By Jonathan Eyal

LONDON, ENGLAND: Three years ago, French leaders were stunned as youngsters wrecked the suburbs of Paris. More recently, it was the turn of Athens - the Greek capital - to be torched by rampaging students.

Many factors behind the Greek riots remain peculiar to that country. Communes of self-proclaimed anarchists were allowed to fester in Athens for years and Greek policemen only made matters worse by using too much force at the start of the riots.

Nevertheless, with Europe now plunging headlong into a deep economic recession, the 'Greek Syndrome' is now being carefully monitored across the European Union.

For, in one key indicator, Greece represents the European norm: More than a quarter of its educated youth are unemployed.

The figures are roughly similar in France, Germany, Italy and Spain; the sense of alienation and despair is shared by university graduates throughout the continent.

Ironically, the problem can be traced back to Europe's huge investment in education over the past few decades.

A university system which was originally fairly elitist was expanded to accommodate the majority of those who wished to study. As late as the 1980s, only 10 per cent of Britain's youth went to university; today, 40 per cent do so, and the figures are even higher elsewhere in Europe.

The result is that for many graduates, the university mortar board has become a passport to nowhere.

Furthermore, efforts by European governments to encourage equality and 'creativity' have resulted in an inflation of degrees and diplomas from sub-standard educational establishments; youngsters seek to enter the labour market with high expectations, only to discover that some 'innovative' degrees - such as those in home economics or 'the history of cinema' - count for little with employers.

But what makes Europe's situation much worse is the enduring power and influence of the trade unions, more concerned with maximising the benefits of existing workers than with promoting the hiring of new ones.

It is not by accident that the European countries in which the trade unions are most powerful - Germany, Greece and France - are also those suffering from the highest levels of student unemployment.

The result is the creation of a new class of young people, educated but unable to secure anything but menial jobs, well-informed and articulate, yet also perpetually marginalised.

In Greece, this group of students is called the '700 Euros Generation', after the meagre salaries which they earn. Their counterparts in Spain are known as the 'Mileuristas', after the Spanish word for 1,000 euros, which is their average pay (roughly half the European average monthly salary).

And in France, the unemployed students are called the 'Precarious Generation'.

But probably the saddest development is taking place in Germany, where fresh university graduates usually end up as members of the so-called 'Intern Generation'.

Unable to secure jobs, they offer their work for free as interns, hoping to impress potential employers with their dedication.

Sometimes this strategy works, but only after students spend years filing papers and taking orders from people who may have only half of their education. It is a demeaning situation which leaves an entire young generation frustrated.

And matters are only likely to get worse.

In Spain - one of the first European countries to be hit earlier by the economic crash - youth unemployment has shot up from 18.4 per cent last year to 28.1 per cent now. The most educated are also the most vulnerable.

A report released by Britain's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development last month says that as many as 600,000 people might lose their jobs this year, which would make it the worst year for unemployment in two decades there.

For a fresh graduate like 23-year-old Lynsey Mackay, it has come to contemplating a future on the dole instead of a career in fashion marketing.

'I didn't think it would be easy - you're never going to get your ideal job right away - but it seems like the entry- level roles are the ones that are going first,' she said, after spending five fruitless months trying to find a job.

Since last September, she has done two unpaid internships to gain experience, and applied for jobs as well as sent out her CV about 30 times. But nothing has come up.

'No one even gets back to you,' she says.

Ms Mackay, who lives in York, is still job-hunting but she has also applied for unemployment benefits. If successful, she will get &pound47.95 (S$108) a week.

The dole and family support go some way towards mitigating the danger of angry young people rushing to the barricades.

And unlike the widespread unrest of the 1960s, which toppled governments, the Athens riots have no leaders, or a clear political agenda.

Mr Iason Athanasiadis, a 29-year-old member of Greece's '700 Euros Generation', dismisses his country's rioters as misfits. He says: 'The sound of broken glass and exploding petrol bombs was not overlaid with reasoned oratory.'

Nevertheless, European leaders are taking no chances. They know that student copycat activism can spread fast, especially in the age of the Internet and text-messaging.

And they also know that the current economic crisis goes beyond pure economics: It has highlighted the limitations of today's market economy, and has discredited the political system which many European students already distrust.

Largely because of fears that the Greek violence may prove infectious, French Education Minister Xavier Darcos announced recently that he is abandoning a planned reform designed to improve the country's education system.

But, as every European politician acknowledges, if the problem of student unemployment is to be tackled, the continent's education and job-hiring strategies require a root-and-branch reform.

The labour market needs to be made much more flexible, and students must be persuaded to take greater account of future job opportunities when selecting university courses.

Sadly, however, such a mindset change will take time, and can hardly be implemented during the current financial mayhem.

So, when the next cohort of European students finishes its university education in six months' time, many of them will probably be going straight from the graduation ceremony to the unemployment benefit office.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on January 10, 2008.