Devising a "European Investment Plan" to create new jobs, reallocating EU structural funds to projects to create them for young people, and introducing a "European Youth Guarantee" to ensure that they are not without jobs for more than four months, are among the proposals set out by MEPs in a resolution, adopted Thursday, on measures to tackle youth unemployment.

Volunteering is a way to remain active, in contact with the world of work, and can even help to find a job. A "European Skills Passport" could certify official recognition of skills, acquired or demonstrated through volunteering, both for professional and learning purposes. A report voted by the Culture and Education Committee on Thursday calls on EU Member States to create an appropriate legal framework and national strategies to this end.

Devising a "European Investment Plan" to create new jobs, reallocating EU structural funds to projects to create them for young people, and introducing a "European Youth Guarantee" to ensure that young unemployed people are not without jobs for more than four months, are among the proposals set out by MEPs in a resolution, voted in the Employment and Social Affairs Committee on Tuesday, on measures to tackle youth unemployment.

Air hostesses, stewards and pilots would be subject to the social security rules of the country in which they usually start and end their work, under new EU rules on the coordination of social security systems, adopted on Wednesday. The regulation also clarifies access to unemployment benefits for cross-border self-employed workers.

Top representatives of the Greek "Troika" stoutly defended the focus of the Greek bailout programme on Tuesday and insisted that Greece must raise its game on economic reforms, political unity and tackling vested interests, or risk failure. MEPs advocated a socially fairer and more growth-oriented programme and asked about contingency plans.

Jobs and growth remained the focus of debate at the Tuesday session of the second inter-parliamentary meeting of MEPs and MPs on the European semester for economic policy coordination. The need to involve national parliaments more closely in these EU-level debates was also widely stressed.

Deeper economic policy coordination will require Member States to act on structural reform recommendations and also improve transparency, says Parliament's reaction to the Commission's annual growth survey and employment guidelines. The resolutions adopted on Wednesday also call for more effort on growth, employment and poverty.

An EU strategy to combat homelessness and food waste, prolonging the EU food for the needy programme and improving access to services of general interest were proposed by MEPs in a debate on Monday as ways to prevent social exclusion.

The effects of new technologies on health must be assessed and nanomaterials must be covered by current EU health and safety rules, says a resolution, passed on Thursday, on a mid-term review of the EU's 2007-2012 health and safety at work strategy.

EU social cohesion and demographic development issues, in the context of the economic and financial crisis and the debate on EU regional policy after 2013, will be debated by MEPs and national MEPs in the European Parliament's Brussels plenary chamber on 5 and 6 December.