Encourage placement of layer around European craft (7)
I believe the answer is:
hearten
'encourage placement' is the definition.
'hearten' can be an answer for 'encourage' (heartening is a kind of encouraging). I am not certain of the 'placement' bit.
'layer around european craft' is the wordplay.
'layer' becomes 'hen' (something which lays - eggs in this case).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'european' becomes 'E' (abbreviation e.g. EU).
'craft' becomes 'art' (both can mean cunning or trickery).
'e'+'art'='eart'
'hen' going around 'eart' is 'HEARTEN'.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for hearten that I've seen before include "given cheer" , "giving cheer" , "Inspirit" , "Encourage or cheer in cardiac manner" , "Comfort" .)