Refugee crisis and job are centrals in the EU budget 2016: will it be enough?

By Matteo Placidini

If we should prepare a list of the most critical issues Europe is living in the last months, we should certainly put on the first positions the lack of jobs and the refugee crisis. Analyzing this framework, we could say the EU is tackling these problems on two different fronts: the first one is internal, namely the economic crisis, and hits particularly young citizens and small-medium enterprises. The second one is external, since European countries must cope with a huge number of migrants coming from outside their borders.

Europe needs a change of gear of its policies on these topics and, obviously, more significant investments.

Clearly, the EP must have taken in strong consideration these two issues in the last plenary session. As a matter of fact, the EU budget for 2016, approved on 25 November 2015, provides relevant changes and improvements.

Concerning the refugee crisis, the European budget has more than doubled, increasing from 658 million Euros in 2015 to 1,6 billion Euros in 2016. Furthermore, an amendment of the budget invites the member states to invest 2,3 billion Euros to finance the Africa Trust Fund and the Syria Trust Fund, two important instruments to tackle the problem at its origin.

More important than the milestones mentioned above are the measures taken to boost the competitiveness of European enterprises. In fact, the European Parliament decided to allocate 14,3 million as extra resources for small and medium-sized enterprises, 184,5 million for the Horizon2020 - the ten-year economic strategy to foster sustainable growth across Europe - and 150 million for the Connecting Europe Facility - the investment plan to improve EU's transport, energy and digital networks.

Finally, the EP did not forget young people. First of all, 6,6 million were allocated for the student exchange programme Erasmus+. This programme allows students to study at least 3 months or do an internship for a period of at least 2 months to an academic year in another European country. It represents a significant occasion to foster not only understanding and learning of the host country, but also a sense of community among young European citizens.

Furthermore, the plenary session persuaded the European Commission and the European Council to continue the Youth Employment Initiative, a programme that supports young people who are not in education, employment or training. This objective is to offer guidance and assistance to find a job throughout specialized training, preparatory actions to work in foreign countries, company placements, placements for young entrepreneurs and volunteering opportunities.

However, analyzing the mentioned measures, a question arises spontaneously: will these investments be enough? Will they allow the EU to tackle effectively these problems?

Undoubtedly, the decision of the European Parliament to increase the budget on these subjects is extremely positive and represents the clear commitment to improve the situation.

Unfortunately, it is fare to say that the EU answers are too slow, especially regarding the migration issue. Only after strong public pressures, concrete measures have been taken. This shows once again the slowness and the ineffectiveness of the European decision-making process, mediated by too many actors. Timing represents a critical aspect for policies to succeed and the European Institutions should work hardly on that.

Moreover, what is most important, we should recognize that money alone is not an answer to solve complicated problems such as the migration emergency and the economic crisis. It would be time for the EU not only to increase financial resources, but also to implement long period plans on how to use them effectively.