Abstract
In recent years the European Union (EU), recognizing the importance of young people for economic development and social cohesion, has placed pro-youth policies in its top-priority agenda. The Youth Guarantee constitutes one of the emblematic European initiatives. The paper focuses on the national Youth Guarantee plans of three European countries, Greece, Ireland and Spain. First, it makes a short reference to the institutional framework, which is being created by the EU as a means of establishing better prospects for young people, and describes the socioeconomic environment of the three countries. Then, the paper makes a comparative analysis of their Youth Guarantee plans in order to designate their particular characteristics. Also, it examines the funding options for the projects in each country and attempts to evaluate their potential. In addition, the paper comments on the role of stakeholders in the initiative’s implementation in an effort to underline their importance and to highlight the differences and the limitations regarding their contribution. Finally, the paper attempts an evaluation of the Youth Guarantee schemes of the three countries, in an effort either to indicate deficiencies or to emphasize good practices, which in the long-term would serve as useful experiences for other member states.
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- 1.
With the term “violent reallocation” the author symbolically describes the results of the multifaceted challenges which individuals have to manage in the modern labor market: valuable human resources are either being forced to migrate for professional purposes or are simply neglected and marginalized in labor markets that are segmented or exclusive and, therefore, rather unfavorable for young individuals especially.
- 2.
The first phase of the implementation of the national Youth Guarantee plans came to its conclusion in the end of 2015. The plans are currently being revised under the close supervision of the European authorities and according to their recommendations. The monitoring of the Youth Guarantee interventions through the European Semester process constitutes an indication of the initiative’s importance. At the same time it is a mechanism through which additional pressure is exercised on countries in order that they ensure responsible public administration.
- 3.
The desire to escape unemployment forced many high-skilled Greeks to migrate to other countries, a fact that caused a significant decrease in the population. The Bank of Greece included an analysis of the “brain drain” phenomenon and of its consequences for the Greek economy in its annual report in February 2016 (Governor of the Bank of Greece 2016, pp. 74–77).
- 4.
For example, the Greek public employment services (Manpower Employment Organization/OAED) implement a program for the redefinition of their operational model, which includes many of the operations that are highlighted in the Youth Guarantee concept (Greece. Manpower Employment Organization/OAED 2016).
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Boutsiouki, S. (2018). Prioritizing Youth in the National Policy Agendas: The Role of the Youth Guarantee in Three European Countries. In: Bilgin, M., Danis, H., Demir, E., Can, U. (eds) Consumer Behavior, Organizational Strategy and Financial Economics. Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76288-3_24
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