“greening” the youth employment—a chance for sustainable development

Currently, at the European Union level, there has been an increase in unemployment, especially youth unemployment, as a result of certain imbalances in the labor market, exacerbated by the current financial and economic crisis. The sustainable economic development of each country is strongly influenced by the human resource in the context in which it is sought the creation of a strong, competitive and prosperous Europe. The human resource and especially young people are the most precious wealth of a nation. Therefore, solving the problem of youth unemployment is a matter of great concern and requires bringing to the forefront modern employment policies correlated with the economic reality, to which the EU attaches increasingly more importance, namely promoting green employment in a green economy. Our paper begins by analyzing the evolution, causes and differences recorded at the European Union level on the size and structure of youth unemployment and it ends with identifying some measures to reduce it, in the context of European sustainable development. The conclusions in our research highlight the importance of employment policies at both the micro and macro level and show the positive role of active policies, investment in education and green employment.