The Budgets Committee voted by 29 in favour to 3 against, with 0 abstentions, to add €500 million to the EU Budget for 2017.
Committee MEPs call on the Commission and Member States to ensure that the whole additional €500 million is fully committed by the end of 2017.
Quote
Rapporteur Jens Geier (S&D, DE), said: “I welcome the additional funds for the Youth Employment Initiative. Fighting youth unemployment remains one of the EU’s main challenges, as in some European regions the rate of youth unemployment is still dramatically high. This is also why this year’s additional €500 million cannot be the end of it. The Parliament will continue to fight for more financial means to tackle youth unemployment.”
Next steps
The Draft Amending Budget 3/2017 has yet to be approved by a plenary vote, scheduled during the 11-14 September session.
Quick facts
The Youth Employment Initiative was launched in 2013 to support young people who are not in education, employment or training, aged below 25 and living in regions where youth unemployment was higher than 25% in 2012. Youth unemployment rates have decreased in most Member States in comparison to the reference year of 2012, but they are still above 2008 (pre financial crisis) levels, according to the European Commission.
Ref.: 20170828IPR82513
