120 representatives from 30 member regions of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) met in Italy on the occasion of Eurodyssey’s annual Forum celebrated on 8 and 9 September. During the celebration of such forum, the European Commission promised to give its support for the extension of the programme.

The Eurodyssey’s annual Forum celebrated on the 8 and 9 September met 120 representatives from 30 member regions of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) met in Aosta, in the autonomous province of Val d’Aosta in Italy. It also counted with the attendance of Mr. Michel Laine, Head of Unit at the European Commission’s DG for Employment and Social Affairs, who recognised the efficiency of Eurodyssey and promised to give his support for the extension of the programme.

Eurodyssey is an exchange programme of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) which allows young job seekers aged between 18 and 30 to benefit from a traineeship placement abroad for a period between three to seven months. The objective is to allow young people to gain professional experience at the same time as they get an opportunity to improve their knowledge of a foreign language. In fact, Eurodyssey develops professional mobility by proposing an internship to 600 youngsters each year. 80% of them find a perennial job within six months following their internship. According to Mr. Laine, from the European Commission, this is an efficient model which could be enlarged to 6,000 or 60,000 young people.

Recently, AER made a commitment to welcome young people seeking employment to support the transition in Tunisia in order to create a network similar to Eurodyssey. At the Forum, some regions, among which Ile-de-France (F), Açores (P) and Franche Comté (F), have expressed their interest in being part of this pilot project.

The AER President, Michèle Sabban, reaffirmed during the opening of the discussions that there is urgency to employ young people because when young people have to emigrate to find a job, there is urgency. According to Ms Sabban the Eurodyssey programme has proved its effectiveness for 25 years, therefore it remains an efficient tool to ensure the inclusion of young people in the labour market.