Two alternative paradigms can be identified in the concepts and programs of training and employment policy in Europe. One approach focuses on developing a secure status for young people beginning their working life. An alternative approach concentrates more on strengthening individual responsibility to empower individuals to find their own way in an ever-changing society. Youth unemployment is lower in countries with alternating or dual apprenticeship systems of training, the dominant vocational training system in Germany. A training place in the dual system enhances chances for transition into a job, but, recently, only half of leavers enter directly into a job in the enterprise where training occurred. With a change in the federal government in 1998, a tripartite "Alliance for Jobs, Training, and Competitiveness" has been established. The federal Chancellor, government representatives, and presidents of trade unions and employer organizations meet two or three times a year to express joint opinions and prepare decisions. Parallel to the Alliance's partnership process, the federal government has established a program to combat youth unemployment called JUMP (Jugend mit Perspektive, or Perspective for Young People). Its nine strands can be grouped into these five lines of action: apprenticeship, preparation, continued training, working and learning, and integration into jobs. Levels of partnership in the framework of combating youth unemployment are mobilization of training places, pre-training opportunities, and jobs for young people. (YLB)