Youth participation and information with regard to EU policies

SUMMARY OF:

Communication (COM(2006) 417 final) on European policies concerning youth participation and information

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE COMMUNICATION?

It seeks to assess the follow-up given by the European Union (EU) countries to the common objectives on participation by and information for young people. These objectives were adopted after the publication of the 2001 White Paper, ‘A new impetus for European youth’, to promote young people’s active citizenship.

KEY POINTS

The White Paper led to the adoption of a first framework of European cooperation in the youth field (2002) within which, under the open method of coordination, the EU countries agreed to focus on 4 specific priorities:

1.
information;
2.
participation;
3.
voluntary activities;
4.
better knowledge of youth-related issues.

The communication analyses the reports submitted by the EU countries in achieving the objectives set out in 2 out of these 4 priorities: youth information and participation.

Information

The communication mainly concluded that information tools directed at young people were available in all EU countries but had to be further developed and personalised. In that context, the European Commission developed a specific youth portal which, since 2003, has supported youth actions in Europe.

It also described how the EU has taken actions to reinforce the quality of the information delivered to young people. The European networks of Eurodesk, Eryica and EYCA play an important role in delivering quality information to young people, in improving the skills and qualifications of youth information workers through networking and in developing training courses for their members.

Participation

The communication demonstrated that EU countries’ action to support young people’s participation in democratic life was much better coordinated than before, with actions to:

reinforce the legislation in the field of youth participation so as to increase young people’s participation in elections;
support participative and representative local structures in EU countries;
support projects that allow young people to be actors in their own projects.

In this particular field, a 2010-2018 EU Youth Strategy, including an EU Work Plan for Youth for 2016-2018, has been created. This includes specific actions to encourage young people to actively participate in society by:

developing dialogue mechanisms involving young people and facilitating their participation in shaping national policies;
supporting youth organisations;
promoting participation by under-represented groups of young people in politics and civil society organisations.

The Commission has also introduced good practice exchanges to encourage young people to participate in education, employment and society actions.

Among other actions, a new plan to tackle radicalisation through education and youth action has also been set up to ensure that children and young people acquire social, civic and cultural competences and enhance their critical thinking when using the internet.

BACKGROUND

For more information, see:

‘European youth portal’ on the European Commission's website.

MAIN DOCUMENT

Communication from the Commission to the Council on European policies concerning youth participation and information — Follow-up to the White Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth: Implementing the common objectives for participation by and information for young people in view of promoting their active European citizenship (COM(2006) 417 final, 20.7.2006)