The governance of youth labour market policies in Italy and Austria: opportunities and challenges across national and local levels

In response to persistent crises, the European Union polity has strengthened its social policymaking, intensifying active labour market policies. In this regard, this chapter delves into the implementation of the Youth Guarantee in Italy and Austria, considering Milan and Vienna as case studies, to highlight how the transition of European policies to the national and local levels involves diverse institutional settings. The aim is to outline governance structures and their functioning in terms of processes and outcomes in order to point out the factors that hinder or promote their implementation in different territorial contexts. The research reveals governance arrangements in shaping youth employment policies, influenced by local labour market dynamics, the territorial coordination network of stakeholders and the welfare regimes in which they are embedded. Furthermore, the analysis sheds light on multilevel governance configurations, underlining the importance of understanding local implementation mechanisms in order to grasp the real effectiveness and potential distortions in the achievement of youth policy goals, thereby offering valuable insights into addressing territorial disparities in youth employment.