THINKYOUNG & THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

present

THE COUNCIL
OF THE EU
THINKS YOUNG
A guide based on the event
held on Saturday 4 May 2013

SHAPING A BETTER FUTURE TOGETHER

Designed by ThY/LAB

INDEX
INTRO 6
THE SPEAKERS / SESSION 1 8
THE SPEAKERS / SESSION 2 9
MODERATORS 9
SESSION 1 10
JIM CLOOS 11
MARIE-LOUISE LINDORFER 12

GRAHAM NEQUEST 13
EXTRACT FROM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 15
SESSION 2 16
DEVELOPING SKILLS FOR EMPLOYABILITY 17

IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION?

19

RETHINKING NEW MODELS 21

INTRO
The Council of the EU and Think Young, a Brussels based think
tank concerned with young Europeans, co-organised an event to
debate with young Europeans about the future challenges they
face in the labour market.
With the paradox scenario of skill deficiency within the private
sector and skyrocketing figures of youth unemployment, we questioned what the various sectors are doing to combat such negative
conditions.
Our three-hour event placed youth in direct contact with representatives from the Council of the European Union, Academia, the
Private Sector and Entrepreneurship.

WHEN
Brussels - 04 May 2013.
VENUE
Info Point Europa, Rond-Point Schuman, 1000 Brussels.
WHO
48 young participants stemming from various backgrounds and professions Representatives of 25 nationalities in total (EU & worldwide).
FORMAT
The event was segmented into 2 sessions with a networking lunch in
between. The first session formed an open panel style debate, while
the second session formed a number of small-scale interactions with
experts.

THE SPEAKERS / SESSION 1:

Jim Cloos
Deputy Director-General for General Policy Questions and International Relations,
Council of the EU.
Mr Cloos is a diplomat from Luxembourg with a vast experience of serving the EU Institutions. He
is one of the most senior officials in the Council of the European Union and currently he is responsible for the directorate in charge of Strategic and Institutional issues, including the preparation of the
European Council meetings. From 2006 to 2010, he was the Director for General Policy Questions
and between 2001 and 2006, he led the Directorate Americas, UN and Human Rights, CounterTerrorism being as well a senior advisor to Javier Solana, the High Representative for Common
Foreign and Security Policy. Prior to the years at the Council, he worked as Head of Cabinet to the
President of the EC from 1995 to 1999. In this capacity, he was the Presidents Sherpa within the
G7/G8 framework.

Marie-Louise Lindorfer
Head of Unit for Employment and Social Policy, Council of the EU.
Since 2010, Mrs Lindorfer is Head of Unit in the area of Employment and Social Policies, including
gender and anti-discrimination issues. During 11 years (until the end of 2009) she held different
functions in the external relations directorate, covering mainly political affairs in Africa and the relations of the continent with the EU. For several years, she was political advisor to the EU Special
Representative for the Great Lakes region. Prior to joining the Council of the European Union in
1996, she acquired 12 years of professional experience in the legal domain.
Graham Nequest
Senior Expert for Education, Youth, Culture, Audiovisual and Sport, Council of the EU.
Mr Nequest works since 2005 in the unit covering Education, Youth, Culture and Sport at the Council
of the European Union, where he primarily has a responsibility for educational affairs. He joined the
institution in 1997, working first as a translator and then as an administrator in the transport policy
unit. Before working for the European Union, he qualified as a modern language teacher in
the UK and decided to move to Paris, where he worked for over 15 years in the field of professional
training and staff development.
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THE SPEAKERS / SESSION 2:

Angela Steen
Senior Policy Analyst at Google, Brussels.
Mrs Steen is a Senior Policy Analyst at Google having joined the EU Public Policy team in 2010. Her
main focus is to work with the EU institutions to achieve the full economic potential of the Internet,
with a specific focus on entrepreneurship. She graduated in European Studies at Trinity College,
Dublin. From Ireland, she started her public policy career in Brussels working both at the European
Commission (Directorate-General for Communication), and the European Parliament as a parliamentary assistant.
Olivier Hody
Partner at Deloitte Global Tax Centre, Brussels.
Mr Hody is currently a partner co-leading the Deloittes Global Tax Center (Europe) based in
Brussels. In 2001, he actively participated in the launch of the Deloitte European Compliance
centre enabling multinational companies to outsource, in a centralized way, the management of
their pan-European tax obligations and related issues to a single service provider. The centre has
then been recognized in 2003 within Deloitte as the European centre of excellence allowing those
centralized services to be rendered to all 27 EU Member States.
Beatriz Talegn
Secretary General of the International Union of Socialist Youth, Vienna.
Since April 2012, Mrs Talegn is the Secretary General of the International Union of Socialist Youth
(IUSY), after becoming its vice-president in 2010. Before developing her career in the international sphere, she worked as an advisor for young employment and housing in Castilla la Mancha
between 2007- 2008 and as a lawyer in 2008. Thanks to an internship from the Alcal de Henares
University in 2007 she started working for the Regional Government of Castilla la Mancha and a
year later she formally became part of their staff as their EU Affairs advisor. Later, she joined the
Spanish Socialist Delegation in the European Parliament as assistant to a MEP.
MODERATORS
Cristina Gallach
Head of the Public Relations Unit, Council of the EU.
Luca Selva
Advocacy & campaigns @ ThinkYoung.

