Ilhan Kyuchyuk plenary speech on employment and social aspects of the EU2020 strategy

Dear Mrs. President,

Dear Mr. Commissioner,

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to congratulate Ms. Marita Ulvskog for her depth and throughout work on the report.

Employment and social policies are some of the key elements of the Europe 2020 Strategy, which aims to ensure, “inclusive growth”.

We stand behind the efforts to provide employment for 75% of the EU population aged 20 to 64, reducing the share of early school leavers to fewer than 10%, and reduction the risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million people.

But at the same time we do realize that the greatest scourge of Europe remains youth unemployment. In March 2014, 5 340 000 young people in the EU were unemployed (under age of 25). 3 426 000 of them have been identified in the Eurozone. We cannot expect young people to participate in the political life of Europe when they are unemployed.

Among the other mechanisms of the EU, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are also one of the main tools for successfully tackling youth unemployment. They have significant potential for job creation and play a crucial role in the transition to a new sustainable economy. That is why I would like to emphasize the need of creating a favourable environment for SMEs by providing easier access to credit, removing unnecessary administrative barriers and of course the need of their relatedness and the internationalization.

Therefore I call on the European Commission:

• To encourage mechanisms for mobility, and in particular the European Job Mobility Portal (EURES); several studies show that mobile work force is beneficial for both sides. EC estimates 2 million jobs in the EU cannot be filled due to low mobility;
• To support forms of cooperation with the private sector;
• To reform education systems and link them to the labour market;
• To take further concrete measures in the field of policies for education and innovation.

Thank you for your attention!

Тази публикация е достъпна и на следните езици: Bulgarian