23 September sees the launch of one month of online debates on jobs, banks, social rights, and e-commerce. Individuals, organisations and policy-makers will together trade ideas that could change Europe.

The European Alliance for Apprenticeships has been launched 2 July by Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou (education, culture, multilingualism and youth) and Lásló Andor (employment, social affairs and inclusion) at the 2013 Worldskills competition in Leipzig, Germany.

The European Commission has agreed today on three contributions to the next European Council, scheduled for 27-28 June 2013.

Milanka Opačić, Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia, Željko Jovanović, Minister for education, science and sport, and Jan Truszczyński, Director General for education, training, culture and youth at the European Commission, opened today the Youth on the Move tent at Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb.

'La Maison de l'Europe' in Paris, the city of Paris, the European Commission, their partners and special guests presented and  participated in the 8th edition of 'Faites l'Europe' on the steps of the Parisian city hall.

The Youth Employment Initiative was proposed by the 7-8 February 2013 European Council with a budget of €6 billion for the period 2014-20.

Under the Youth Guarantee Member States should put in place measures to ensure that young people up to age 25 receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within four months of leaving school or becoming unemployed.

The EU's Council of Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Ministers will meet on 28 February in Brussels. It will be devoted only to Employment and Social Affairs issues.

Measures to help Member States tackle unacceptable levels of youth unemployment and social exclusion by giving young people offers of jobs, education and training have been proposed by the European Commission.

Four young Europeans, Ana from Spain, Elena from Italy, Ilona from Poland and Larkin from Malta, will join EU leaders in Oslo for the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

The European Commission is organising its sixth Brussels Job Day in the Commission's Berlaymont headquarters on 6th October.

"Tropical city" the Romanians call Bucharest because summer 2012 was exceptionally hot. It is end of September and still very warm in the Romanian capital end. But this does not prevent young people, families and teachers to come to the Youth on the Move tent at Tineretului Park (which means the "park of young people").

Are you looking for a job in Europe?

Take part in the European Job Day (EJD) Brussels online or onsite and meet with employers from across Europe looking to recruit people like you.

Save the date: Saturday, 6 October, 2012

The dramatically high youth unemployment rates in Europe call for immediate action by Member States.

Just in time for the summer holidays, the EURO 2012 Football Championship and the London 2012 Olympics, the European Commission has launched an application for smartphones explaining how to use the European Health Insurance Card.

On 26-27 April, the Danish Presidency held a Conference on “Youth: Employment and Inclusion in times of crisis”, which, building upon the Commission’s “Youth Opportunities Initiative”, focused on the following topics: access to the labour market, social inclusion and maintaining skills at a time of crisis.

A pilot project to help young people find a job in another EU country has been launched by the European Commission.

This year's Expolingua in Berlin attracted more than 13 000 visitors. The large majority, the young and young at heart from 8 to 80, was drawn to the centrally positioned stand of the European Commission. The visitors were mainly interested in finding out how to study, learn or work abroad or how to spend a volunteering period in another country.

Education and employment related information stands, dedicated session for scholars and animation by young Greek dancers and taggers were the main highlights of the Youth on the Move event in Thessaloniki. The impressive interest of 30.000 visitors in the concrete actions promoted by the Youth on the Move campaign have strongly confrimed the importance of the presence and the mutual support during the current period uneasy for the EU and its citizens.

Please check the photo relation from the Youth on the Move in Thessaloniki.

The programme for Youth on the Move's presence at WorldSkills London, the world's largest skills competition taking place on 5-8 October, is now finalised and includes presentations by young people who did traineeships in Malta, Germany and Spain, as well as a multitude of other international projects. We are happy to announce that Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou, responsible for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth will attend WorldSkills on Friday, 7 October and will lead a discussion with young people at the Youth on the Move stand. For all details, please consult the full programme .

30.000 visitors, impressive program of information sessions and lot of fun around music and dance-shows were the characteristics of the Youth on the Move event in Gdansk.

The event has been inaugurated by the European Commissioner László Andor and the Polish Minister of Education Katarzyna Hall. Both speakers underlined the learning and the labour opportunities resulting from mobility in the European Union.

Check out the pictures of the Youth on the Move event in Gdansk on Flickr photo stream.

Commissioner László Andor has offically opened the Youth on the Move event in the MEDEF Summer University underlying the importance of the European youth for the business.

Read more on the Commissioner's website

According to estimations 100,000 people participated in the Cologne Gamescom City Festival. Huge number of Festival participants coming from around Europe and Cologne inhabitants have visited the Youth on the Move event.

