Employing young people in the Member States of the EU

Education, knowledge and skills are very important conditions for employment growth by young people. But it is not sufficient. Nowadays it is necessary to support business activities. It is neither a state nor the EU who creates jobs but entrepreneurs. We need to reform labor law, employee engagement as well as his dismissal need to be uncomplicated.

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The EurAktiv editor Adéla Denková asked me to comment on the European Commission initiative Youth on the Move: Do you think that the initiative might be successful and bring real results, or do you believe that the EU has already done a lot for youth employment growth? According to you, is the employment growth one of the European economic priorities?

I am familiar with the initiative Youth on the Move, as well as with other similar European Commission statements. Probably we won’t find anyone who wouldn’t agree with support of education and professional training, especially on the level of general statements. A worker who possesses good knowledge and skills has indeed more chance in the labor market.

Unfortunately, the initiative omits two essential questions. The first of them is a support of business activities. Jobs are created neither by the EU, nor by a state but by concrete entrepreneurs. Therefore it is necessary to create and improve business conditions for them. It includes reducing administrative and tax burden. Also support of freelancers shouldn’t be omitted. The option to take care of oneself influences employment rate in the same way to as being employed.

We shouldn’t also forget the possibility of co-operation between freelancers and enterprises which is unnecessarily and erroneously restricted. It is more advantageous for a young person to work as a freelancer than to be unemployed and dependent on parents or state.

However, in some European countries the key problem of youth unemployment are labor relations. Unbalanced legislation immoderately protects employees and in the same time excessively burdens employers. In the time of economic instability employers rather do not hire a new employee than risk that they would have to pay high charges associated with an employee’s possible dismissal.

The solution of this problematic is to reform labor law. If we continue to consider an unlimited contract with compulsory compensation as an ideal model of relation between employer and employee, we will not be able to reduce youth unemployment rate. We have to introduce modern models of employment relationship, part-time employment contracts, flexible working hours, working from home, via internet, sharing working place with other workers etc. We have to omit compulsory compensation. The worker has to have an opportunity to decide whether he will accept a job with a certain risk that he might loose it soon or whether he will rather stay unemployed.

All in all, I am afraid that the initiative Youth on the Move itself will not bring any results. The initiative formulates the principle points of support of education in a good, comprehensible and reasonable way. But this is the only contribution I see. The EU absolutely does not do enough for youth employment. I am afraid that the EU even harms employment due to its regulations, and not only by young people. I would like to repeat that it is essential to support business activities, create jobs, support freelancers who are responsibly taking care of themselves and to support flexible labor law which enables uncomplicated employee engagement as well as his dismissal.

In the years 1998 - 2004 I was active as a vice-chairman of Health and Social Care Committee in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Since the year 2004 I have been a member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, since the year 2009 I have been a social affairs spokesman of the fraction European Conservative and Reformist Group. Therefore support of employment is a priority in my work.