SESSION 1
The event kicked off with a general
debate between panellists of the
European Council and young people.
The following topics were explored:
* Youth Unemployment
* Education
* Skills
* Youth employment packages
* General European policies

10

Session one predominantly tackled current and change the Union. Of course, I do not say that
topical issues concerning education and unem- we have all the answers. It is up to you now to
ployment from a high-level European perspec- find your ways, to find new ways.
tive.
He went on to share his concern at the negaJim Cloos spoke of the European Union as the tive portrayal of the European Union by the meright environment to work, live and build up a pro- dia. He encouraged all in attendance to keep an
fessional career. He encouraged young people open mind and be informed through a variety
to grasp the various benefits available to them of sources before easily falling into an anti-EU
and reinvent the necessary elements to reacti- standpoint.
vate competitiveness and attain success.
Empathising with the young generation of particiMr Cloos reacted strongly to the passive at- pants present in the debate, Mr Cloos stressed
titudes adopted by many young people in the that even though the European Union is quite
events introductory video. He cheered the Youth dynamic and complex we are above all a unique
to get involved and committed by stating: There project in history, this is the voluntary union
are many opportunities available, seize them and of the people and their countries.

The benefits of peace, cross border travel, mobility, education and Erasmus were made all the
more possible by the European Union. These
achievements should not be taken for granted.
This is what defines and enriches us as Europeans, he highlighted.

Mr Cloos concluded his intervention with some

comments on the current economic situation,
providing some reassurance of future recovery
for those troubled member states. He first gave
some examples of successful recoveries in the
past decades and went on stating that Latvia
was in a difficult situation 20 years ago. Now,
The European Union has a lot to offer and it is they are getting out of it. There are ways of doing
a role model for peace for those countries in the it and I am sure that Portugal, Spain and Greece
neighbourhood who want to join. Take the Bal- will rise from this troubled period and become
kans for instance, [he underlined], the only way stronger as a result.
for them to not look constantly at the past but to
the future was the possibility of joining the European Union. Do not by any means forget the
past, but accept it and look forward!
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Marie-Louise Lindorfer delivered her keynote

to address concerns over youth unemployment
figures, stressing at first the importance of providing a quality and diversified education in
members states at all levels.
She pointed out that students should seek for
the best appropriate educational programme fulfilling their profiles. However, those with degree
qualifications should not be led by a false sense
of superiority. She highlighted the bitter truth,
putting to bed the notion that in this modern, globalised society, a university degree will neither
necessarily merit a top corporate position nor a
more prosperous career than those without.

Drawing on this setback, she insisted that we

have to concentrate on young people with a low
level of skills and support those who drop out
prematurely from education and training adding
that one of our objectives is to fight poverty and
social exclusion. This become increasingly more
challenging and dangerous when groups among
the young are hit.
Ms Lindorfer then highlighted the growing divide between north and south regions of the union. She stressed the importance of addressing
these cultural and economic disparities as she
indicated the value of the EU social fund set to
inject around 6 billion euros into areas of need.

12

Ms Lindorfer brought to the table specific tools in

which the European Union have to work to tackle
these worrying youth unemployment rates. She
voiced as an example the importance of creating
higher quality mobility programmes and advised
placing a greater emphasis on the development
of entrepreneurial qualities.
An apparent problem she shared was that the
EU and its member states do not know the true
figure of unemployment, with many people not
registering as being NEET (Not in education,
employment or training). A significant obstacle
for the achievement of an employment rate of
75% targeted by the EU for 2020.

In response to the concerns stressed over a lack

of prospects for the young generation, she informed all attendees about the youth guarantee
agreed in February 2013: This is the most striking initiative recently developed by the European
Union. It aims to provide all young people under
25 years of age with a job or further educational
training programme within four months of leaving
school or entering unemployment. This is a promise of huge magnitude; it requires young people
to become more proactive and take responsibility together with a clear commitment and strategy for implementation from the member states.

