A parliamentary question was deposited to the Greek Ministers of Finance and Employment on Monday, 4th November, after the initiative of all young (under 40 years old) members of parliament of Nea Dimokratia. The question specifically includes the three proposals of the Youth of the European People’s Party’s (YEPP’s) ‘Job Creation’ plan. This action is part of YEPP’s pan-European campaign which aims of bringing together 100 young MPs of national parliaments in all member-states of the European Union, to form an alliance that will put forward legislative proposals for job creation.
The three proposals, in brief, are:
Annual tax breaks for the first year for a company that hires young people (under the age of 30) who were previously unemployed. This measure should be implemented in a tax neutral manner, so the decreased revenue for the state (due to the tax break) is equal to the expenditure for the unemployment benefits for the same number of hired/unemployed people.
Connecting the market to the higher education system, through compulsory internships and apprenticeships in all fields of study that are connected to the production process.
The encouragement of youth entrepreneurship through the creation of incubators which will house new, small to medium businesses and supervise their bureaucratic procedures, helping them to develop and focus on production and innovation.
YEPP is promoting similar legislative actions in most parliaments of the European Union. So far, similar legislation has been adopted in Ireland, Sweden and Portugal, with the help of young members of parliament from the center-right parties and their youth organisations.
In a statement, YEPP president, Konstantinos Kyranakis, mentioned:
‘The statements of European leaders in regard to their determination for reducing youth unemployment are not enough. We have decided as YEPP to act as practically possible, promoting legislation and amendments in all countries that are facing major problems of unemployment. With the help of the presidents of our member organisations like Sakis Ioannides, ONNED president, but also with young MPs like the eleven who have signed our proposals in the Greek Parliament, we want to apply these three simple steps and help the 6 million young jobless in Europe find work and become productive’.
The eleven members of parliament who signed this are:
Dimas Christos
Arampatzi Fotini
Dionisia-Theodora Avgerinopoulou
Konstantinos Karagkounis
Konstantinos Katsafados
Ioannis Kefaloyiannis
Vasilis Kikilias
Georgia Martinou
Eleni Rapti
Maximos Senetakis
Konstantinos Skrekas
