Abstract
Over the last two decades, the NEET phenomenon has become a pressing social issue, prompting intervention by the European Union. As early as 2013, the EU introduced the Youth Guarantee programme to promote youth employment and reduce both unemployment and inactivity across all member states. This paper provides an updated overview of the NEET phenomenon in Italy, explores its primary causes, and evaluates the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at facilitating young people’s integration into the labour market. Special attention is given to the crucial role that education systems and training policies can play in addressing this issue. Finally, the paper proposes future actions to reduce the significant gap between Italy and more successful European countries in combating NEETs