On this page

1. Governance

2. Cross-sectoral cooperation

Governance

The Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy (MTEESS, ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de l'Économie sociale et solidaire) and its affiliated administration, the National Employment Agency (ADEM; Agence pour le développement de l'emploi) are the main governmental authorities responsible for youth employment. The Ministry is responsible for the development and direction of the policy of employment and the general coordination of work. The Ministry also drafts the legislation concerning this field of activity.

The main role of the National Employment Agency is to register unemployed persons as jobseekers, to serve as a contact point for employees and to organise career guidance for young people less than 30 years of age and adults. It also advertises job vacancies, assists employers in hiring jobseekers and allocates unemployment benefits.

There are additional bodies involved in the process of defining top-level policies:

• The youth department within the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and the National Youth Service plays an active role in the process of policy-making in the field of youth employment since they participate in the interdepartmental committee (see: Cross-sectoral cooperation) and also in the implementation of the Youth Guarantee programme.
• Entrepreneurship falls into the competence of the Ministry of the Economy (ministère de l'Économie) and its affiliated General Directorate for SMEs and Entrepreneurship, which is a contact point for small and medium-sized businesses. It is active in the areas of authorising business establishment, aid to SMEs, commercial practices and the simplification of administrative procedures for businesses.
• Trade unions and the Chamber of Employees form the main non-public actors in the regulation and implementation of policies in the field of youth employment and entrepreneurship. Membership in trade unions is voluntary, but for the Chamber of Employees, it is mandatory for all employees or pensioners, excluding civil servants or public sector employees. Trade unions and political parties have youth departments/sections where young people can be involved and represent their interests (see 5.3 Youth representation bodies).
• In addition to its traditional role as a professional chamber, the Chamber of Employees informs employees and pensioners about economic and social developments (inflation, wage costs, etc.). Through its training body, the Luxembourg Lifelong Learning Centre, it also plays an important role in providing training for young professionals, adults, lifelong learning and socio-economic training for staff representatives in businesses.
• Regional or local authorities are not directly involved in the development of policies in the field of youth employment and entrepreneurship. However the Association of Luxembourg Cities and Municipalities (Syvicol; Syndicat des Villes et Communes Luxembourgeoises), which is composed of local representatives, promotes the interests of the cities and municipalities. It gives opinions concerning draft legislation which have an impact at local level.

Cross-sectoral cooperation

The governance approach to youth employment and entrepreneurship is characterised by the cross-sectoral cooperation between ministries, departments and state or non-state agencies. The interdepartmental committee, which is composed of representatives of different governmental departments, is an important body involved in policy-making in the field of employment and entrepreneurship (see: 1.4 Youth policy decision-making).