The Roots&Routes "Jam Karet" show, created in the framework of the Youth in Action program, which was an integral part of the Youth on the Move event has been recognised as one of the highlights of the Gamescom City Festival. The performances on the stage at Rudolfplatz were awesome !

Check out the pics on our Flickr photostream

"The Erasmus programme is one of the great success stories of the European Union. The latest figures speak for themselves: Erasmus is more popular than ever and I am committed to securing more resources for it in future. Studying or training abroad opens doors to personal development and job opportunities so we are right to be ambitious when it comes to investing in our young people," said Androulla Vassiliou.

Thousands of young people passed through the Youth on the Move tent on the Piazza della Signoria at the heart of Florence, during the 5 days of the first Europe festival organised in the magnificent Tuscan city. The Youth on the Move programme was composed of discussions and performances around projects financed through the Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action EU programmes.

Commisssioner Vassiliou spent a lot of her time with the young people, explaining EU policy, participating in award ceremonies and holding a reading event together with the president of the European University Institute Josep Borrell and famous Florentin actor David Riondino. Some 60 children attended the reading, with their parents and teachers. Ms Vassiliou also participated, together with European Parliament President   Buzek, in an important conference dedicated to the state of the EU, one year after the adoption of the Lisbon treaty.

The 4 day long Youth on the Move event opened today in Florence. In a lively show on the Piazza della Signoria, with historic flag-bearers, the city launched its first ever Europe Festival, composed of dozens of events and activities. Youth on the Move is at the heart of the festival, with a 200 square meter tent decorated with the YoM posters. The youngsters present listened to Josep Borrell, the president of the European University Institute and former president of the European Parliament, to Stella Targetti, vice-president of the Tuscany region and other guests including the YoM ambassadors Paola Romagnani and Selena Biffi. Under the blue sky and generous spring sun the activities in the shady YoM tent took off with speed and energy. The festival, including the Youth on the Molve event, will continue till Tuesday.

A five-day programme of events will take place in the Italian city of Florence from 6-10 May to promote 'Youth on the Move', the EU initiative aimed at improving education, tackling youth unemployment and encouraging study and training abroad. On 6 May, Ms. Vassiliou will open a 200 sq metre Youth on the Move tent in the city centre; this will be the focal point for information and awareness-raising activities on the benefits of study, training and volunteering abroad.

EU countries have improved their education systems in key areas over the past decade but they have achieved only one out of five benchmarks set for 2010, the European Commission's new progress report on education and training reveals today.

We would like to hear your opinion on youth cards in light of preparations for one of the top 10 targeted actions of the Youth on the Move flagship initiative: the Youth on the Move card. The Youth on the Move card should facilitate both the mobility and participation for all young people.

It's time, Europe! Hundreds of events, from arts and sports to debates and workshops, are going on all over Europe, from 15 - 21 May, to celebrate European Youth Week 2011.

Thousands of young Poles became aware of the Youth on the Move initiative during the Perspektywy education fair held in Warsaw at the end of last week (3.-5.March).

Youth on the Move, the European Union's flagship initiative aimed at helping young people to gain the knowledge, skills and experience they need to make their first job a reality, will be presented at the Perspektywy 2011 education fair in Warsaw on March 3-5. The programme is an opportunity for young people to talk to others who have benefitted from grants and other support provided through the EU's education and employment programmes.

European Commissioner Günther Oettinger today visited the Commission's Youth on the Move stand at didacta education fair in Stuttgart.

The 2011 European Year of Volunteering Tour has already visited four EU capitals: Brussels, Budapest, Vienna and Lisbon. The European Year of Volunteering Tour Stops in Brussels, Budapest, Vienna and Lisbon.

One in five 15-year-olds in Europe, as well as many adults, lack basic reading and writing skills, which makes it harder for them to find a job and puts them at risk of social exclusion. To help tackle the issue, the European Commission has set up an independent group of experts to identify ways of raising literacy levels. The group, which met for the first time today in Brussels, is chaired by Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands, who is a Special Envoy on Literacy for Development for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). EU Ministers have set a target of reducing the share of pupils with difficulties in reading, maths and science to fewer than 15% by 2020.

More than six million young people in the EU leave education and training with lower secondary level qualifications at best. They face severe difficulties in finding work, are more often unemployed and more often dependent on welfare benefits. Early school leaving hampers economic and social development and is a serious obstacle to the European Union's goal of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The Commission today approved an action plan that will help Member States to achieve the Europe 2020 headline target of reducing the EU average rate of early school leavers to under 10%, from the current level of 14.4%, by the end of the decade.