Youth Opportunities Initiative

The employment situation of young people in the European Union is alarming. The economic crisis has hit young people extremely hard, with an increase in unemployment to above 22% in 2012, for the EU as a whole. Through stronger partnerships between political authorities, business and trade unions at all levels of governance, the "Youth Opportunites Initiative" aims to help tackle youth unemployment and avoid the heavy economic and social cost of a "lost generation" of young Europeans.