Resolution on youth participation

1) OBJECTIVE

Promote the active participation of young people in life in society and in decision-making processes at local, regional and national level.

2) ACT

Resolution of the Council and Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council of 8 February 1999 on youth participation [Official Journal C 42, 17.02.1999].

3) SUMMARY

Decisions taken at Community and national levels have a long-term impact on the future prospects and opportunities for the young generation.

The European Parliament, in its resolution on measures to protect minors in the European Union of 12 December 1996, called upon the Member States to:

• promote the political participation of young people and, in particular, to support the establishment of representative youth parliaments at local, regional and national levels;
• encourage the participation of children in democratically governed organisations and associations.

At the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Youth in Cork in 1996, a debate took place which put the inclusion of youth in institutions of social, political, cultural and economic life and the promotion of personal development in the foreground.

The Lisbon Declaration on youth policy and programmes adopted at the World Conference of Ministers responsible for youth in August 1998 called for the active participation of youth to be encouraged in all spheres of society and in decision-making processes.

The Commission is invited:

• to focus on young people's interests as a guiding principle for action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched at the Community level on the living conditions of young people, and to show ways and means of taking the interests of young people into account,
• to promote the involvement of young people in the development, execution and evaluation of youth activities and programmes at the Community level by utilising the interest young people take in shaping the Europe of today and tomorrow,
• to promote the performance of studies to examine the possibilities and conditions of participation for young people in Europe, the exchange of experience, information and the documentation of activities in this field,
• to enter into dialogue with young people in the areas outlined above, and to take the opinion of young people into consideration in the development of Community programmes and activities in these areas,
• to enhance at Community level an exchange of experience on measures or projects aiming at promoting the participation of young people.

The Council and the Ministers of Youth advocate the full participation of Europe's youth in the political, economic, social and cultural potentials of the Member States.

The Council and the Member States agree to the importance of :

• supporting the creativity of young people to develop different forms of participatory dialogues in civic society,
• encouraging in the best possible way innovative participatory projects and structures,
• encouraging the participation of young people in democratic processes at local, regional and national level,
• promoting the integration of innovative participatory projects and learning opportunities in democratic decision-making structures,
• encouraging the active participation of young people in the development of the local community, in particular for young people with little experience of such involvement,
• encouraging within existing youth associations and youth organisations opportunities for cooperation and participation with open access to all young people,
• recognising the valuable contribution provided by youth associations and organisations to the development of channels for youth participation at local, regional and national level.

The Member States are invited to focus on the young people's interests as a guiding principle of action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched on the living conditions of young people.

Last updated: 23.09.2002