Youth Employment Initiative SAWP 22 March 2013 Manuela GELENG, European Commission – DG EMPL

Content  Background  ESF regulation  CPR

 Aim: fight youth unemployment in EU regions NUTS level 2 with >25% youth unemployment rate in 2012 (Eurostat data).  Budget: EUR 3 bn ESF +3 bn from new budget line within MFF sub-heading 1b.  YEI will directly support the Youth Employment Package, in particular the Youth Guarantee (Council political agreement 28 February)  Available Overview

Proposed amendments to the ESF Reg. (1)  New chapter (III bis) on YEI + separate Annex 2 on indicators + new recital  YEI will target actions to individuals only (not systems).  Target group: - NEETs (aged 15-24); - inactive or unemployed (+long-term); - registered or not as job seekers; - residing in the eligible regions.  Concrete policy measures to be supported by the YEI will be discussed with Member States in the context of ESF OP negotiations BUT: direct and speedy results expected

Additional flexibility element introduced: MS may direct up to 10% of their YEI allocation (ESF + top- up) outside the eligible regions, to support e.g. young persons residing in big cities. YEI top-up calculated proportionally to the number of young unemployed in the regions (fixed once, at the start). ESF allocation at least equal to the share of the top- up for the region concerned, possibly greater BUT: the top-up cannot increase. YEI separate budget line allocation not taken into account for thematic concentration. Proposed amendments to the ESF regulation (2)

Proposed amendments to the ESF regulation (3)  MS chooses to programme YEI as either: - a dedicated priority axis, - a part of a priority axis or - a dedicated OP (volume).  National co-financing rates apply only to the ESF part (not the top-up).  If several categories of regions in one Member State => the highest co-financing rate applies.  Additional monitoring and evaluation arrangements + indicators for YEI (new Annex 2).  Other provisions: financial management, technical assistance, publicity.

Only limited amendments, to ensure that the YEI is fully integrated into the legal framework. A new recital is introduced. Article 18: Performance reserve shall not apply to the YEI. Article 83-84: introducing the resources for the YEI Article 93: public support minimum threshold for JAPs provision does not apply for YEI. Annex V: a new ex-ante conditionality criterion under thematic objective 8 is introduced. It requires that Member States have a comprehensive strategic policy framework underpinning the Youth Employment Package and the Youth Guarantee. All other CPR provisions, including those related to macro-economic conditionalities, also apply to the YEI. Proposed amendments to the CPR

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