Issues involved: youth employment, equal opportunities

Among the measures already envisaged, the right to training for all will come into effect on 1 September 2006. This is currently aimed at junior apprentices, but the Prime Minister would like to broaden its scope to include young people who have no qualifications. The government recommends specialised support to help young people, especially those who have never looked for work, to find a job. The aim is to have one member of staff for every 15 young people, compared to one for every 25, as at present. The Government also wants to stop the abuse of training courses and fixed-term contracts: the Prime Minister believes that they should be limited to the “situations provided for by the labour laws”.

Dominique de Villepin also drew attention to certain sections of the equal opportunity law, such as the creation of 15 new urban free zones, voluntary non-military national service and the introduction of anonymous CVs in companies with over 50 employees. He pointed out that the equal opportunity law grants exemption from charges to “companies that recruit young people who not have not passed the bac , who live in problem urban areas or have been on the unemployment register for more than 6 months”.

Three new projects

The first project announced by the Prime Minister - increased job security for those embarking on career paths, will be discussed shortly with the unions and management, “as soon as we emerge from the current crisis”. He reminded everyone of the creation of the “Professional transition contract” and its role in providing support for job seekers.

The Government, which is preparing for “in-depth consultation regarding the proposals put forward by Senators Raincourt, Mercier and Letard, has decided to initiate a second project involving “combating exclusion”, with a view to reducing the number of applicants for income support (RMI).

Any future decisions will also depend on the indicators provided by the National institute of research into poverty and social exclusion. Mechanisms for getting people back to work “from the very first working hour” will be the subject of “experiments in a number of French departments”. The Prime Minister has entrusted the organisation of this initiative to Martin Hirsch, President of the association Agence nouvelle des solidarit?s actives .

Xavier Emmanuelli, founder of Samu social , an organisation providing a mobile emergency medical service for homeless people, and Catherine Vautrin are due to submit their proposals on the sustainable housing dossier to the government. The Prime Minister wishes to strive towards “sustainable housing, as the first stage in access to long-term housing”.

Lastly, before meeting the Conseil national de lutte contre l’exclusion [national council for combating social exclusion] in May, the Prime Minister wishes to have a meeting with the Alerte collective, a grouping of associations formed to combat the lack of job security, without delay.

Under the supervision of Patrick Hetzel, chief education officer of the Academy of Limoges, the Government plans to launch a major debate on the links between universities and the world of work. This constitutes the third project announced by the Prime Minister.

Commenting that “too many [students] are either failing at the end of the first two years, or have been put on the wrong courses or come to realise that the choices they have made are not leading to the job they wanted”, the Prime Minister has declared that the aim of this debate is to “maintain the excellence of universities, while at the same time guaranteeing better access to employment”.

Another major concern of students is the working conditions within universities. Here too, the Prime Minister wants a discussion that will “directly” involve student organisations.