Hungary is applying all possible means to address youth unemployment, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said at a European summit of presidents, prime ministers, labour ministers and heads of European institutions in Paris on Tuesday.

The Hungarian Prime Minister said Hungary is making use of all possible methods to alleviate the problem of unemployment, which he called worryingly high in Europe.

The participants of the conference proposed solutions that are already part of Hungarian law, he added, citing the Government's job protection action plan as well as the programme aimed at helping young people start up their own businesses.

He said that the simplest way to reduce unemployment is to cut taxes or social security contributions, but since all countries are in debt, they are trying to come up with solutions which do not involve tax cuts. Yet real recovery is impossible without tax cuts that lead to economic growth, the Prime Minister stated.

Participants at the Paris conference submitted a proposal to be approved by the European Parliament, under which the EU would allocate funds to alleviate the problem of youth unemployment, the Prime Minister noted, from which Hungary may receive HUF 15 billion (EUR 50m).

The European Union has nearly 6 million young unemployed, on average 24 percent of people under 25. The situation is the worst in Spain and Greece, where the ratio of people aged between 18 and 24 who have no job is 56 and 61.5 percent, respectively. The youth unemployment rate in Hungary is currently 27 percent.

(Prime Minister’s Office)