Youth unemployment rates are much higher than unemployment rates for all ages. More than 5 million young people in the EU are unemployed today. This means that one in five young people on the labour market cannot find a job.

As President of the European Economic and Social Committee, but also as citizen, I believe that we all must act for that our children can be better off than us. My generation did not get any problem to get a job. Our children meet problems now. It is a great concern for me as a person, as a father and as a grandfather, as well as President of the EESC. And Georgios Dassis, President of the Employees' Group in the EESC, shares this concern. This is the reason why we decided to gather here today. Georgios would agree with me that leaving the young people aside would mean compromising the future of the EU and of our children.

In my work programme as the President of the EESC, my goal is to consolidate the social dimension of the EU: improve employment conditions and promote social integration, fighting the poverty and exclusion that are afflicting vulnerable groups across all of Europe.
A social Europe is a Europe with a society that combines economic growth with high living standards and good working conditions, or at least decent jobs and worthy living conditions for all. A social Europe is a society that cares about its most vulnerable.