According to the latest employment figures the EU is in the middle of a 'job crisis', with nearly a quarter of all 16-25 year olds unemployed.
At a press conference in Paris yesterday, European leaders spoke ahead of a series of meetings between French and German officials this week in preparation for a summit meeting at the end of June, where youth unemployment is expected to top the agenda.
At the conference, French president, Francois Hollande (pictured), dubbed young people the "post-crisis generation", who will "for ever after, be holding today's governments responsible for their plight".
"Remember the postwar generation, my generation. Europe showed us and gave us the support we needed, the hope we cherished. The hopes that we could get a job after finishing school, and succeed in life," Hollande said.
"Can we be responsible for depriving today's young generation of this kind of hope?
"We're talking about a complete breakdown of identifying with Europe."
He added: "Imagine all of the hatred, the anger. What's really at stake here is not just 'let's punish those in power'. No. Citizens are turning their backs on Europe and the construction of the European project."
Enrico Giovannini, Italy's labour minister, said: "We have to rescue an entire generation of young people who are scared.
"We have the best-educated generation and we are putting them on hold - this is not acceptable."
Ministers from France, Germany and Spain have published an editorial calling for a "new deal for Europe".
"Europe can't afford to sacrifice an entire generation," they wrote.
The high rate of unemployment among young people poses a "social, economic and political threat" that risks undermining the solidarity that has defined post-war Europe, the ministers said.
If more is not done to find jobs for youth, "an entire generation risks turning its back on Europe and succumbing to the siren songs of populism and extremism," the ministers wrote.
The politicians proposed a Europe-wide strategy to tackle unemployment that would focus on getting young people into the job market quickly, making them more mobile in job markets across Europe and supporting small and medium-sized businesses that create jobs for the younger generation.
Ministers also called for greater worker mobility and targeted apprenticeships.
They also proposed a jobs guarantee for youth that would see the European Council commit to ensuring that anyone under the age of 25 would be offered a good quality job, additional educational training, an apprenticeship or an internship within four months of finishing school or losing their job.
