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BMW to recruit unemployed Spanish youth in pilot programme

FRANKFURT, May 29 (Reuters) - BMW is recruiting a small number of unemployed young Spaniards to work in Germany in a pilot programme to "give something back" to its customer countries.

Twenty-five workers aged 18 to 25 will be trained for a year at the German carmaker's headquarters in Munich, BMW personnel chief Milagros Caina-Andree told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Wednesday.

"They should be immersed in German culture, possibly live with a BMW host family and work in development, sales, marketing or another area. After that, these young people can go back home or stay here," she said.

Caina-Andree, who joined BMW's management board last year, said the programme could be expanded to other countries such as Italy or Greece if it is successful.

"We want to give something back to these countries, in which we sell our cars, after all," she said.

Her comments come a day after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned that failure to beat youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent's welfare model in favour of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution.

Germany, along with France, Spain and Italy, have backed urgent action to help a generation of young Europeans who fear they will not find jobs, with youth unemployment in the EU standing at nearly one in four, more than twice the adult rate. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Cowell)