Bloomberg View: Europe's Policymakers Idle on Youth Unemployment

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble wasn’t exaggerating when he called youth unemployment a “catastrophe” for the European Union. As of March, 56 percent of Spaniards, 59 percent of Greeks, and 38 percent of Italians and Portuguese ages 16 to 24 were unemployed. Schäuble and French counterpart Pierre Moscovici are working on a “New Deal for Europe,” but it’s clear that Europe’s youth program is no such thing.

The core of the effort is €6 billion ($7.7 billion) carved out of the EU’s budget. Some of that (it’s unclear how much) would go to the European Investment Bank, which would back loans to small and midsize enterprises in exchange for commitments to hire and train young people. Some would go to helping young people move to find training and jobs; Germany and other countries have 30,000 unfilled apprenticeships. Banks in Spain, Greece, and elsewhere aren’t lending, so this kind of subsidy makes sense. Yet the scale is far too small. Millions of new jobs are needed, and the initiative falls short.