Greece to receive 160 mln euros as part of EU’s young employment initiative
Greece is set to receive the sum of 160 million euros from the European Union as part of the Youth Employment Initiative. Cyprus is also expected to receive over 10 million euros as part of the same project.
The initiative, which was proposed by European Council in February 2013, comes with a budget of 6 billiom euros for the 2014-2020 period.
The funds will be released on January 1, 2014 and will go to employment, continued education and apprenticeship programs in European Union member states where youth unemployment has ventured beyond 25 percent.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras traveled to Paris on Tuesday to attend a conference of European leaders on the issue of rising unemployment among the young.
Total unemployment across the 17-nation euro area has reached 12.2 percent, the highest since the currency zone was created.
In Greece, where the jobless rate of 27.6 percent is the highest in the euro area, European Union data show the youth unemployment rate to have reached 57.3 percent in July.
