What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Changed:75. Recommends the promotion of volunteering opportunities withinfor RYG schemesbeneficiaries and the creation of a European quality framework for volunteering; emphasises that volunteering has the potential to improve the skills and employability of NEETs and to accommodate vulnerable young people in a supportive and solidarity-focused environment; considers that the integrationpromotion of volunteering opportunities intofor RYG schemes couldbeneficiaries beshould achievedoccur byas creatingpart synergiesof withthe Erasmus+ programme and its European Solidarity Corps volunteering strand and by ensuring that young people engaged with, or seeking to engage with, RYG schemes areshould also be made aware of available quality volunteering opportunities funded under different schemes; takes the view that RYG providers from thecivil volunteeringsociety sectororganisations should be supported by adequate resources for the delivery of quality volunteering opportunities and other RYG offers, ensuring that existing funds for employment and training opportunities are not reallocated;reallocated and avoiding the replacement of potential quality jobs and traineeships with unpaid volunteering;

Changed:J. whereas nearly one in four young people in the EU were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2024, a rate which is 3.33,3 percentage points higher than that of the total EU population; whereas structural inequalities, such as material deprivation and persistent social disadvantage, undermine young people’s ability to access the labour market and live independently; whereas the RYG should be recognised not only as a social priority, but also as a strategic investment in young people and the EU’s human capital, thereby strengthening social cohesion, competitiveness and long-term economic resilience as well as reducing poverty and social exclusion;

Changed:P. whereas a clear majority of Member States rely on an employment-first strategy, while others prioritise a training-focused approach; whereas in 2024, 35.235,2 % of positive and timely exits from the YG preparatory phase led to employment, 6.56,5 % to education, 2.52,5 % to a traineeship and 1.61,6 % to an apprenticeship; whereas education and training play a dual role in equipping young people with relevant skills and qualifications while, at the same time, encouraging personal development, autonomy, creativity, civic engagement and the capacity to actively participate in society; whereas these dimensions are mutually reinforcing and contribute to sustainable labour market integration, social cohesion and democratic participation;

Changed:Q. whereas European data shows that initial VET pathways that feature a strong work-based learning component are the most effective instrument for preventing people from ending up in NEET situations, inasmuch as young people who complete work-based learning pathways of at least seven months boast employment rates of up to 90.590,5 %, as opposed to 69.769,7 % for those who do not have access to these pathways; whereas dual VET systems use a structured alternation between school and work to generate marketable skills and significantly reduce the gap between job demand and supply; whereas the Member States that have robust dual VET systems have the lowest youth unemployment rates in the EU;

Changed:2. Welcomes the downward trend in the rate of NEETs in the EU since the introduction of the YG, which fell from 16.116,1 % in 2013 to 11 % in 2025; notes, however, a disparity between Member States, with some having already achieved the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan target of decreasing the NEET rate to 9 % by 2030, while others still have alarmingly high numbers of NEETs;

Changed:3. Emphasises that direct monitoring indicators for the YG suggest significant and persistent challenges in the bringing into operation and delivery of YG schemes; highlights, in particular, that in 2024 more than half of participants (54 %) remained in the preparatory phase for more than four months, that positive and timely exits from the preparatory phase represented less than half of cases (45.1(45,1 %) and that the coverage rate stood at less than 50 % of the NEET population in many Member States; deplores the fact that these figures indicate that YG schemes are not meeting their core objectives in terms of outreach, timeliness and effectiveness;

Changed:4. Stresses that follow-up indicators are undermined by a lack of data and methodological weaknesses in several Member States, notably for the 25-29 age group, and the high share of unknown outcomes, which prevent a comprehensive assessment of the sustainability of RYG schemes by type of offers and their long-term effects, as well as comparisons between Member States based on disaggregated data such as by gender, age, disability, location and socio-economic status; notes that some Member States group together education and training data into one category, and employment and apprenticeship data into another; highlights in this context that the available data indicates that a majority of young people were in a positive situation six months after leaving RYG schemes in 2024 (58.3(58,3 %), but that this proportion decreased after 12 (53.1(53,1 %) and 18 months (30.3(30,3 %);

Changed:10. Highlights the generally positive feedback from managing authorities on the merger of the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) financial instrument into the ESF+; emphasises that this has led to an obligation to allocate 12.512,5 % of the ESF+ budget to actions and reforms promoting youth employment, VET and the transition from school to work for Member States with a NEET rate above the EU average; deplores the fact that this earmarking, a legacy of the YEI, is not included in the Commission’s proposal for the 2028-2034 MFF;

Changed:86. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to allocate adequate funding for the RYG in the next MFF, in particular by at least maintaining the existing 12.512,5 % earmarking of EU funds within a future stand-alone and separate ESF to broaden employment, education and training opportunities for young people under the age of 30 across the EU and to improve their socio-economic status; stresses that this EU funding should be seen as an investment in people and should be transparent, primarily support the development of innovative and effective measures, and scale up, without replacing, pre-existing national funds; calls for the introduction of budget tracking on expenditure related to the RYG at EU level, accompanied by a national RYG marker, which should provide a clear breakdown of expenditure related to the RYG; calls on the Member States, and in particular those that have not reached the 2030 NEET rate reduction target, to supplement EU funds for the RYG with national funds in accordance with their aggregate indicators;

Changed:54. Calls for a life cycle approach and greater synergy between the RYG and the Child Guarantee instruments at both EU and national level, in particular to provide continuous support to children and young people in need, especially from the ages of 15 to 18, and to support all children, parents, families and carers, which should lead to stronger families of all kinds;families; stresses that this integrated approach must aim to prevent the ‘care cliff’ phenomenon, whereby young people leaving care experience a sudden loss of housing and social, educational and employment support upon reaching adulthood; emphasises the potential for synergies between the YG and other programmes, such as ALMA, Erasmus+, the Centres of Vocational Excellence, the Digital Europe Programme, AgoraEU, European Employment Services and the EU Roma strategic framework, to provide integrated pathways for young people and support learning mobility across the EU, including through mobility grants;

Changed:55. Reiterates the need to urgently increase the funding of the European Child Guarantee, which should have a dedicated budget ofbenefit atfrom leasta EURsubstantial 20dedicated billion;budget; insists that this dedicated budget be anchored in the next MFF and implemented through a stand-alone and separate ESF, with an obligation on all Member States to earmark at least 5 % of their national ESF allocation to tackling child poverty and to the implementation of the Child Guarantee;