The European Commission is to provide financial support for the creation, over the next two years, of 280,000 work placements within the European Union.

The initiative, which is already open to Maltese youths and companies, is part of the “We Mean Business” campaign launched yesterday, aimed at helping young people to join the labour market.

The “We Mean Business” campaign aims to combat youth unemployment, which has reached unacceptably high levels in some EU countries, by raising awareness of the value of international placements “which can improve an individual’s language skills as well as helping them to be more self-confident and adaptable”, said Education Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou in Brussels.

Youth unemployment in the EU has surged over the past years particularly due to the ongoing economic crisis.

On average youth unemployment levels in the euro area has surpassed the 20 per cent mark. Although youth unemployment in Malta is higher than the general unemployment levels, the country still has one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the eurozone.

The campaign has a dedicated website which links young people looking for a placement and firms prepared to offer them the opportunity. It seeks both to promote such opportunities and help turn them into reality.

Awareness-raising campaigns will also be conducted in member states to highlight the added value of a work placement abroad, for both the young people, who will improve their employability, and the companies which will be able to identify potentially excellent future employees, with linguistic skills and fresh ideas who could be key to future productivity and competitiveness.

The ultimate goal has two intrinsically linked components: to encourage the employment of young people and to encourage mobility in the internal market, fitting employment supply to demand within the Community.

The Commission said that it will fund 130,000 placements in 2012 and 150,000 in 2013, through the Leonardo da Vinci (vocational training) and Erasmus (higher education) schemes.

Studies show that trainees with foreign language skills can help enterprises to enter new markets. At the same time, businesses with workforces that lack language and communication skills can end up counting the cost of missed opportunities.

In a 2006 Commission survey of nearly 2000 European businesses, 11 per cent of respondents lost a contract as a result of lack of language skills, costing them up to €50 million in total.

More information is available at: http://we-mean-business.europa.eu