This research studies why and how Member States reached an agreement over the European Youth Guarantee (EYG) and its funding vehicle – the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). The study uses a process-tracing methodology centred on semi-structured interviews with the main actors who took part in the policy process at the EU level. This process provides many empirical insights into the contemporary Europeanisation of social and labour market policies. Furthermore, it establishes an empirical basis for a novel theory of post-liberal intergovernmentalism to explain solidaristic European integration. The research shows that Member States drive solidaristic EU integration when they converge around a normative imperative (tackling youth unemployment), and that skilful EU actors use well-established cognitive frameworks (social investment paradigm) to propose concrete and acceptable programmes. The research then turns to the study of the effectiveness of the EYG and the YEI in recalibrating national labour market policies in line with the social investment paradigm. The methodology consists of process tracing through semi-structured interviews with the relevant stakeholders in two study cases: Italy and Spain. This study found that the YEI resources provided critical support for cash-strapped Member States during a time of fiscal austerity. However, a lack of resources to upgrade administrative capacity and labour intermediation networks limited the potential of these resources. Outreach measures were generally insufficient, and the quality of the ALMPs differed substantially between Northern and Southern regions. Despite their limitations, the EYG innovations proved key for Member States to recalibrate their policies. Thus, the EYG generated faster progress, became widely accepted, and opened the door for further solidaristic breakthroughs during the COVID-19 crisis.

Examining Board: Prof. Anton Hemerijck (European University Institute, Supervisor); Prof. Ellen Immergut (European University Institute); Prof. Stefano Sacchi (Polytechnic University of Turin); Prof. Timo Weishaupt (University of Göttingen)

Defence date: 22 April 2026