The Greek Manpower Employment Organization (OAED), under the auspices of the Greek Presidency, is organising today (14.2.2014) at Zappeion Megaron, a conference on apprenticeship that aims at highlighting the significant contribution of quality apprenticeship systems in tackling youth unemployment and achieving the goals of the "Youth Guarantee” European initiative.

The Greek apprenticeship system aims to help apprentices obtain specialized knowledge and professional experience in accordance with the European Council’s "Youth Guarantee" recommendation issued on the 22 April 2013 that clearly underlines the decisive contribution of apprenticeship schemes to the enhancement of youth employability in the EU.

In this context, and having determined Youth Employment as one of the Presidency’s principal priorities, OAED attaches great importance to the role of social partners in tackling youth unemployment and wishes to use today’s event as a platform for enhancing cooperation between all stakeholders in the implementation of apprenticeship programmes, including through the exchange of best practices with other European countries.

Addressing the panel, the Greek Minister of Labour, Social Security and Welfare, Ioannis Vroutsis, said that youth unemployment in many European countries, including Greece, is a fundamental, structural, labour market problem, adding that all distortions and shortcomings related to young people’s entry into the labour market should be addressed. In other words, a balanced mix of structural/institutional reforms and immediate measures are needed in order to avoid the devaluation of an entire generation, he said.

In this context, the European initiative to establish a 'Youth Guarantee' is a positive development, giving all young people aged 15-24 an opportunity to access the labour market. Moreover, the Guarantee recommendation identifies apprenticeship as one of the key tools that would solidely facilitate the integration of young people into the labour market, the minister stressed.

Μore information and the agenda of the event here