Europaudvalget 2012-13
Det Europæiske Råd 27-28/6-13 Bilag 2
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EUROPEAN COUNCIL
THE PRESIDENT
Brussels, 24 May 2013
&addressee
&form of address
At our next European Council, in June, we should make further progress towards the goals we have
set ourselves to exit the crisis. Our common strategy comprises four elements, four 'keys' to unlock
our way to recovery. First: preserving financial stability, where we are on the right track. Second,
improving the resilience of our economies, through sound public finances and improved
competitiveness. Here, we begin to see the first results. Third: strengthening our economic and
monetary union, especially the banking union, for which the months ahead of us will be crucial.
And fourth, fighting unemployment and supporting growth in the near term.
In June, I would like to put the fight against unemployment high on our agenda. The number of
unemployed people in our Union, especially of young people, is at record levels. It has become one
of the most pressing issues in most, if not all, of our Member States. That is why we must do our
utmost to deal with it together.
Rue de la Loi 175 - 1048 Bruxelles - BELGIQUE
Tél.: +32 (0)2 281 97 33 - Fax: +32 (0)2 281 67 37
[email protected]
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The June European Council will be an opportunity to mobilise efforts at all levels around one
shared objective: to get motivated young people back to work or education. We must give them the
guarantee that they will be either in training, further education or employment within four months
of leaving school. I call on all actors to rally around this objective.
Member States are key actors in this regard. The huge differences in youth unemployment rates
within our Union demonstrate that national policies and situations matter. The National Job Plans
which you submitted to the European Commission as part of the National Reform Programmes also
illustrate your key role.
In recent days, several of you announced that they would come forward with ideas to foster youth
employment or share best practices. I welcome and encourage these initiatives. Based on your
experiences, I invite you to actively contribute, also through your collaborators, to the preparation
of our June meeting. Moreover, I also look forward to working on the follow-up of this June
European Council, for instance at the meeting organised by Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 3, in
Berlin.
In my meetings with the social partners, I notice that the fight against youth unemployment goes to
the heart of their work. I call on them to continue to engage actively and jointly on this issue. I hope
that they will be able to agree together on concrete steps ahead of the European Council. I stand
ready to support them in this endeavour.
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We have to keep moving forward on the actions which have already been deployed at the Union
level. The European Commission has proposed a series of measures in the framework of the Youth
Employment Package; the European Alliance for Apprenticeships will be launched early July. The
recommendation to establish a Youth Guarantee has been swiftly adopted by the Council. And in
the European Council, we have repeatedly underlined the importance of tackling youth
unemployment, notably in the Compact for Growth and Jobs. We have followed up with concrete
decisions: in June last year, we agreed to redirect considerable amounts of EU funds, helping
800,000 young people in the eight most affected countries. In February, we set aside €6 billion for
the Youth Employment Initiative in the Union's next seven year budget, notably to support Youth
Guarantee schemes. We should make sure that all the preparatory work is carried out at the latest by
our October summit, so that this initiative can be fully operational by 1st of January 2014. I also call
on the Council and the Parliament, who both attach great importance to the fight against youth
unemployment, to jointly work towards that end.
At our last meeting just three days ago, we illustrated once again our strong determination to foster
Europe's competitiveness and to stimulate growth and jobs in our Union. I am confident that this
same determination will also guide our work at the June European Council, to the benefit of an
entire generation of young Europeans.
&salutations
H. VAN ROMPUY