On 17 December 2020, AER took part in Finnova Foundation‘s webinar Next Talent Generation EU: COVID-19 Challenge, training in European Affairs for young people abroad. The webinar addressed the challenges that the COVID-19 crisis is posing to European mobility programmes, which are vital for upgrading the education and training of young professionals.

A European Marshall Plan to invest in Youth Talent

There are currently 1.8 billion young people between the ages of 15 and 35 in the world; the largest youth population in history. With 25 million jobs expected to be lost due to the health crisis, this cohort accounting for one-third of the world’s population is at a higher risk of exclusion amid the pandemic. At EU level, it is hoped that the Next Generation EU (NGEU), which will supplement the MFF by €750 billion, will help Member States to mitigate the enormous socio-economic impact of the epidemic on young people through reinforced funding such as the European Social Fund+, the Youth Guarantee system or the Erasmus programme.

Beautiful news! The EU 🇪🇺 got it right; with #COVID19 disproportionally hitting young people, the increase in funding of the Erasmus+ programme represents a ray of hope for many! @europeanregions
#Europe #youthrights #youthmobility https://t.co/esB3lL1izg

— Eurodyssey (@eurodyssey) December 18, 2020

Next Talent Generation EU: COVID-19 Challenge, training in European Affairs for young people abroad set about addressing these challenges by bringing together representatives from public administrations, those responsible for youth matters, training in European Affairs and professionals in charge of mobility programmes to share their perspectives, experiences and good practices.

Discussion highlights

The webinar, moderated by Juanma Revuelta, Director of the Finnova Foundation, consisted of four parts: An opening address by Ms Romy Karier, Member of the Committee of Regions’ Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment and Culture; Panel 1 – Mobility and training challenges in the era of COVID 19 and the EU economic recovery programmes 2021-2027; Panel 2 – The vision of the different European mobility programmes and how to face the new normal; and Panel 3 – Success stories and personal experiences.

During the second panel, AER Programmes Coordinator, Andrés Muñoz had the chance to elaborate the Eurodyssey experience and explain the benefits of learning mobility for youth development. The second part of his presentation set out the challenges ahead for youth policy-making in light of the gaps that the pandemic will prompt across generations in terms of unemployment, education, inequality and mental health.

AER Programmes Coordinator, Andrés Muñoz Rojo speaks with @FinnovaEU this morning about how AER's @Eurodyssey programme boosts youth mobility and employability! 👏👏👏 https://t.co/MEpyGKNbg4

— AER (@europeanregions) December 17, 2020

There were also presentations from speakers like Sara Corres Armendáriz, Deputy Director-General of Legal System of the Spanish Government’s Directorate-General for Migration, who underlined that “over the last few years, important steps have been taken towards the consolidation of a European labour market“. César Plá, Head of Service of the Public Function Department of the Permanent Representation of Spain to the EU, highlighted that “despite the current pandemic situation, the employment prspects in the EU institutions are encouraging, along with many windows of job opportunities for young people“.

The event closed with the launch of the Next Talent Generation EU website, a job portal which hosts a wide variety of stakeholders (NGOs, companies, universities, European institutions, national administrative authorities, etc.) aimed at building a European alliance for employing and training young talent.

If you missed our contribution to this webinar, you can rewatch it at the link below:

Featured picture by Maria Teneva on Unsplash

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