Youth Portal, May 2004

A European Youth Portal was launched on 26 May 2004 by Commissioners Viviane Reding and Dalia Grybauskaite. The new site at http://europa.eu.int/youth is designed to appeal more to its target market than the current range of Europa pages and the content is pitched at a different level. The site provides information of relevance to young people and a collection of appropriate links, together with the usual background information about the history and development of the EU. The left menu bar offers information on studying, working, volunteering, travelling and rights in the EU. The right side of the screen is the interactive area with a discussion forum, a link for comments or contributions, and an online opinion poll (currently on the Constitution). For questions, users are directed either to Eurodesk or Europe Direct. The study section includes information on qualifications and a link, amongst others, to the Ploteus portal for details of learning opportunities aimed at this group, while the travel section in its country information includes accommodation lists not of 5* hotels but of camping sites, student halls, hostels and rented rooms. It will be interesting to see if this new slant on the EU succeeds in reaching its target audience.