital. CESI Youth continues to give youth workers a platform to advocate for their rights!”