§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on progress on the target to halve unemployment among 18 to 24 year olds by 2010 throughout the European Union, set at the European Council's meeting in Lisbon. [88218]
§ Malcolm WicksThere is no target for EU unemployment among 18 to 24 year olds. The Presidency Conclusions from the European Council held in Lisbon in March 2000 set a target that the number of 18 to 24 year olds with only lower secondary level education who are not in further education and training should be halved by 2010.
Three employment rate targets were agreed at Lisbon and Stockholm on total employment (70 per cent.), female employment (60 per cent.) and older worker employment (50 per cent.). The UK is one of the best performing member states in the EU, with one of the highest employment rates in the EU 15 (71.7 per cent. in the UK in 2001 compared with an EU average of 63.9 per cent.). The UK is one of only three member states to currently exceed all three of the 2010 employment targets.
The UK performs well in terms of young people as well, with the second highest youth employment rate at 56.9 per cent. in 2001, well above the EU 15 average of 40.7 per cent. This reflects the effectiveness of policies such as New Deal in helping young people in the UK to move from welfare to work. Current Eurostat figures show that between October 2000 and October 2001, unemployment in the EU for 15 to 24 year olds fell from 14.9 per cent. to a low of 14.7 per cent., before rising again to 15.1 per cent. in October 2002.