The summary report and photos from the final conference are now available.
The NEGOTIATE project’s final conference ‘Scarred youth – What can the EU do?’ took place on 4 and 5 December in Norway House in Brussels.
The two-day programme combined presentations and panel discussions about different themes investigated in the project.
You can download the summary from the conference and see the conference photos here.
On 4 and 5 December 2017 the NEGOTIATE project’s final conference titled ‘Scarred Youth – What can the EU do?’ took place in Norway House in Brussels. The two-day programme included different sessions and offered high level discussions with over 130 researchers, policymakers, civil society and youth who exchanged views and policy recommendations on how to tackle youth unemployment and help young people overcome the consequences of the economic crisis in Europe.
In the era of “flexible” labour markets, it is evident that the phenomenon of job insecurity and youth unemployment is present with varying intensity and comes in different forms in each of the studied countries. What is clear however is that the lasting effects and ideological disappointment of long-term unemployment negatively affect or even scar youngsters across the continent?
Max Uebe, European Commission Ambassador Ingrid Schulerud
Norway’s Ambassador, Ingrid Schulerud opened the conference by welcoming all the participants to Norway House, before Max Uebe from DG Employment at the European Commission underlined the importance of findings ways to strengthen the efforts to combat early job insecurity. Corinna Amting from the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency underlined the importance of NEGOTIATE and praised the collaboration between the three European projects STYLE, NEGOTIATE and EXCEPT.
Tanya Basarab, Thomas Beaujean, Ignacio Doreste, Katarina Sichel
On the first day, the interactive debate centred on two highly visible topics, namely marginalised youth with very little access to the labour market and highly educated youth with no job opportunities, and how the Youth Guarantee should respond to better monitor and improve the situation for youth in Europe. After researchers had introduced the key topics, panels of experts and stakeholders and members of the audience discussed the issues in more detail.
On Tuesday the three thematically related European projects NEGOTIATE, STYLE and EXCEPT focused on the policy recommendations derived from the different analyses carried out by the researchers involved in the projects (the reader can find an overview here). Markku Markkula (EPP), Vice-President of the Committee of the Regions, presented a territorial perspective on how to support efforts to reduce early job insecurity. The session brought together Brando Benifei and Jens Nilsson, Members of the European Parliament from S&D and Conny Reuter, Secretary of the SOLIDAR Foundation, ensuring a political as well as a civil society perspective in the debate. The speakers shared their views on what the EU can do to come to the aid of scarred youth in Europe. They considered the Youth Guarantee and the Youth Employment Initiative as steps in the right direction, but in need of further strengthening.
Jacqueline O`Reilly, Conny Reuter, Marge Unt, Brando Benifei
Markku Markkula, European Committee
of the Regions
Successful implementation, however, comes down to what actions one is able to make at the regional and local levels. For instance, it may be that to improve structurally the current situation for youth, we need a change of mind-sets. More concretely, institutions should be better equipped to accommodate the needs of the most disadvantaged youth in Europe and those who feel that there are no decent prospects. Speakers underlined that one can only address the need for structural reforms and the creation of quality jobs through targeted public investments. The dual system, with its apprenticeships and other forms of vocational education and training (VET), could be a possible model to explore further. While one needs to take the diversity within the EU into account, the EU should seek best practices that are applicable and relevant in different settings and therefore worth social investment.
As a conclusion of the NEGOTIATE project, Edward Elgar will publish two joint volumes presenting findings from the project by the end of 2018. These will be published open access, which means that everyone will be able to access them free of charge. The first book will assess the problems, risk factors and policies related to job insecurity and labour market exclusion of young people. The second book will touch upon the experiences of early job insecurity and how it relates to scarring, resilience and the wellbeing of European youth. Next spring NEGOTIATE partners will meet with the European Commission both for a final evaluation of the project and to consider how the Commission may take into account project findings in their future work.
The photos of the final conference can be found here.
The programme of the Conference.
On 4 and 5 December 2017 the NEGOTIATE project’s final conference titled ‘Scarred Youth – What can the EU do?’ will take place in the Norway House in Brussels.
Ten years after the onset of the financial crisis, unemployment and job insecurity are still challenges that affect young people in all European countries. The NEGOTIATE project reveals that despite convergences in policies there are still significant divergences in outcomes between countries and bad luck in timing of labour market entry leaves scars on the young.
In the first session we will discuss the differentiated impact of the economic crisis on European youth. Maria Symeonaki from Panteion University in Greece will open the session presenting findings from NEGOTIATE’s extensive research on the differences between Member States and their strategies to cope with the crisis.
The researchers find that young people are facing disproportionally high risks of unemployment compared to other age groups all across Europe. Within the different European countries gender, though at different levels, is a significant variable regarding the differentiated effects of the crisis: women are more exposed and vulnerable to unemployment and early job insecurity than men. Additionally, the level of education – of both the individuals and their parents – plays a role regarding the effects that rising unemployment rates can have on young peoples’ lives.
The mapping of the impact is based on innovative analyses of data from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) and the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). A brief summary of the findings is published in the policy brief on ‘Early job insecurity in Europe: Mapping diversity and the impact of the economic crisis’.
During the conference, we will further discuss the different responses of European states to the economic crisis, the discrepancies in tackling the long-term consequences of the crisis, and what the European Union should do to narrow the gaps between its Member States.
Here you can find the draft programme of the conference.
Join us to discuss the outcomes of the research project and its policy recommendations together with the involved scholars, policy makers, civil society and youth.
The employers’ ambivalent evaluations of applicants’ participation in active labour market programmes were discussed at the stakeholder meeting in Switzerland.
Representatives from Swiss public authorities, and the Association of the Swiss student body met at the third national stakeholder meeting on the 19th of September 2017 at the University of Basel (UNIBAS).
Christian Imdorf (Co-leader NEGOTIATE at UNIBAS) and PhD student Lulu P. Shi presented descriptive findings from the recruiter survey, which was carried out in May and June 2016 in the four countries Bulgaria, Greece, Norway and Switzerland. The focus was on the results found in Switzerland.
Hotly debated topics of the meeting were the employers’ ambivalent evaluations of applicants’ participation in active labour market programmes (ALMP) and – against the background of a recent media coverage in Switzerland – the dramatisation of the negative impact of having worked as a call centre agent for a skilled worker’s occupational career.
The findings that employers show higher reservations to hire job hoppers compared to unemployed candidates was also met with interest. All in all, the Swiss stakeholders showed interest in further insights and made helpful suggestions.
Here you can read their National Stakeholder Committee Report 2017.
The NEGOTIATE project‘s final conference titled ‘Scarred Youth – What can the EU do?’ will take place in the Norway House in Brussels on 4 and 5 December 2017.
Ten years after the onset of the financial crisis, unemployment and job insecurity are still challenges that affect young people in all European countries. The NEGOTIATE project reveals that despite convergences in policies there are still significant divergences in outcomes between countries and bad luck in timing of labour market entry leaves scars on the young. In a strongly differentiated European context, where differences in risks and opportunities for young people within and between different countries grow, is there ground for common policies? Are good practices transferable from one context to another. What have we learned? Please find attached the draft program for the conference.
