Local implementation of youth guarantees : Emerging lessons from European experiences

Since 2012, European policy-makers have called for urgent action to respond to rising levels of youth unemployment and to help young people not in education employment or training to make the transition into work. They have called for the adoption of a Youth Guarantee, a scheme which seeks to ensure that all young people aged under 25 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. Many Member States of the European Union have taken steps to turn the European call into reality both at the national and local level, especially since EU funding is targeted on regions where youth unemployment exceeds 25 per cent.