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Brussels, |
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"Everyone has the right to timely and tailor-made assistance to improve employment or self-employment prospects. This includes the right to receive support for job search, training and re-qualification. Everyone has the right to transfer social protection and training entitlements during professional transitions.
Young people have the right to continued education, apprenticeship, traineeship or a job offer of good standing within 4 months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. People unemployed have the right to personalised, continuous and consistent support. The long-term unemployed have the right to an in-depth individual assessment at the latest at 18 months of unemployment.".
The principle of Active support to employment states that everyone should have the right to timely and personalised assistance to improve their employment or self-employment prospects. This includes job-search support, training, requalification and the portability of social protection and training rights during professional transitions. It also gives young people the right to a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of leaving education or becoming unemployed.
Youth Employment Support
The EU’s Youth Employment Support framework aims to reduce youth unemployment and the number of young people not in employment, education or training — the so-called NEETs. It is closely linked to the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, which set the objective of reducing the NEET rate to 9% by 2030. The page explains that youth unemployment remains structurally higher than general unemployment and that young people often face longer transitions into stable work, especially when they belong to vulnerable groups.
The Youth Employment Support package is built around four strands: the reinforced Youth Guarantee, the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training, stronger apprenticeships, and additional measures such as the European Network of Public Employment Services, the Action Plan for the Social Economy, and improved access to social protection for young people.
Reinforced Youth Guarantee
The Reinforced Youth Guarantee commits all Member States to ensure that people under 30 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. The reinforced version, adopted in 2020, expanded the target group to young people aged 15–29 and placed stronger emphasis on individualised support, outreach to hard-to-reach groups, and skills adapted to digital and green transitions.
The Reinforced Youth Guarantee page also links to the Council Recommendation of October 2020, national Youth Guarantee implementation plans, and the Youth Guarantee Knowledge Centre. It also highlights EU financial support through NextGenerationEU and the European Social Fund Plus, showing that the Youth Guarantee is both a policy framework and a funding priority.
Effective Active Support to Employment — EASE
The Commission Recommendation for Effective Active Support to Employment — EASE was adopted in March 2021 as a response to the employment effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the need to support workers through green and digital transitions. The EASE approach encourages Member States to build integrated policy packages combining three elements: hiring and transition incentives, upskilling and reskilling linked to labour-market needs, and stronger support from employment services.
Analytically, EASE was important because it shifted active labour-market policy from passive crisis management to transition management. The aim was not only to help unemployed people find jobs, but also to help workers move from declining activities to expanding sectors. This made EASE relevant for restructuring, skills shortages, green jobs, digitalisation and labour-market resilience.
Evaluation of the Quality Framework for Traineeships
The Evaluation of the Quality Framework for Traineeships concerned the EU framework originally created to improve the quality of traineeships. Within the broader Youth Employment Support page, the Commission explained that the Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships has been the reference framework since 2014 for promoting quality traineeships across the EU. After an in-depth evaluation, the Commission proposed in March 2024 a new initiative to improve trainees’ working conditions and prevent regular employment from being disguised as traineeships.
The issue is politically relevant because traineeships can be a bridge into employment, but they can also become a source of precarious work if they are unpaid, poorly supervised or used to replace entry-level jobs. The new initiative therefore focuses on quality, fair pay, access to social protection and inclusiveness. Related links include the Commission’s page on traineeships and the 2024 initiative to improve trainees’ conditions.
ALMA — Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve
ALMA — Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve is an EU active inclusion initiative for disadvantaged young people aged 18–29 who are not in employment, education or training. It targets young people facing individual or structural barriers, such as disability, long-term unemployment, low qualifications, insufficient skills or a migration background.
The initiative has three phases: tailored preparation in the home country, a supervised work-related experience of two to six months in another EU country, and follow-up support after return. ALMA can cover travel, insurance, social security, basic needs, accommodation, coaching and counselling. Individuals cannot apply directly; participants are identified through organisations co-financed by national or regional European Social Fund Plus programmes. ALMA handbook and explains that ALMA complements programmes such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.
Council Recommendation on a fair transition towards climate neutrality
The Council Recommendation on a fair transition towards climate neutrality provides guidance to Member States on how to ensure that the green transition is socially fair and inclusive. It follows the Commission proposal of December 2021 and is linked to the European Green Deal, the REPowerEU Plan, and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Recommendation focuses on employment, skills and social aspects of the climate transition. It calls for policy packages that support quality jobs, job-to-job transitions, education and training for green skills, fair tax-benefit and social protection systems, access to affordable essential services, and better coordination across national, regional and local levels. Its central policy message is that the green transition can create jobs, but only if workers, households and regions most exposed to change receive targeted support.