In addition, despite seeing a great deal of educational mobility in the EU, Ms Lindorfer suggested
there is more emphasis placed on labour mobility, implying that in the current economic environment we are not observing enough people willing
to relocate in search of jobs. The dynamics in
the European Union are to open doors for young
people and encourage free movement. The programmes we are developing allow a branching
out from local to national environments, provid-

ing valuable experience and improving employability prospects, she clearly maintained.

Graham Nequest confronted the educational

topics head on. He reiterated that the EU has
seen enormous improvements in national educational systems over the course of the last
decade. He stated that education was once perceived to be a taboo issue within the institutions,
not being even able to support or complement
member states actions at the EU level.

including problem solving and creativity (being

imperative to the employability and ultimate success of the young generation);

Now, he explained that the European Union is

allocating substantial financial packages into
a long list of programmes. A special mention
should be given to those aiming at ensuring that
Europeans are able to obtain a tertiary level of
education.
Among that range of programmes, Mr Nequest
pointed out:
- Those encouraging the development of basic
skills with key competencies, transferable skills

She finalised her keynote by reminding the participants of the political consequences that unemployment might have in society, with a greater
number of young people not only taking anti-European views but also siding with extremist parties in some countries.

- The Life Long learning programme (Comenius,

Erasmus, Leonardo da Vinci and Grundtvig).
Vocational Education and training will be implemented on a broader scale. Valuable programmes observed in some member states such
as Germany will be used as examples of best
practice being adapted to suit the needs of other
member states. Through this, the EU institutions
envisage significant advances in the volume of
high-skilled workers.
With a view to improving the overall quality of
teaching, Mr Nequest stressed that better quality
education and more challenging routes of selection for teachers are set to be adopted.

13

Moreover, he underlined that over the past few

years education has developed a greater presence online. This trend is set to continue as it reduces costs, though priorities must be placed on
cross-border mobility to encourage a rounding of
character and exposure to intercultural experiences.
In fact, he asserted that under the Lithuanian
Presidency we will look at opening educational
resources ensuring education is becoming accessible to more and more people online. We
have to find a way to gain maximum value from
these new developments in innovation, communication and technology.
Finally, Mr Nequest reminded that member
states in unison acknowledged the importance
of entrepreneurship and agreed to support this
key competence.

14

He emphasized the need for education in this

area rhetorically stating: Why not include education of entrepreneurship at primary levels,
encouraging experimentation and entrepreneurship at a very early age?.
Mr Nequest closed his speech with positive news
in terms of a newly released budget allocated for
education, stressing the growing focus the European Union is demonstrating in all elements of
education. As you know, he asserted, the most
successful EU funded programme is Erasmus.
Now, the European Commission has decided
to incorporate all programmes into one, defining it as Erasmus Plus. To demonstrate the importance that education has within the EU, this
programme will see a substantial rise in funding compared with past editions, we are talking
about 15 billion euros for seven years.

EXTRACT FROM THE QUESTIONS &

ANSWERS
Q - The European Union is taking over the role
of the bad guy pushing for reforms in some
member states. What do you think about this?
A - M-L Lindorfer: Every reform, every change,
every effort to do things better is a pain. Even
studying is a pain for students, but they have to
do it. My suggestion is to look at the big picture,
think long term. These reforms are necessary.

to push painful, unwanted but useful reforms. I

enjoy talking to Eurosceptics - it is important for
democracy that people have different opinions. It
is nevertheless important that different opinions
are based on facts and not on ignorance. I am
open to discuss to which extent Europe should
work, what Europe should do and what it should
not do. This is a very important question that
helps a better building of the European Union.
Q - Can you explain why, if all officials say that
Erasmus and mobility are so important, it has
been placed in danger in recent times?

J Cloos: Yes, sometimes the EU has the role

A - J Cloos: This is a myth. I was present at

all the discussions and all the budget negotiations. The Erasmus programme has never been
put into danger, what we were discussing was
the Commission proposal to increase its budget
of 150% in time of crisis. The result is that the
budget for the Erasmus has been increased by
40% in times when the total EU budget has been
decreased of 3%.
Q - Why are you here today? What is your motivation to spend a Saturday afternoon with us?

not be resolved, while many others will be worsened.

A - M-L Lindorfer: I was an Eurosceptic before
coming to Brussels. I have now lived here for 22
years and realised that my initial anti-European
standpoint was out of ignorance.
A - G Nequest: My commitment to education
and my involvement with youth. This is what motivates me today to be here.

