Fátima Báñez thanks European Commission for proposed increase in pre-financing of Youth Guarantee and asks for it to be approved as soon as possible

The Minister for Employment and Social Security, Fátima Báñez, attended a meeting with the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, whom she thanked for her proposal to have the pre-financing of the Youth Employment Initiative - the main financial instrument for implementation of the Youth Guarantee - raised from 1.5% to 30% in 2015.

​"Spain has shown that the reforms are leading to the creation of new jobs, although there is still a lot more to be done", said Marianne Thyssen. In this regard, she stressed that "Europe is committed to supporting Spain at this difficult time" and highlighted the important role of the European Social Fund in supporting people wishing to join the labour market and in reducing inequality and social exclusion.

The commissioner insisted that her proposal to speed up Youth Employment Initiative payments is aimed at "immediately offering young people a fair opportunity to improve their skills and find a good job".

This amendment means that Spain will receive an advance payment of 283 million euros in 2015 that, when added to the 14 million euros already received, will make a total of 297 million euros. This money "will be used to facilitate the transition from education or unemployment to the labour market in our country", stressed Fátima Báñez.

The Spanish minister recalled that Spain has been the main advocate of this increase in pre-financing since the initiative was launched and will continue working to urge the European Parliament and Council to approve the regulatory change as soon as possible.

Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Strategy

Fátima Báñez recalled that the Government of Spain approved its own youth employment plan in February 2013 after a process of dialogue and negotiation with social stakeholders. Today marks the second anniversary of the presentation by the President of the Government of this Youth Entrepreneurship and Employment Strategy at Moncloa Palace.

To date, the plan has enabled 376,000 young people under 30 to find an employment opportunity, which has contributed to the fact that there are 120,000 fewer young people unemployed in Spain today than when this government came to power.

New system of activation policies

The Spanish minister told the European Commissioner that 2014 saw the conclusion of a gradual implementation of a new system of activation policies characterised by a commitment to an evaluation culture, in which efficiency and effectiveness play a central role in the task of contributing to the employability of workers. These efforts have been made in consensus with the regional governments.

The 2014-2016 Spanish Activation Strategy for Employment, approved in September 2014, states that the distribution of funds to regional governments will be undertaken each year based on compliance with a series of strategic targets, including the employability of the long-term unemployed and the link between active and passive employment policies.

The minister stressed that the Extraordinary Activation Programme, agreed with the social stakeholders in December, is contributing to both targets: they facilitate the reincorporation into the labour market of the long-term unemployed in a situation of special need while providing an income of 426 euros for six months subject to strict compliance with the activation measures proposed by the Public Employment Services.

Furthermore, the Government of Spain has strengthened the resources allocated to active employment policies. Hence, the General State Budget allocates 4.76 billion euros to this heading in 2015, an increase of 16.8% on 2014.