European Union

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/6f60e2a4-ed07-11e4-bfba-bc764e084e2e_11.34_thumb_169_1430167739_1430167738_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Donald TUSK, President of the European Council, visits Moldova on 27-28 April 2015.

Download this video here.

The impact since 2009 of the EU’s economic and financial crisis on the labour market for young people has been deep and unsettling. Youth unemployment has risen so significantly that in some EU countries, particularly in southern Europe, one in five young people are not in employment, education or training.

These levels of youth unemployment are disastrous. That there are so many young people without hope and without prospects is bad enough, but on top of that, there are huge economic and societal costs. Even if the European economy recovers, many young people will not be able to find a good job. Yet it is unacceptable that unemployment should be the first labour market experience of young people when they finish their education or training. Europe needs to mobilise all its forces in to combat youth unemployment.

EU leaders have agreed to set up a Youth Guarantee scheme designed to soften the impact of the crisis. But the high rates of youth unemployment often have deeper roots. They also point to shortcomings and structural weaknesses in such other spheres as public administration, education and labour market institutions. The Youth Guarantee’s promise is that all young women and men under the age of 25 will receive a good-quality offer within four months of leaving formal education or becoming unemployed. But labour market conditions differ around Europe, so fulfilling this promise will require a broad range of measures that must be tailor-made for each country. This implies a significant financial investment by member states that could then be topped up from EU funds. The medium- and long-term benefits of successfully implementing the Youth Guarantee are huge, making these costs the best way to ensure sustainable future growth in Europe.

“We must help disfavoured countries build structures that are better equipped to tackle youth unemployment”

With last year’s establishment of the European Network of Public Employment Services (PES), we now have a firm basis for co-operation on labour market policies. The aim is to reduce unemployment by increasing employment service efficiency, by fostering exchanges and mutual learning. This will help to improve the functioning of labour markets by better matching jobseekers and employers and by promoting mobility. The PES Network has created a formalised “Benchlearning” system that combines elements of benchmarking and mutual learning.

One of the Network’s major tasks is to enable public employment services in member states to identify optimal strategies for combatting youth unemployment. This is complicated by differences in the level of resources available to national services and by the range of challenges posed by labour markets in the various member states. Sharing experience on successful measures and adapting those measures to fit other national labour markets could be an important first step in developing new solutions to youth unemployment, but this will only be effective if there is a deep understanding of the unique nature of each country’s labour market.

All countries need to prioritise funding for tackling youth unemployment. The EU will top up national spending through the European Social Funding, the European Investment Bank and €6bn included in the Youth Employment Initiative. However, it is vital that public authorities are able to make efficient and effective use of the money. Simply handing out extra cash will not solve the problem. We must help disfavoured countries build structures that are better equipped to tackle youth unemployment.

The Youth Guarantee together with the PES Network will help, but there are a number of issues that must be addressed.

Among the most important is making sure young people get qualifications and skills that meet employers’ demands. This should be done throughout their education and not left until they are already looking for work. To do this, we need to improve educational and training systems to incorporate skills and knowledge that are directly relevant for the labour market. This requires a profound knowledge of national labour market conditions.

Another priority area is the transition from school to employment. We need specialised structures in public administrations to support young people after they finish education. It’s vital they are provided with tailor-made job placements and career counselling covering job opportunities at regional, national and European level. The authorities also need to form a better picture of the generation of young people who are seeking to enter the labour market, so they can respond to specific problems hampering young jobseekers, such as mobility costs or lack of language skills.

“Building trust between social partners could help the search for more flexible solutions to integrate young people into the labour market”

Improving public employment services should not be done in isolation. We need strong co-operation between the public and the private sector, bringing together employment services, career guidance providers, education and training institutions, employers and trade unions. Given the extraordinary levels of youth unemployment, it’s particularly important to improve the sometimes difficult relationship between employers and unions. Building trust between social partners could help the search for more flexible solutions to integrate young people into the labour market. The future of millions of young people should not be held back by ideological controversies or political negotiations. Beyond the current crisis, major trends such as the digitalisation of the world of work are beginning to shape our labour markets. By building well-functioning and flexible public structures with experts in the field of youth employment, Europe will be able to face these future labour market challenges successfully.

 

IMAGE CREDITS: CC / FLICKR – atelier PRO

The post Better public administration is key to combatting youth unemployment appeared first on Europe’s World.

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/c5c8f1fe-e9dd-11e4-9134-bc764e084e2e_80.55_thumb_169_1429867343_1429867342_129_97shar_c1.jpg

The implementation of the Minsk agreements and the conflict in the East are the main issues of the EU-Ukraine Summit agenda, on 27 April. The progress made by Ukraine on its political and economical reform process, regional topics, and the preparations for the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit in Riga, are also discussed.

Download this video here.

ECJ chief Skouris, left, tried to block other judges from testifying before the European Parliament

Fans of warring judges are in a for treat: the fight over reform at the EU’s second-highest court is about break into the open.

The controversy behind the EU’s decision to double the size of the General Court at the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice has begun to raise eyebrows in the European Parliament, not least because the court itself had asked only for extra 12 judges to deal with its extra workload.

Instead, EU ministers approved an extra 28 after they couldn’t decide which countries would be awarded the new judgeships. So now every country will get one — even though each judge gets paid more than €220,000 per year.

Judges at the General Court say the proposal is a waste of money (the backlog is not as bad as made out, they say, and can be fixed by adding more support staff) and four of the most critical are set to appear before the parliament’s legal affairs committee on Tuesday.

