The European Youth Guarantee: What Viability for Southern Member States? Evidence from Italy

With 5,7 million of people, youth unemployment in Europe is reaching unprecedented levels. In order to improve this situation the European Union has recently introduced a Youth Guarantee. This scheme is to encourage Member States to establish strong partnerships with stakeholders; ensure early intervention by employment services and other partners supporting young people; take supportive measures to enable labour integration; and to make full use of the European Social Fund and other structural funds. But how incisive is this proposal for the Southern European Countries? Here three issues need to be addressed. First, the Southern member states are suffering from unemployment that is ‘global’ as well as affecting the young. Therefore, how can jobs be created for the young if the economy is structurally weak? Second, within the region there is a lack of services to manage and implement the Guarantee schemes. Third, the financial constraints of austerity make if near impossible to fix the necessary adjustments at the national level. In conclusion, the paper argues that EU policy needs to take into account the differences between its countries, rather than producing a ‘one-size-fits-all’ policy approach. Otherwise, the Youth Guarantee scheme risks failure and exacerbating the division between ‘good’ and 'bad' Europe, and thereby perpetuating a Mediterranean model of welfare where families are the main source welfare provision.