EU YOUTH STRATEGY 2019-2027: YOUNG EUROPEANS IN ACTION
The EU Youth Strategy is the program for cooperation in the youth field from 2019 to 2017. The aim of the strategy is to improve the lives of young people in Europe, creating both more and equal opportunities in education and employment, as well as encouraging young Europeans to be engaged and active citizens, and fostering social inclusion and solidarity. The Eu plan aims to involve and influence the next generation of Europeans in decision-making.
The Plan was developed during the 6th cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue, held from 2017 to 2018 entitled Youth in Europe: What’s Next? under the Estonian, Bulgarian, and Austrian presidencies. Youth dialogues are an important medium for European society, as young Europeans can discuss and present their ideas and create a dialogue with each other, politicians, and members of civil society. The aim is to increasingly involve young people in political decision-making processes and civic engagement with a focus on young people with fewer opportunities.
In order to convey a unified and well-coordinated message to the UE, representatives of the younger Europeans and European Institutions worked together in synergy throughout the conferences held between 2017 and 2018. After the consultation and dialogue, the Council of Europe ratified an important political document that includes all the viewpoints of young people. In the official document, it is emphasized that young people have the right to live independently, take part in civic society, contribute to positive change in society and participate in Europe and political activity.
During the 6th dialogue of the EU Youth Dialogue have been implemented the goals related to the Eu Youth Strategy: 11 European Youth Goals 2019-2027. The goals identify different cross-sectoral areas that have an impact on young’s people’s lives and highlight their challenges. Some examples of cross-sectoral field are employment and entrepreneurship, education and training, participation, social integration, health and well-being, voluntary work, youth, and the world, and lastly creativity and also culture.
The eleven goals of European youth are as follows:
- Connecting EU with Youth: to promote young people’s ownership of the European project and to build a connection between the EU and young people to improve their political involvement and confidence in the Europeans Institutions.
- Equality of All Genders: to ensure equality of all genders in all areas of a young European’s life.
- Inclusive Societies: to permit and guarantee the inclusion of all young people in civil society.
- Information and Constructive Dialogue: to make it easier for young people access to information, foster their ability to evaluate information and engage in constructive discourse.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing: to improve better well-being and eliminate the stigma associated with mental health problems, as well as to promote the social inclusion of all young people.
- Moving Rural Youth Forward: to create conditions for young people to use their skills and their potential in urban and rural areas.
- Quality Employment for All: to guarantee an accessible, available, and satisfactory work market and guarantee quality opportunities for all young Europeans.
- Quality Learning: to improve and integrate new learning methods, preparing young people for the continuous revolutions of the 21st century.
- Space and Participation for All: to enhance democratic participation and youth autonomy and provide dedicated spaces for young people in all areas of society.
- Sustainable Green Europe: to realize a society in which all young Europeans are environmentally active and able to change their habits for a more sustainable Europe.
- Youth Organisations and European Programmes: to ensure equal access for all young Europeans to youth organisations and European youth programs.
The EU Youth Dialogue is focused on three core areas: ENGAGE, CONNECT AND EMPOWER. Furthermore, the EU Youth Strategy encourages cooperation among member states of Europe on all issues related to young people and their life in civic society.
– ENGAGE: refers to young people’s civic, economic, social, cultural, and political engagement. In this context, member states and the European Commission are urged to encourage and promote democratic participation of all young people in society, to actively involve young people and youth organisations in youth policies, to support the local, regional, and national political representation of young people, to foster the development of citizenship skills, and to promote the use of innovative and alternative forms of democratic youth participation.
– CONNECT: refers to the connection of young Europeans as a primary resource for the solidarity and the progress of the civil society in the European Union, seen as a means of sharing relations and experiences. In this setting, member states and the European Commission are called upon to provide equal access to mobility opportunities for all youngers, particularly those with fewer opportunities, to encourage young people’s engagement in solidarity and to actively involve young people and youth organisations in the design and implementation of European funding programmes. In addition, also to share best practices and to recognize skills and competencies acquired through new methods of learning.
– EMPOWER: refers to encouraging young Europeans to take responsibility of their own lives, supporting them in the different difficulties of life. Within this framework member states and the European Commission are invited to improve and implement a European agenda for quality youth work, to promote the development of quality youth work at all levels, to admit youth organizations as providers of expertise, to create and develop contact points for young people in order to access more youth services.
The European Strategy 2019-2027 and its objectives form the basis of the YAOC (Youth On A Caravan- A Journey through political participation) project, which aims to involve more young Europeans from different backgrounds in the implementation of the project. The project pursues three of the eleven European Youth Goals:
- Connecting Eu with Youth
- Inclusive Societies
- Space and Participation for All
The aim of the project is in fact to involve all young European generations as an active part of civil society and to connect them more and more to the European institutions by involving them in political decisions.
References:
https://youth.europa.eu/strategy_en
https://youth.europa.eu/news/have-your-say-interim-evaluation-of-eu-youth-strategy_es
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:C:2018:456:FULL