Young people claim Convention is not listening

Date: 10/04/03

CONVENTION chiefs have come under fire for "ignoring" young people.

Teenagers who staged their own mini-Convention at the European Parliament in Brussels last Thursday (3 April) said VIP guests seemed to show little interest in their views.

Among those invited were three leading figures on the main forum - Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner António Vitorino, French centre-right deputy Alain Lamassoure and German Socialist MEP Klaus Hänsch.

One of the organisers of the event, Children and the Future of Europe, was 18-year-old Londoner Steven Allen.

He said: "They seemed to view what we were doing as child's play and not something that should be taken terribly seriously.

"Even before the discussion had started, Lamassoure said he hadn't got long.

"This was not exactly what we expected, particularly when you consider that the Convention is supposed to be addressing the problem of Europe's disenchanted youth."

But Carolina Santrich, of Euronet, the European Children's Network, was less critical. "The event was a useful exercise," she said. "We just wanted the Convention to know that children have rights too."

• European Youth Forum President Giacomo Filibeck has described the Convention's draft constitution as falling "somewhat short of expectations".

Convention chiefs have come under fire for 'ignoring' young people.