With full employment in the prime working age population almost reached in many regions, the EU is putting the onus on efforts to raise the labour market participation of younger people. This is where the biggest unused potential for Europe's workforce lies, sociologists say. Better integration of junior workers is also seen as a priority in view of helping the continent resolve its increasing skills shortage and face up to the the demographic shift and accompanying threat to pension financing.
The ministers' call for action was mainly directed at member states, who are asked to pursue labour market modernisation policies, notably with a view to better matching up supply and demand.
Ministers also stressed the crucial role of schools in the creation of a qualified workforce, calling on member states to improve the capacity of education and training systems to reduce the number of drop-outs and pupils leaving school without any formal qualifications. They further insisted that youngsters who acquire skills in informal or non-formal training situations get more recognition, going as far as to recommend "the certification of acquired qualifications".
Young people who have ended their education need "good counselling on labour market possibilities" in order to facilitate the transition to working life, the ministers said - a call that goes out to schools as well as employment agencies.
Governments are also asked to better coordinate public employment services and social security systems "to ensure a more effective and efficient job search to reduce both frictional and structural unemployment".
While much of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of national governments, ministers also stressed the role of the European Commission in helping countries better assess and anticipate future developments.
It called on the EU executive to urgently follow up on the conclusions of the March 2008 European Council, where EU leaders invited the Commission "to present a comprehensive assessment of the future skills requirements in Europe up to 2020, taking account of the impacts of technological change and ageing populations and to propose steps to anticipate future needs".
Ministers set the Commission a March 2009 deadline for this assessment, which they noted should take account of demographic, climate and technological changes as well as globalisation, which is already triggering socio-economic changes.
