In Sardinia, 21.4 percent of young people between 15 and 29 do not study or work. There is an acronym that brings them all together: it is Neet and it indicates that generation without a future or hope who left school early and doesn't want to learn a trade.

Our island shares the dramatic record with the rest of the South. The data can be read in the "Europe 2030" report, with which Brussels first put the socio-economic indicators of the European regions with populations between 800 thousand and three million residents under the microscope; then he divided them into groups based on their health status. It turned out that Sardinia is included in the list of twenty-two "less developed" territories, i.e. those that have the most difficulty in growing. We're talking about Nuts 2.

The EU's objective is to invest more resources in the regions that are worse off, in order to reduce the existing gap and build a Europe as single-speed as possible. Evidently the goal is not easy, but school and professional training are two aspects on which Brussels has decided to commit itself. Even financially.

The numbers that come out on the NEETs are merciless for Southern Italy, especially if the data are compared with the rest of the EU territories also classified as Nuts 2, but which can boast decidedly better conditions in terms of education. In fact: if on our island over a fifth of young people between 15 and 29 are NEETs, the percentage even rises to 32.4 in Sicily, the worst European result. Campania and Calabria fare no better, where 29.7 and 28.2 are recorded respectively. in Puglia the NEETs are 26 percent. Better than Sardinia, Molise and Basilicata, with 20.9 and 20.6.

As for the rest of the "less developed" regions, the incidence of young people who do not study or work is marginal in the Province of Luxembourg, in Belgium, where the NEETs stop at 8.2 percent. Similar data in Alentejo, Portugal, which scores 8.3. In Közép-Dunántúl, Hungary, the third best figure was recorded with 8.8.

The extent of the Sardinian drama is also seen in the comparison with the average of the entire EU: in the 27 member countries of the Old Continent, the percentage of young people who have left school and are not looking for a job is 11.7 percent. On our island the figure is almost double. Also below the EU average are Vzhodna, in Slovenia (9.2%) and Małopolskie, in Poland (9.3%). Also in the same condition, with a NEET percentage of 10.5, are Mazowiecki, still in Poland, and Západné, in Slovakia.