But their appearance, following an invite by committee member António Marinho e Pinto, a Portuguese MEP who is heading the Liberal group’s work on the issue, has been objected to by none other than Vassilios Skouris, the ECJ president. In a polite but prickly letter to the committee’s chairman (which Brussels Blog obtained and has posted here), Mr Skouris insists only he, and not the European Parliament, can decide who is allowed to give testimony and that Mr Marinho e Punto’s invitation should be ignored:

Read more

http://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/uploads/council-images/thumbs/uploads/council-images/remote/http_7e18a1c646f5450b9d6d-a75424f262e53e74f9539145894f4378.r8.cf3.rackcdn.com/18a0bfe4-eda6-11e4-aeb1-bc764e083742_106.24_thumb_169_1430226564_1430226201_129_97shar_c1.jpg

Trips and meetings of Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Download this video here.

Changing working conditions at European universities are studied in a recent book ‘Academic Work and Careers in Europe – Trends, Challenges, Perspectives’, edited by Tatiana Fumasoli, Gaële Goastellec and Barbara Kehm. Tatiana Fumasoli tells about the main findings presented in the book.

 

Q1: What have been the rationales and origins of this book?

The book explores the impact of changes in governance, work and careers in European higher education. It observes empirically how and to what extent a European higher education profession is emerging through convergence, standardization and formalization of academic careers.  The book is an output of the project EuroAC – The Academic Profession in Europe: Responses to Societal Challenges, funded by the European Science Foundations and national research councils coordinated by University of Kassel (Germany). It originates from the qualitative data gathered in 8 European countries (Austria, Germany, Finland, Croatia, Ireland, Poland, Romania and Switzerland) by the 8 national partners. Around 500 interviews were conducted with university leaders, administrators and academics.

 

Q2: What are the main common trends in academic work and careers in Europe?

Standardization and formalization of recruitment, promotion and evaluation, as well as of PhD supervision is everywhere apparent and an international dimension is nowadays – at least ideally – integrated in European universities, for instance in hiring, conducting research, teaching.

Competition for academic positions, research grants, publications is increasing at all levels and takes place within and across universities and countries. Such competitive pressures shape increasing differences between global players (countries, universities, academics) and regional players. Thus elite universities, research groups and academics are connecting more among themselves and less within their institutional and national settings.

 

Q3: What are the main differences between the eight European countries you analyze in the book?

In general the increasing institutional autonomy of universities across Europe has shaped complex dynamics that are not completely under the control of states. The stagnating or shrinking public funding has created unequal distribution of resources among universities, which hold different adaptive capacities.

Concretely, national and local practices are still important in the organization of academic careers. In this sense, the landscape of a European academic profession is still rather fragmented. The recent financial crisis has affected European countries quite differently.

 

Q4: Are the main policies on academic careers made at national and institutional levels or does the European Union also play a role?

There is no doubt that the EU is influencing the restructuring of academic careers and work. First, the standards of research for participating in the Framework Programs (on-going Horizon 2020) have diffused across EU members and ERA associate members. Second, the Commission has been involved in the Bologna process quite early. Third, the EU has contributed to enhance an understanding (and a legitimating role) of higher education institutions in the construction of Europe of Knowledge. This has focused the public debate also on the role of academics and their contribution to societies. Finally, the idea of a free market of knowledge is met with a certain criticism by most academics, who have to balance personal and family life with long years of uncertainty before achieving a permanent position.

 

Q5: What are the main messages for policy-makers and practitioners?

Europe has excellent academics in all scientific fields, however their careers and trajectories are prone to chance and to sometimes idiosyncratic choices. There is a waste of resources in forming academics, having them compete for positions, publications, research funding, that is arguably not efficient. If the knowledge society is key to socio-economic development, the role and organization of academic careers should be addressed more structurally at European and national levels.

Professional organizations like universities rely on individuals (that is academics) for producing knowledge and not on technologies, structures, routines, which can be designed. From this point of view it is astonishing how few universities and higher education systems have addressed thoroughly academic careers in order to improve their performance. There is a tension between the traditional professional control on careers and the demands for more effective use of resources that should be addressed.

 

Q6: What would be interesting avenues for future research? 

Academics are professionals with multiple affiliations and loyalties, as they are embedded in higher education institutions and discipline-based communities; as such they strive to protect their academic freedom and control of their teaching and research activities.

The European dimension has become an arena where academic professional interests can be advocated and promoted. It is thus relevant to investigate how academics engage in European policy processes, how they link across Europe to other actors and arenas, and which factors empower and constrain them in protecting their professional interests. Given the increasing number of European academic associations, academies, scientific journals we should scrutinize how the integration of higher education and research at national and European level is affected.

Academics’ engagement in European policy processes will be the topic of the panel “Transnational actors in the multi-level governance of knowledge policies” in the section “The Global Governance of Knowledge Policies: Europe of Knowledge in Context” at the ECPR General Conference in Montreal, August 2015.

 

Dr. Tatiana Fumasoli is a Post-doctoral fellow at the ARENA Centre for European Studies, and an assistant professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo. Previously she was a researcher at the Institute of Management of University of Lugano (Switzerland), where she received her PhD with a thesis on strategy of higher education institutions. Tatiana presently works in the Flagship Project, funded by the Research Council of Norway, and investigating institutional change dynamics in European universities. Her interest lies on strategic agency of political and social actors and on its implications for policy and governance of higher education and research. Her work has appeared, among others, in Higher Education, Minerva, Higher Education Policy, International Journal of Public Administration, and with Springer and Palgrave.

The post Academic work and careers in Europe appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

The Monthly Highlights publication provides an overview, at a glance, of the on-going work of the policy departments, including a selection of the latest and forthcoming publications, and a list of future events.
Source : © European Union, 2015 - EP