What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 30 October 2020 on A Bridge to Jobs – Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee and replacing the Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013 on establishing a Youth Guarantee,

– having regard to Article 3 of the Treaty on European Union and to Articles 145, 147, 149, 151, 153, 165, 288 and 292 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Articles 14, 15, 21 and 31 thereof,

– having regard to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 8, adopted by world leaders in September 2015 and endorsed by the Council,

– having regard to the European Social Charter (revised), in particular Articles 7 and 17 thereof,

– having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights proclaimed and signed by the Council, Parliament and the Commission on 17 November 2017, in particular Principles 1, 3 and 4 thereof,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013 on establishing a Youth Guarantee,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 7 October 2020 entitled ‘A Union of Equality: EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation’ (COM(2020)0620),

– having regard to the Commission communication of 20 January 2026 entitled ‘Union of Equality: Anti-Racism Strategy 2026-2030’ (COM(2026)0012),

– having regard to the Council conclusions on the role of youth work in supporting young people’s development of essential life skills that facilitate their successful transition to adulthood, active citizenship and working life,

– having regard to Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee,

– having regard to the European Semester framework and country-specific recommendations,

– having regard to the Employment Committee’s (EMCO) monitoring and reporting framework for the Youth Guarantee, including direct monitoring indicators, follow-up indicators and key messages used in the multilateral surveillance of its implementation,

– having regard to Eurostat indicators on youth unemployment and young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs),

– having regard to the Commission monitoring reports and data collection on the implementation of the Youth Guarantee,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013,

– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/888 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 establishing the European Solidarity Corps Programme and repealing Regulations (EU) 2018/1475 and (EU) No 375/2014,

– having regard to Decision (EU) 2021/2316 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 December 2021 on a European Year of Youth (2022),

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 15 March 2018 on a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 10 March 2014 on a Quality Framework for Traineeships,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning,

– having regard to the Council Recommendation of 9 March 2026 on human capital in the European Union,

– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 March 2025 on the Action Plan on Basic Skills (COM(2025)0088),

– having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee opinion of 29 October 2020 entitled ‘Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee’,

– having regard to the European Committee of the Regions opinion of 5 February 2021 entitled ‘Youth Employment Support: A Bridge to Jobs for the Next Generation Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee’,

– having regard to European Court of Auditors (ECA) special report No 3/2015 of 24 March 2015 entitled ‘EU Youth Guarantee: first steps taken but implementation risks ahead’, and special report No 5/2017 of 4 April 2017 entitled ‘Youth unemployment – have EU policies made a difference?’,

– having regard to the 2024 Eurofound report entitled ‘Becoming adults: Young people in a post-pandemic world’,

– having regard to the 2024 Eurofound report entitled ‘Young people in the Western Balkans’,

– having regard to the 2023 Cedefop publication entitled ‘European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning’,

– having regard to the 2025 European Training Foundation publication entitled ‘Outreach to young people not in employment, education or training – A practical manual for outreach’,

– having regard to the 2026 Cedefop publication entitled ‘An EU reference framework for lifelong guidance: 18 guidelines for policy and systems development’,

– having regard to the European implementation assessment of 18 December 2025 entitled ‘The implementation of the reinforced Youth Guarantee - Trends in EU Member States, impact, EU funding and governance’ published by the European Parliamentary Research Service,

– having regard to the study published by the European Committee of the Regions in June 2022 entitled ‘The local implementation of the Reinforced Youth Guarantee’,

– having regard to the position paper of the European Youth Forum of 13 March 2025 entitled ‘Youth Guarantee: How to support young people finding a pathway’,

– having regard to its resolution of 8 October 2020 on the Youth Guarantee,

– having regard to its resolution of 17 February 2022 on empowering European youth: post-pandemic employment and social recovery,

– having regard to its resolution of 21 November 2023 on reducing inequalities and promoting social inclusion in times of crisis for children and their families,

– having regard to its resolution of 11 March 2025 on the European Social Fund Plus post-2027,

– having regard to its resolution of 27 November 2025 on the EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024,

– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure, as well as Article 1(1)(e) of, and Annex 3 to, the decision of the Conference of Presidents of 12 December 2002 on the procedure for granting authorisation to draw up own-initiative reports,

– having regard to the opinion of the Committee on Culture and Education,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A10-0218/2026),

A. whereas the Youth Guarantee (YG) was established in 2013 and reinforced in 2020 (RYG); whereas it is a commitment made by the Member States to young people under the age of 30 to offer them good-quality employment, continuing education, or an apprenticeship or a traineeship opportunity within four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education; whereas since its establishment in 2013, around 60 million young Europeans have taken up an offer under the YG scheme;

B. whereas young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) constitute a diverse group with different lived experiences; whereas Eurofound research highlights that the NEET population is highly heterogeneous and consists of distinct subgroups, each facing unique structural barriers to accessing quality education, training, apprenticeships, volunteering opportunities and youth work, preventing their successful integration into the labour market, and therefore requiring tailored, flexible and personalised support to meet their specific needs; whereas in the implementation and improvement of the RYG particular attention must be paid to NEETs in vulnerable situations and those furthest from the labour market who are often hard to reach;

C. whereas in the design and implementation of such measures the principle of subsidiarity and the competences of Member States in the fields of education, training and employment policies should be fully respected;

D. whereas the NEET rate in the EU has resumed its downward trend in the post-pandemic period; whereas the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan includes the target of reducing the NEET rate to 9 % among young people aged 15-29 by 2030; whereas this objective is on track to be achieved, despite significant disparities between Member States and regions; whereas achieving this target would still leave a significant number of young people in precarious situations; whereas there is a persistent gender gap among NEETs, with the NEET rate among young women consistently exceeding that of young men in the EU;

E. whereas Roma and Travellers are the group with the highest NEET rate in the EU, at 47 % for young people aged 16-24, compared to an EU average of 9 % for the same age group; whereas gender-disaggregated data shows that, on average, 61 % of young Roma and Traveller women are NEETs, compared with 33 % of young Roma and Traveller men; whereas none of the Member States surveyed are close to reaching the targets set out in the EU Roma strategic framework; whereas without a targeted and strategic approach by Member States, the EU risks leaving a generation of young Roma and Travellers at risk of exclusion from education, training and the labour market;

F. whereas care leavers are a group particularly at risk of becoming NEETs, yet due to insufficient reliable data, their numbers at EU level remain unclear, as do the outreach measures in place to support them and the opportunities available to them after leaving care; whereas young people leaving institutional care often face abrupt transitions to independence without adequate educational continuity, housing stability, access to social protection, employment support or professional guidance, increasing their risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion; whereas these transition gaps could be addressed in the RYG implementation through tailored support mechanisms;

G. whereas vulnerable NEETs may lack the functional literacy, numeracy and digital skills required to access quality education, training or the labour market; whereas young people’s performance in reading, mathematics and science across the EU is declining, and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are over six times more likely to underachieve than their peers; whereas these worrying trends must be actively considered in the RYG to prevent deepening social divides and ensure equal access to education and future employment opportunities;

H. whereas support measures to prevent early leaving from education or training should be deployed under the RYG, together with social protection measures such as family support, vocational guidance and seamless transitions from secondary education to other forms of education or training, to ensure that young people are not compelled to leave education prematurely due to their individual socio-economic backgrounds;

I. whereas the Council Recommendation of 16 June 2022 on a European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability recognises micro-credentials as a key tool for flexible, inclusive and targeted learning pathways, enabling individuals to acquire, update and certify their skills in a modular way, particularly in response to labour market needs and the green and digital transitions;