Youth Action Teams: €1.9 billion redirected, but “limited proposals” for youth employment
The Youth Action Teams set up by the European Commission did succeed in redirecting money towards support for young people, but they made only limited proposals, according to a new report from the European Court of Auditors. The Teams aimed at helping the Member States worst affected by youth unemployment to redirect their unallocated structural funds to projects which would make the biggest difference in the shortest time.
The auditors found that the Commission provided advice to the Member States, but its support was limited by the level and quality of information available to it. While the initiative led to reprogramming and reallocation of European Social Funds, the Commission’s assessment of operational programme amendments focused mainly on their impact on the budget. The auditors’ findings led them to conclude that expectations for such initiatives need to be better managed where there is a potential gap between what is promised and what can realistically be delivered by the Commission.
“One of the critical issues that the EU faces today is youth unemployment. It has recently shown a slight decrease, but still remains unacceptably high. So EU funds should support effective measures which will deliver real results on the ground as quickly as possible,” said Iliana Ivanova, the Member of the Court of Auditors responsible for the report.
The European Commission set up Youth Action Teams in 2012, as part of its ‘Youth Opportunities Initiative’. The Teams brought together national and Commission experts in the eight Member States with the highest levels of youth unemployment: Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. The initiative concerned almost €10 billion of European Social Funds still available in the Member States concerned.
The auditors assessed whether the redirection of funding benefitted from proposals made by the Teams, and found that they did, in fact, make limited proposals in this regard. Commission advice was hampered by the amount of information available to it and focused mainly on the budgetary aspects of proposals rather than on their effectiveness. The auditors also found shortcomings in how the Commission monitored and reported on results.
While about €1.9 billion of funds were redirected, a broader-based, more sustained and longer-term initiative is necessary if structural funds are to reduce youth unemployment effectively, said the auditors.
Press Release: Youth Action Teams: €1.9 billion redirected, but “limited proposals” for youth employment, say EU Auditors
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