European Commission officials are warning that there is little money available to meet a European Parliament demand for extra funding to help the rising number of young people without work. 

Additional money to help young people find work and gain skills were among the principal demands of a report on the 2011 budget approved last week by the Parliament. Sidonia Elzbieta Je¸drzejewska, the centre-right Polish MEP who drafted the report, called for a budget “very much centred on youth” so that they are equipped to find work after they complete their education.

Limited scope

Commission officials say that the scope for additional funds and new programmes is limited, because just over €1.8 billion of the 2011 budget has already been used in the European Economic Recovery Programme.

However, they say that some funds may be moved in order to satisfy the Parliament’s call for more to be done to reduce youth unemployment. According to Eurostat, the EU’s statistical agency, the rate of unemployment among 25-year-olds across the 27-member states is currently hovering at around 24%.

Other youth-focused demands made by the Parliament include calls for extra spending for student programmes, such as university exchanges under the popular Erasmus programme.

Je¸drzejewska’s other principal suggestions were for the budget to focus on supporting research and on helping Europe’s economy recover from the financial crisis.

Janusz Lewandowski, the European commissioner for the budget, is expected to present his draft 2011 budget on 28 April. The size of the budget is open to negotiation, but cannot exceed €134bn.

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Under the Lisbon treaty, the way the annual EU budget is agreed upon is simplified and the Parliament now has a full say on the entire EU budget.

The Parliament and the Council of Ministers will, however, only have one reading to agree to the new budget.

The aim is to have the 2011 spending plan agreed by 12 November.