A - J Cloos: I am with you today because I believe in the European Union, because I work for
the European Union and because I am sure that
without the European Union our problems will
15

SESSION 2
A debate between young attendees
and senior experts from private & non
for profit sectors was stimulated on the
topics of employment, entrepreneurship
and new models of creating
multilevel value.

16

With these focal areas in mind, young people

were encouraged to identify several key areas of
improvement and deficiencies in modern society.

Developing skills for Employability; Is Entrepreneurship an alternative solution?; Rethinking New Models.

Three experts heavily engaged with employment,

youth and business forefronted the discussions,
providing their individual takes on the topics and
ultimately forming a number of concrete points
with the young attendees.

Each expert spent a total of fifteen minutes at all

tables discussing each predetermined topic before moving on to the next.
This enabled the young attendees to discuss
with and observe a true multitude of viewpoints.

Prior to the event, the ThinkYoung team had divided the participants into one of three groups
with a given topic:

DEVELOPING SKILLS FOR EMPLOYABILITY

Following the discussion between the three experts and the young attendees, the following areas for improvement and deficiencies were highlighted. We understand that there is a genuine
lack of encouragement to grow entrepreneurial
skills and a real desperation for those who can
demonstrate innovation. Mr Hody inspired this
initial observation, where it was suggested that
businesses must become increasingly entrepreneurial to survive.
Olivier Hody: Young people must be innovative, able to think entrepreneurially & demonstrate the way in which they can provide value
for employers.

The young people then stated that they were being failed through a lack of mentoring and tutoring in basic sales skills. It is understood that they
would like to learn how to sell themselves and
develop skills such as negotiation.
Mr Hody then identified a lack of soft skills found
in applicants to the private sector. It has been
known for a long while that universities are producing graduates with extremely high levels of
theoretical knowledge, yet soft skills such as
interpersonal communication are frequently limited.
Those young people who had obtained various
degrees of professional experience voiced their
demands for continuous change and a variety of
tasks in the workplace. They spoke of stifled development through repetitive routine.
17

Another interesting point raised was that those

entering the workplace are unable to effectively
teamwork, with many young people demonstrating reluctance to share tasks.
Other detrimental factors were the lack of flexibility of certain young people in terms of relocation
and adaptation to different working hours from

A number of combative actions and suggested

improvements were then identified in response
to these initial concerns
Applicants should demonstrate
- Higher levels of motivation on all fronts;
- Greater preparation for job interviews;
- Define their outstanding characteristics as professionals, in which ways they can add value
(How can one contribute to the ongoing success
of a business?);
- A mindset for innovation where possible and a
method for problem resolution;
- Concise application documents highlighting
specific qualities beneficial for the role.

18

the norm.
What we are viewing as an increasingly significant point is a lack of specialization. Young
people are seemingly under the impression that
general qualifications and experience in a broad
range of areas will provide them the opportunity
to obtain any kind of job, when quite the contrary,
greater specialization is desired!

Companies should specifically

- Support must be provided to help people in the
pursuit of goals;
- Move employees around. Provide them with
exposure to a variety of activities in order to stimulate sufficient development;
- Demonstrate openness to entrepreneurship
and innovation;
- Improvement of conditions to help ideas materialize and flourish.

IS ENTREPRENEURSHIP AN ALTERNATIVE ive. This is directly in contrast to attitudes held in

SOLUTION?
the USA. From observing the roundtable discussions with the various experts, we can highlight
Following the discussion between the three ex- an over concern with formal education. Whilst
perts and the young attendees in the field of en- this is positive to some extent, the young people
trepreneurship, several areas for improvement voiced a welcome for courses and opportunities
and deficiencies were highlighted.
fostering the development of practical skills that
are imperative to success in entrepreneurship.
Angela Steen: We must foster entrepreneurship at the primary level & create virtual global Another area of concern specifically highlighted
networks of entrepreneurs to disperse knowl- by Ms Steen is a need for intercultural networkedge and investment opportunities.
ing. Business is becoming increasingly globalized, with Europe appearing as an economic
Throughout Europe, the youth identified a com- powerhouse, the transatlantic agreement lurking
monality revolving around the lack of entrepre- and endless opportunities occurring in Asia and
neurial culture Education of such skills from the emerging countries. It is imperative that cross
lower levels of education is almost non-existent border mobility is supported and professional reand society appears to be generally unsupport- lationships are formed on a monumental scale.

