Cowork4YOUTH: Examining the Swedish Presidency’s programme

From January until June 2023, the Presidency of the Council of the European Union is assumed by Sweden. As a project that examines the effectiveness of policies about youth employment in areas under energy transition, at Cowork4YOUTH we took a careful look at the Swedish Presidency’s programme about its priorities and main direction. Of special interest are the priorities that deal with economic and financial affairs, as well as the ones about employment, social policy, energy, education and of course, youth.

High inflation, an alarming energy crisis due to the current disruption of world peace, and rapidly rising interest rates are some of the problems the Presidency has to face during its time, in the framework of financial and economic affairs. Reforms and investments within the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the leader of the European Recovery Plan, NextGenerationEU, that its aim is to financially support the member states that were severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and also to fortify the EU from relevant future crises, are among the measures planned to be taken.

“Basic skills and lifelong learning are the building blocks that resolve skills supply challenges”, states the Presidency on its programme page about employment and social policy affairs, and continues “Work is the most important prerequisite for self-sufficiency and reduces the risk of poverty and social exclusion […]”. Among the Presidency’s intentions is improving work conditions in platform work, and in the framework of equal rights and equal opportunities for all, to pursue increased gender equality and to establish the fundamental values of non-discrimination and equality in general; therefore, the Presidency intends to push forward the trilogue of the proposed Directive on “binding measures for transparency in salary-setting and negotiations in the Council on the proposal for an anti-discrimination directive”.

Regarding energy, the priorities set by the Presidency to face future challenges include closely monitoring developments in the energy markets, implementing measures and amending the design of the EU’s electricity market. Revisions of the Renewable Energy Directive, the Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive are also being planned, in tandem with advancing the work on the proposals in the hydrogen and decarbonised gas market package, for increasing the proportion of renewable and low-carbon gases, so as to reduce the use of natural gas.

For education, the Swedish Presidency places upfront the European Year of Skills and intends to emphasize the importance of education contributing to green transition and upskilling, while additionally plans to move forward the work on the European Education Area, so that for example qualifications get mutually recognised. As for youth, young people’s participation in political decision-making is another priority; and as stated in the programme, “Young people’s knowledge, perspectives and experiences offer important contributions to the democratic process”.

At Cowork4YOUTH we are excited about the programme and the priorities set, and we will be following closely every field connected to our project.

https://swedish-presidency.consilium.europa.eu/en/
https://www.cowork4youth.org/

 

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