8.1 make youth employment
one of the major priorities of employment policy and initiate immediate measures,
drawing on best European practice in this field;
8.2 foster quality job creation, social dialogue and incentives
for hiring young workers, in particular in the most promising economic
sectors, notably services, and in those facing labour shortages;
8.3 improve interaction between employers, state employment
agencies and young jobseekers;
8.4 strengthen links between educational institutions and
businesses, with a view to a better match between the qualifications
of young people and labour market needs – current and future;
8.5 enhance educational guidance, skills development, careers
advice, employability training and job-search services in order
to smooth the transition of young people from studies to work;
8.6 ensure additional education, training and income support
in order to facilitate access to the labour market and give professional
perspectives to disadvantaged or vulnerable young people, including
those with an immigrant or minority background and those living
in rural or remote areas, and support youth organisations with field
activities in this domain;
8.7 remain vigilant regarding employers’ compliance with obligations
to ensure decent working conditions, regular training and adequate
remuneration for young workers, notably with regard to temporary
employment contracts;
8.8 consider setting up or strengthening, as appropriate,
public-private partnerships which help young people find their first
work experience and on-the-job training;
8.9 put in place fiscal or social incentives for businesses
to employ young people under long-term contracts or contracts considered
to offer the first truly stable and quality jobs for the young people
who occupy them, notably in order to assist the integration of young
people with disabilities and those most at risk of social exclusion
or marginalisation;
8.10 develop systems allowing young people, and in particular
the most vulnerable amongst them, to have access to assisted employment
which represents a true “gateway” between the training and working
spheres;
8.11 study the policies and practices, notably “flexicurity”
arrangements, of countries that have the most successful youth employment
rates, with a view to learning how to reduce youth unemployment
at home;
8.12 support, not least through voluntary contributions, the
Council of Europe projects aimed at promoting youth employment,
mobility, language skills and other skills development;
8.13 promote access for the young generation to self-employment,
microcredit schemes and advisory services for entrepreneurship;
8.14 encourage multilateral development banks, in particular
the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) and the Council of Europe Development Bank
(CEB), and other relevant institutions, such as the European Centre
for Global Interdependence and Solidarity (North-South Centre),
to contribute to the implementation of the European Union and Council
of Europe neighbourhood policies, in particular through projects
aimed at job creation and youth employment in southern Mediterranean
countries.