Youth policy: New objectives to make young people more involved and better informed, April 2003

In an attempt to encourage young people across the EU to play a more active role in democratic life, the European Commission adopted a number of objectives on 14 April 2003 that it intends to place before the Member States who are then responsible for translating them into practical action.

The objectives focus on participation and information; two themes from the European Commission's 2001 White Paper on Youth Policy. The details of the operational objectives were established after consultations with the Member States and youth organisations on the existing legal framework and what had already been achieved.

Three specific targets relating to increasing participation have been identified, along with initiatives aimed at achieving these. They are:

• Encourage young people to play a more active part in Community life through initiatives allowing young people to become involved in solving problems at local level and by giving greater recognition and support to the work on the ground by parents, social workers and other relay persons
• Increase young people's acceptance of the mechanisms of representative democracy by establishing regular and structured dialogue between political bodies and young people, for example national and regional youth councils, by encouraging young people to cast their votes and by making political parties more open to young people
• Recognise and boost the value of young people's involvement in democratic and civil life by increasing the importance placed on the principle of citizenship in school curricula, by taking more account of young people's political commitments in their training and future occupations and by making people more aware of the benefits of strong youth participation and by combating prejudice against the young.

The European Commission proposals on information are seen as a precondition for establishing greater participation amongst young people. The aim is to improve young people's access to information services by:

• Promoting 'one-stop-shop' general information services with links to various tiers of government (municipalities, regions, states) and to European legal services
• Providing local information services that are free and accessible

In an attempt to improve the quality of information available the European Commission is proposing a new code of quality standards for information and advice services for young people as well as new initiatives to get young people more involved in the production and distribution of such information.

The European Commission's objectives will be put into practice by the 'open method of co-ordination' through the exchange of best practice and regular progress monitoring. An assessment of the achievements of the Commission's proposals will be made in 2005. The proposed objectives have been welcomed by the European Youth Forum (EYF), which participated in the European Commission's consultations in February 2003. However the EYF emphasised the need for a 'coherent youth information strategy' and called on the European Commission to give more attention to capacity building and equipping young people with the necessary skills to deal with information.

Information and participation are just two of four themes selected by the European Commission as part of a framework on European co-operation in the youth field up until 2004, which was adopted by the Council of the European Union on 27 June 2002. The other two themes concern the promotion of voluntary activities among young people and increased understanding and knowledge of youth. The European Commission agreed to prioritise the first two themes and began sending targeted questionnaires to the Member States from July 2002 as well as consulting with young people, youth associations and, where applicable, national youth councils or similar organisations. Work on the themes of 'voluntary work' and 'knowledge of youth' is due to get underway in 2003. The Council of youth ministers will meet on 5-6 May 2003 to discuss the European Commission's proposals and this will be followed by a broader discussion of youth policy involving a wide range of stakeholders at the Youth gathering in Crete in June 2003.

Links:
European Commission:
	14.04.03:	Press Release: The Commission proposes common objectives to make young people more involved and better informed [IP/03/537]
	DG Education and Culture: Youth
	Youth Programme: Priorities
	White Paper: A New Impetus for European Youth [COM (2001) 681 final]
	Europe and Youth: A New Impetus
	SCADPlus:Framework of European cooperation in the youth field
European Youth Forum:
	Homepage
	e-Youth Opinion: March 2003
European Sources Online: In Focus
	Europe's youth meet to discuss their ideas on the future of Europe, July 2002

Helen Bower

Compiled: Tuesday, 15 April 2003

The European Commission adopted a number of objectives on 14 April 2003 that aim to increase the participation of young peoplein the EU's democratic life and improve their access to information.