Young people within the European Union (EU) should be given greater assistance to move between member states for work.

This is the assertion of European commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth Androulla Vassiliou, who declared: "The EU needs even more young people who are highly skilled, knowledgeable and innovative if it is to prosper in the future."

She pointed to high levels of youth unemployment within the region and stated that greater support is needed to ensure that this demographic can find work.

Ms Vassiliou was speaking in Brussels at the launch of the commission's new Youth on the Move flagship initiative designed to increase access to skills, experience and knowledge in order to help people secure their first job, including measures to encourage individuals to study or train in other nations.

A target has been set in the Europe 2020 policy to reduce the number of early school leavers to ten per cent and boost the number of young people gaining tertiary level or equivalent qualifications to 40 per cent.

The EU has launched a public consultation on its Green Paper on Promoting the Learning Mobility of Young People, which is intended to improve the opportunities for studying, work, volunteering and learning abroad.

Posted by Alex Donnell