The European Commission has declared that plans to expand existing programs for studying and training abroad will create more jobs.

According to the European Union (EU) executive, almost doubling the number of researchers, teachers and individuals taking advantage of such schemes to nearly 800,000 will generate employment opportunities within the education and creative industries.

Funding has been allocated for education, youth and creativity in the commission's 2014-2020 budget plan in a bid to boost jobs, with €15.2 billion being allocated to a new programme for training during the seven year period.

Education, culture, multilingualism and youth commissioner Androulla Vassiliou explained: "Our focus is on measures that achieve added value and contribute to the Europe 2020 objectives for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth."

Individuals seeking jobs in the EU may be interested in the most recent data from Eurostat showing that the average unemployment rate across the 27 member states remained stable at 9.3 per cent during May 2011 compared with April, 0.4 points lower year-on-year.

Posted by Alex Donnell