BRUSSELS, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Europe must further invest in education and promote more entrepreneurial mindsets to tackle youth unemployment and boost economy at a time of crisis, an EU commissioner said here on Tuesday.
"The link between youth and economic growth should be straightforward: young people get on in life, and the economy grows with every step they take," said Androulla Vassiliou, European culture and education commissioner, in a youth-themed conference organized by Microsoft.
In spite of 2 million job vacancies across Europe, 20 percent of young people under the age of 25 remain unemployed across the EU, while today's young people are in fact the most educated in the whole of European history, according to the commissioner.
"The crisis has revealed weakness in Europe's education systems... We must fully understand the role of education in the knowledge economy," she said.
The EU aims at reaching a target of at least 40 percent of young people with a higher education degree, as well as lowering the drop-out rate to less than 10 percent by 2020.
"Universities and higher education institutes must be placed at the centre of innovation policies," the commissioner said, adding that Europe future economy must be based on research, innovation, technology and well-trained workforce.
Learning mobility is to be further promoted as the EU plans to offer mobility opportunities to five million people by 2020, she added.
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