A few weeks ago, I wrote about the growing youth unemployment rate that many EU member states are facing.
Understanding that citizens of member states are confronted with austerity measures necessary to solve the economic debt crisis, EU leaders have been diligently searching to find solutions to not only youth unemployment, but also the high unemployment in general in many member states. The solution to lowering high unemployment rates is multi-faceted. Unemployment affects a wide array of people and has repercussions in multiple areas of society. This makes it exceptionally difficult for policymakers to try and consider all elements of why unemployment rates are so high when drafting productive legislation to tackle it.
As a member of the committee on employment and social affairs, I find myself constantly reading about new initiatives being taken by fellow MEPs, EU leaders, or our own Maltese leaders to close the unemployment gap. Due to the hard work of the Maltese government, Malta‘s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the EU and continues to drop. Despite these positive statistics, complacency would be misguided. We should continue to closely monitor developments in other member states and understand the measures being implemented to curb the rise in unemployment and stimulate growth.
In my previous article, I wrote about the EU initiative ‘Youth on the Move’ that helps young people gain access to adequate training and job opportunities after leaving school. ‘Youth on the Move’ is only one of many initiatives focused on boosting the job market in the EU through education. Another initiative from the Commission entitled ‘New Skills and Jobs’ is intended to work hand in hand with the ‘Youth on the Move’ initiative to promote job growth. This plan will focus on training citizens for jobs that are forecasted to be in high demand in the next decade. These jobs have been referred to as ‘green’ and ‘white’ jobs. ‘Green’ jobs refer to jobs that will help clean, protect, and utilise the environment to its maximum potential. ‘White’ jobs are those in fields such as science, healthcare, and social care. There will be a high demand from employers for skilled and well-educated workers in these fields in the next decade, and young people should keep that in mind when choosing their future career.
Both plans are part of the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy, which aims to promote smart, sustainable, and inclusive growth. The ‘Europe 2020’ strategy aims to increase employment rates in the EU as a whole to 75% by 2020. An €82 billion budget is expected to be allocated for boosting employment from now until then.
Policymakers are also working to improve on discrepancies in equality between men and women in the workplace. Different treatment of genders can result in unemployment rises as poor compensation, as well as generic unfair treatment, push individuals out of the workplace. Just last week, in the committee on employment and social affairs, MEPs addressed a report concerning the application of the principle of equal pay for male and female workers for equal work or work of equal value. This report details how the EU can better ensure that those who work are appropriately compensated, whatever their gender.
8 March is International Women’s Day. This day is celebrated around the world and focuses on highlighting gender inequality in all areas, including the workplace. To celebrate this day, and call more attention to the issue of gender inequality in the workplace, the European Parliament will hold an event that invites members of both national and EU parliaments to address ‘Equal pay for work of equal value’. EU Parliament President, Martin Schulz, will be one of many EU leaders opening up the debate focusing on how to best reduce the gender pay gap and see an increase in employment for men and women alike.
The abovementioned are just a few of the numerous initiatives currently under way targeted at solving unemployment. They focus on different areas thus adequately addressing this multi-faceted problem. There is more that can be done. With the economic crisis swarming the headlines, it can be easy to feel dismayed over the unemployment problem in Europe. However, the EU has never stalled in producing more objectives and initiatives to get as many EU citizens as possible on a payroll in order to fuel the economy and promote growth across member states.
David Casa is a Nationalist MEP