As stated by Mr Hody in the previous sub category of unemployment, businesses must become more entrepreneurial in order to meet and
better adapt to the global fast moving market.
In order to do so, in collaboration with the views
of the young attendees, he stressed the importance of employee freedom within companies,
spoke of the benefits of hiring creative talents to
support continuous development and advised
the promotion of innovation as something all
companies should do. In support of this, the attendees acknowledged these areas of improvement and spoke of the ways in which employ-

ees often have new ideas but are not involved

enough to contribute to their implementation.
Diversity was another requirement which was
highlighted, and runs hand in hand with the
formed deficiency of intercultural networks
stressed by Ms Steen. In order to unlock doors
and discover opportunities, a diverse workforce
is absolutely crucial. This being said, throughout
the discourse with Ms Talegn, a much sought
quality was the ability to manage cultural differences. Can this be learnt? Or is it something that
gradually develops through exposure to a range
of international environments?
19

Moreover, the young attendees drew on what

they perceived to be a deficiency in public speaking ability and its interrelation with entrepreneurship. Much like the previous point touched on
in the employment section where young people
stated they were struggling to sell themselves,
public speaking is suffering from a similar lack
of recognition. Mentoring and programs for development are in serious demand. A final point
and certain area of improvement highlighted by

Ms Talegn was the human dimension. By this,

she explained that in order to thrive and reap
the benefits of success in entrepreneurship, one
must take an active interest in the welfare of others and demonstrate support through the sharing of resources.

A number of combative actions and suggested

improvements were then identified in response
to these initial concerns

mentorship and capital;

- More inspiration and the development of a
European-wide attitude for those employees or
individuals to completely immerse themselves in
the job in hand, taking a proactive interest in the
success of all activities they engage with;
- Simplified routes to capital;
- Implementation of taxation models and policies
favouring start-up

Actions
What can be done on the educational front?
- We must see more technical entrepreneurship
schemes on a panEuropean scale;
- A ridding of the taboo perception of entrepreneurship;
- Encouraging the development of practical skills
and innovation from primary level. Initiatives
must be implemented sooner to ensure Europe
remains competitive;
- Injection of resilience and materialization of
courses developing character strength;
- Global networks of entrepreneurs must be established to encourage knowledge exchange
and improve the accessibility of tools such as
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What actions can businesses take?

- Frequent review sessions or polls for all employees granting the opportunity for contributions
and fresh innovation from internal creativity;
- HR policies encouraging the development of a
diverse workforce covering various angles, cultures and providing desirable intercultural connections.

RETHINKING NEW MODELS

Following the discussion between the three experts and the young attendees on new models,
the following suggestions were brought to light.
Beatriz Talegn: We must adapt, recycle our
resources & cooperate to achieve a greater level
of sustainability. The common good economy
should be implemented.
Traditionally, economic profit and shareholder
value has been prioritized by many businesses
in all regions of the world. With the effects and
externalities of businesses affecting many stakeholder groups, the first and arguably most significant requirement was for people to think outside
the box and create their own venture providing

Mr Hody spoke of the continuous adaptation required from all businesses to follow the trends
of the market and remain competitive. Naturally
with information accessibility becoming all the
easier, companies need to carefully select areas
of true value for the consumers to avoid losing
clients.

multilevel value. A problem related with this is

the fear of entrepreneurial failure, this was mentioned in a prior section of the debate and is set
to take a central point of the European stage in
2013 with ThinkYoung heading up the chase!
Another point that was particularly emphasized
throughout the discourse is the issue of bureaucracy surrounding the creation of new ventures.
In order to react quickly to the continuous changes in consumer tastes, this obstacle must be reduced and decisions taken at a quicker pace.
The young attendees again reiterated the need
for businesses to demonstrate wider concerns in
spite of the concern for maximizing shareholder
value.

A balance must be created. We cannot maintain

huge social and financial disparities in Europe.
The group ultimately implied that shared expenses and goods are required in order to prosper in
the future.

Ms Talegn spoke in favour of the redistribution of wealth, which tied in with the notion that
businesses should adopt wider concerns. From
this we were able to decipher that more support
should be provided to those in desperate need.
21

A number of combative actions and suggested

improvements were then identified in response
to these initial concerns
- Implementation of mobility schemes and support provided for cultural/social experimentation;
- Heightened social awareness;
- Allocation of subsidies for those companies
dedicated to providing value on multiple levels;
- Corporate Social Responsibility activities
viewed as a driver for change;
- Broadened scope of businesses alternative
opportunities which provide social value;
- The offering of free services to clients freemiums;
- Reinjection of profits into positive causes;
- Reduction of the relentless pursuit of economic
profitability in the EU.

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Join us, lobby for young people!

ThinkYoung
6, Place du Luxembourg
1050 - Bruxelles - Belgium
www.thinkyoung.eu
info@thinkyoung.eu
Tel:+32.2.608.82.10