Youth Employment Support
The EU’s Youth Employment Support framework aims to reduce youth unemployment and the number of young people not in employment, education or training — the so-called NEETs. It is closely linked to the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, which set the objective of reducing the NEET rate to 9% by 2030. The page explains that youth unemployment remains structurally higher than general unemployment and that young people often face longer transitions into stable work, especially when they belong to vulnerable groups.
The Youth Employment Support package is built around four strands: the reinforced Youth Guarantee, the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training, stronger apprenticeships, and additional measures such as the European Network of Public Employment Services, the Action Plan for the Social Economy, and improved access to social protection for young people.
Reinforced Youth Guarantee
The Reinforced Youth Guarantee commits all Member States to ensure that people under 30 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. The reinforced version, adopted in 2020, expanded the target group to young people aged 15–29 and placed stronger emphasis on individualised support, outreach to hard-to-reach groups, and skills adapted to digital and green transitions.
The Reinforced Youth Guarantee page also links to the Council Recommendation of October 2020, national Youth Guarantee implementation plans, and the Youth Guarantee Knowledge Centre. It also highlights EU financial support through NextGenerationEU and the European Social Fund Plus, showing that the Youth Guarantee is both a policy framework and a funding priority.
Effective Active Support to Employment — EASE
The Commission Recommendation for Effective Active Support to Employment — EASE was adopted in March 2021 as a response to the employment effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the need to support workers through green and digital transitions. The EASE approach encourages Member States to build integrated policy packages combining three elements: hiring and transition incentives, upskilling and reskilling linked to labour-market needs, and stronger support from employment services.
Analytically, EASE was important because it shifted active labour-market policy from passive crisis management to transition management. The aim was not only to help unemployed people find jobs, but also to help workers move from declining activities to expanding sectors. This made EASE relevant for restructuring, skills shortages, green jobs, digitalisation and labour-market resilience.
Evaluation of the Quality Framework for Traineeships
The Evaluation of the Quality Framework for Traineeships concerned the EU framework originally created to improve the quality of traineeships. Within the broader Youth Employment Support page, the Commission explained that the Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships has been the reference framework since 2014 for promoting quality traineeships across the EU. After an in-depth evaluation, the Commission proposed in March 2024 a new initiative to improve trainees’ working conditions and prevent regular employment from being disguised as traineeships.
The issue is politically relevant because traineeships can be a bridge into employment, but they can also become a source of precarious work if they are unpaid, poorly supervised or used to replace entry-level jobs. The new initiative therefore focuses on quality, fair pay, access to social protection and inclusiveness. Related links include the Commission’s page on traineeships and the 2024 initiative to improve trainees’ conditions.
ALMA — Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve
ALMA — Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve is an EU active inclusion initiative for disadvantaged young people aged 18–29 who are not in employment, education or training. It targets young people facing individual or structural barriers, such as disability, long-term unemployment, low qualifications, insufficient skills or a migration background.
The initiative has three phases: tailored preparation in the home country, a supervised work-related experience of two to six months in another EU country, and follow-up support after return. ALMA can cover travel, insurance, social security, basic needs, accommodation, coaching and counselling. Individuals cannot apply directly; participants are identified through organisations co-financed by national or regional European Social Fund Plus programmes. ALMA handbook and explains that ALMA complements programmes such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.
Council Recommendation on a fair transition towards climate neutrality
The Council Recommendation on a fair transition towards climate neutrality provides guidance to Member States on how to ensure that the green transition is socially fair and inclusive. It follows the Commission proposal of December 2021 and is linked to the European Green Deal, the REPowerEU Plan, and the European Pillar of Social Rights.
The Recommendation focuses on employment, skills and social aspects of the climate transition. It calls for policy packages that support quality jobs, job-to-job transitions, education and training for green skills, fair tax-benefit and social protection systems, access to affordable essential services, and better coordination across national, regional and local levels. Its central policy message is that the green transition can create jobs, but only if workers, households and regions most exposed to change receive targeted support.
eBriefing PaaS ยท EU Employment Support & Labour-Market Transitions
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The service can support policy monitoring, institutional analysis, stakeholder briefings, programme design and regulatory intelligence, including an assessment of how the European framework on employment support, skills and job transitions may evolve over time.
