The plight of numerous young people in Europe is a serious cause for concern, with some 5 million of them – one in four of those eligible to work – currently looking for a job. In some countries, that figure skyrockets to one in two. We are looking at the tragic prospect of a lost, doomed generation.

Initiatives have been launched at the European level. However, the overall result has remained disappointing to this day. Most of them support what continue to be national initiatives – this is notably the case for the “Youth Guarantee” and the €6.4bn (£4.6bn) allotted for the fight against youth unemployment. Some are designed to encourage mobility, such as “Your First EURES Job”. This is a move in the right direction, but it is too weak, and it certainly is not the kind of approach – either in its modesty or in its mechanisms – that is going to have any significant impact on youth unemployment levels.

However, mobility lies at the heart of the European Union’s calling. Thanks to the Erasmus programme, launched in 1987, more than 3 million students have been able to pursue a part of their studies in a university in a different member state. What Europe has proven capable of doing for its future graduates, it can and must do again today for its less qualified young people – inevitably the ones worst hit by unemployment. Mobility can be a lever for action to provide qualifications and access to jobs for young people.

That’s why I, with a working group at the Jacques Delors Institute, propose that Europe’s leaders urgently put together a new professional mobility programme – Erasmus Pro – to allow one million young Europeans to gain a professional qualification in a different European country by 2020. Participating young people will be taken in by a training centre and a business in the host country for a period stretching from two to three years. This initiative would coincide with national reforms, which are crucial for developing quality professional education within each country – particularly in France and southern Europe.

Given the urgency of the challenge facing us, this scheme must be implemented rapidly, simply and directly. Young people must be encouraged to join the million young apprentices, and it is crucial for businesses to feel involved as well. The Erasmus Pro programme must offer those young people interested in pursuing training in a different country access to all offers available throughout the EU, as well as cover the costs of mobility and language learning. Support in the host country must be provided via organisations such as businesses or training centres, which can act as “project leader entities”.

In order to encourage businesses to commit to this cross-border qualification scheme, the Erasmus Pro programme must also contribute to the wages paid to European apprentices.

The implementation of this scheme would cost the EU approximately €800 a month per participant (varying in accordance with the cost of living and the wage level for apprentices in various regions), including both the assistance offered to young people and the financial incentive for businesses. Thus, in order to allow 200,000 young people annually to earn new qualifications in a different member state, the EU would have to mobilise an annual budget of some €5bn (with an average cost of €20,000 to €30,000 per young person per year).

The EU can easily achieve this figure. The cost of participating must be offset against the cost of failing to participate: a recent study has revealed that the annual cost of young people in the EU who are not in education, employment, or training topped the €150bn mark in 2011. Furthermore, there is also the medium- to long-term cost of unemployment both to the economy and to society.

Erasmus Pro brings benefits that dovetail with one another: youth unemployment declines, Europe’s human capital is enhanced, and European integration moves forward. The Erasmus Pro programme must nevertheless make way for provisions that encourage participants to maintain ties with their countries of origin in order to increase their likelihood of returning at the end of their studies abroad. Each country will thus benefit from the return home of its Erasmus Pro youths who bring back with them new professional qualifications, fluency in a foreign language and a European cultural outlook.

To guarantee this circular mobility among youths, the EU should also work to advance two European projects: (i) the portability of social rights, including health insurance, unemployment benefits and supplementary pension benefits; and (ii) the mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications, whether de jure or de facto. An Erasmus Pro participant must be certain that his or her qualification will be recognised throughout the EU.

The seriousness of the situation demands rapid action and a consensus at the highest levels of the European institutions. The EU has already proven itself capable of rapid action to establish new toolsets in the face of exceptional circumstances. We are in just such a situation today. The lost generation cannot wait forever.