We are faced with a unique opportunity, “the opportunity”, an exceptional moment, where the choices we make today will define the future for the next generation. We are talking about a determined commitment to the transformation of the more resilient, sustainable and digital European productive fabric, which will provide us with greater capacities and resistance to face the next challenges.
The magnitude of the investment required to achieve this objective it must seek to alleviate the burden that the next generation will bear on its shoulders. For this reason, the EU recovery plan and therefore the respective national plans of each of the member states must be oriented towards building a more sustainable, resilient and just Europe for the next generation.
The investment actions and reforms financed through the Next Generation EU Funds should pursue the objective of contributing today to repair the damages of the health crisis, as a starting point for relaunch with a future perspective our economy, productive fabric and workers, accelerating the double ecological and digital transition, transforming, transferring its benefits to companies and citizens.
The different lines of action included in the National Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan will involve an increase in public spending that must be considered within the framework of a medium and long-term program that guarantees the sustainability of the public debt in a context of high indebtedness and a deficit pension system. It is essential that these investments are transformative and accelerate a true transition to the economy of tomorrow, avoiding the short-termism and mistakes of the past.
In my opinion, it is key to consider young people, future generations in this context, considering the concept of “Intergenerational transmission of benefits vs disadvantages ”of the scenarios that are being handled in the definition of the different actions of reforms and investments that will make up the final version of our National Recovery Plan.
For this reason, concrete actions related to training and education at all levels will be crucial., reducing disparities such as those manifested in school dropouts, investing in active employment policies for these groups that are our future, in line with a commitment to investments in technological fields and sectors that allow us to create these quality jobs with this perspective Of future.
Already the Council of Europe in its recommendations to Spain in recent years, repeatedly emphasizes the need for the development of human capital at all levels of the educational systems, including higher education and professional training, as well as increased cooperation between education and business sectors with a view to mitigating the inadequacy of existing skills, favoring access to the job market for young graduates.
LThe rate of higher graduates in Spain exceeds the EU average, but they experience many difficulties in finding suitable jobs. In 2020 Spain was the country with the highest youth unemployment rate (young people under 25 years of age) in the European Union, with 40.2%, at the other extreme we have Germany with the lowest rate, with barely 6.1%, placing us more than twenty points above the EU average, with 17.8%.
One of the greatest sources of wealth in a country is in its human capital, with the knowledge and skills of the workers, which influence productivity and other direct impacts on the economy. Thus it is vital that it is treated as a transversal aspect to be very present in each of the actions that are designed in our National Transformation Plan.
To use the words of President Von der Leyen’s Speech in the plenary session of the European Parliament on the EU recovery package: “The crisis we face is enormous. But equally enormous is the opportunity for Europe and our responsibility to do the right thing in this situation.. We can now lay the first stone for an environmentally sustainable Union, digital and more robust than ever. Seventy years ago, our founders had the courage to take the first step in creating a Union of peace and prosperity. Today is the time to add the chapter for our generation and boldly take another step towards an indestructible Union. We owe it to the next generation. “
And I would add, we CANNOT fail them.
*** Noelia Escobar Izquierdo is the coordinator of Institutional and Intangible Relations at Incotec
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