President Cordeiro and Commissioner Schmit launch new initiative against long-term unemployment

Despite record employment levels in the EU, reaching 75.5% in the fourth quarter of 2023, the issue of long-term unemployment persists across many Member States. In 2022, 4.5 million people over the age of 25 in the EU were registered as long-term unemployed.

In this context, the Commission announced a call for proposals of 23 million euros to help local and regional actors in EU Member States develop new ways to tackle long-term unemployment.

Through this call for proposals, announced under the "Social Innovation+" initiative of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Commission aims to build on previous experiences and strengthen the role of social economy organizations by harnessing their capacity and experience to provide relevant work to people affected by long term unemployment who often suffer from the isolation and poverty.

President of the Committee of the Regions, Vasco Alves Cordeiro, said: "The European project is about people. With the European Commission's initiative launched today, we ensure that no one is left behind. Regions and cities are implementing initiatives adapted to their local realities to address long-term unemployment. Through this call, they will be able to make use of ESF+ funds to better address this social, economic, and human challenge. The European Committee of the Regions stands as an active partner in fighting long-term unemployment."

Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, said: "Long-term unemployment has dire consequences for society, the economy, and most importantly for the people affected. It is a waste of talent and productivity that Europe cannot afford. Across Europe, local authorities and social economy organisations have shown that it is possible to offer a fresh chance to those who have found themselves without a job for a long period. The EU will continue to tackle long-term unemployment, and support measures that promote quality jobs."

At the high-level event on Social innovation for zero long-term unemployment - towards an EU-wide response, local and EU collaboration strategies to combat long-term unemployment were under discussion. The panel was moderated by the Chair of the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research (SEDEC) of CoR, Tanya Hristova, and featured Yonnec Polet, Deputy Mayor of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe, Brussels Capital Region, CoR member and rapporteur for the CoR opinion on "Zero long-term unemployment"; María Victoria Chivite Navascués, President of the Regional Government of Navarre, Spain, and CoR member; Aurore Lalucq, Member of the European Parliament; Agnes Jongerius, Member of the European Parliament and Patrizia Bussi, Director of the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) and Vice-President of Social Economy Europe.

Yonnec Polet (BE/PES), rapporteur of the opinion on"Zero long-term unemployment: the local and regional perspective" and 1st Deputy Mayor of Berchem-Sainte-Agathe said:"In 2022, I developed a CoR opinion on Local employment guarantees to shed light on the social drama of long-term unemployment and the innovative local approach of "Zero Unemployment Territories". All existing experiments that I interviewed in France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy confirmed the great potential and positive effects. They offer long-term unemployed a new job that answers social and environmental needs and provide them a fair wage. Today, thanks to Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, the EU will provide €23 million to supports such social innovation!"

María Victoria Chivite Navascués (ES/PES) stated: "Navarre is the Spanish region with the highest implementation of Dual Vocational Training. We are close to 95% employability, and we are also one of the 16 best positioned European regions. Talent and training, at all levels and in all spectrums, is and must be the basis on which our development model is based. Because education and training, with public leadership of course, are the best social lift and guarantor of equal opportunities that we can make available to society."

More information:

• Report on 'Towards zero long-term unemployment in the EU: Job guarantees and other innovative approaches'.
• On May 25, 2023, the Committee of the Regions adopted an opinion on "Zero long-term unemployment: the local and regional perspective" drafted by Rapporteur Yonnec Polet (BE/PES), which highlights the innovative nature and example of various "regions without long-term unemployed" existing in the EU and calls on the European Commission to map such initiatives and create a specific fund to fight long-term unemployment.
• CoR opinion on Creating an enabling environment for the social economy.
• CoR opinion on Social innovation as a new tool for addressing societal challenges.