The preparatory action’s overarching priorities are for applicant organisations/institutions to build up partnership based approaches that are meant to:
– Bridge the gap and strengthen cooperation between employment/career guidance services and schools to ensure that young people can make informed decisions about future educational or professional steps and are aware of the services available to them when leaving school.
– Empower relevant labour market actors in particular employment services, municipalities and other youth services to develop partnerships with employers aimed at boosting employment opportunities, apprenticeships and traineeship schemes for young people, whilst ensuring better alignment of active labour market policies with labour demand.
– Develop partnerships between public and private employment services in line with the PARES methodology developed by the Commission, as well as other specialised youth services (NGOs, clubs, associations…) that help to smooth transitions from both unemployment and education into work.
– Ensure the involvement of representatives of youth and/or youth organisations in the design and the implementation of youth guarantee schemes to better tailor services to the needs of beneficiaries and to have them act as multipliers in awareness raising activities.

The call aims at selecting and financing partnerships supporting the testing of:
– cooperation between relevant actors/stakeholders to carry out activation measures targeting young people thereby piloting new Youth Guarantee schemes. Relevant stakeholders would be supported nationally, regionally or locally in providing counselling and help regarding the implementation of a Youth Guarantee scheme.
– programmes at national, regional or local level for young people at risk of leaving education too early: to develop their skills and, in this context, put a special focus on the networking between all relevant stakeholders (such as companies, schools/vocational training centres, youth welfare services, employment services, etc.) as an    important measure to improve the integration of young people into the labour market.
 – in regions and local areas, where youth unemployment rates are above the EU average and/or well above the national average, innovative approaches that apply to young people facing multiple barriers (such as social exclusion, poverty or discrimination) to labour market entry, in particular those living in rural, deprived urban, remote and peripheral areas.

Activities
In order to deliver the necessary tasks to implement the Youth Guarantee schemes, the following type of activities will be eligible for EU funding:
– design of a youth guarantee scheme, constitution and coordination of the partnership to deliver the chosen scheme;
– management of the project, including all activities needed by the partnership and its members to deliver the chosen approach (e.g. external expertise; workshops, seminars, training sessions and any other kind of meetings; where necessary, travel and accommodation);
– any activity needed to support and manage the test phase with young people, including individualised services, travel and accommodation costs for the group of young people;
– in-built evaluation of the project’s results and outcome, including the tested youth guarantee scheme and the corresponding partnership.

Eligible applicant organisations/institutions:
– must be legal persons properly constituted and registered in one of the EU Member States.
– and can be either: national, regional or local authorities, or social partners, or public employment services.

Budget
The total available budget is EUR 3 600 000.
The European Union’s financial contribution will not exceed 95% of the total eligible costs of the proposed activities.

The duration of projects will be 12 months maximum.

Deadline: was 22 October 2012.

We will keep you informed when a new call is published.