The European Council has freed funds for the fight against youth unemployment, but few MEPs think it's enough.

€6 billion, enough for youth employment?

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16348826/n001-130701-002-en.srt

In the end it was more than  some MEPs had hoped for:

to fight unemployment  amongst young Europeans.

Following a decision  at the European summit last week,

most of the money will be spent  over the next two years.

But with close to a fourth of under-25s  unemployed throughout the EU,

and around 50% in the countries bordering  the Mediterranean Sea, the question is:

Therefore the Parliament fought for  the years afterwards to also have money,

out of the flexibility of the budget,  to use unused money for that.

We have to see a package.  I hope that with the whole package,

in five years, we have a dramatic decrease  in youth unemployment in Europe.

In order for that to happen, European funds  alone are not enough, argue other MEPs.

With misled reform policy,  with pure austerity policy,

which was decided on a European level,  we have driven the recession in the South.

If we don't finally invest in trade cycle  recovery and in sustainable development,

you can forget about this youth guarantee,  which is not a guarantee but a symbol.

The Council agreed that any unspent funds  from the €960 billion budget until 2020

could also be spent for combating  youth unemployment.

Over the last seven-year period, €50 billion  of funds were reimbursed to the states.

Last Friday, EU leaders lauded themselves  on the deal they had struck,

but ECR President Martin Callanan  thinks it's no big deal.

the totals, the flexibilities  remain the same,

the payments, the commitments  remain the same...

This is about face saving for Martin Schulz  and the Parliament delegation.

There is no real change.  -It's promising to be a heated discussion

when the outcome of the European Council  is debated in the plenary on Tuesday.