Education, Youth and Culture

New framework for youth policy cooperation in the EU

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Over 60 million people, or some 13 per cent, of EU citizens are young people between the ages of 15 and 24. The proportion of young people is expected to decline in the coming decades. Taking into account general demographic trends at present, this means that in the future young people will make up a relatively small proportion of the population but will need to support an increased proportion of older people. Young people’s participation in education, the labour market and society is therefore not only the key to their development as individuals, but is also important for sustainable development and growth in Europe. Effective youth cooperation is even more important in the current economic crisis, which threatens to have a particularly severe impact on young people.

 
The most important issue in the area of youth during the Swedish Presidency is to reach agreement on a framework of new common objectives and priorities for youth policy cooperation in the EU from 2010. This decision will be based on the Member States’ evaluations of current cooperation, the Commission’s proposal and consultation with young people. The aim is to promote good living conditions and increased participation among young women and men in Europe by means of better cooperation.
 

Background
 

During 2008 all EU Member States evaluated EU cooperation in the youth policy area as it has been since 2001. The evaluations, together with consultations with young people, youth organisations and people working on youth issues in one way or another, form the basis of a communication from the Commission, “An EU Strategy for Youth – Investing and Empowering”, which was presented on 27 April 2009. The communication looks back at past work in the area as well as looking ahead with proposals for continued cooperation. It will serve as the most important background document ahead of a decision during the Swedish Presidency on a new framework for youth policy cooperation from 2010 onwards.
 
On 11 May 2009 the ministers adopted Council conclusions that show that the Member States agree that there are ways to enhance the efficiency of cooperation with a view to improving the impact on young people’s living conditions. Ahead of the decision on future cooperation, the Member States and the Commission are therefore urged to discuss and consider a long-term strategy that offers flexibility while containing clear objectives and a limited number of priorities and providing for better follow-up.
 
The Member States also consider it important to adopt a more strongly knowledge-based approach that makes better use of the experience of local and regional actors in the development of youth policy. Other issues given emphasis are how the youth perspective can continue to be an integral part of a reformed Lisbon strategy and how the work of integrating a youth perspective in other policy areas can be improved across the board.
 

Timetable: 

  • April–November 2008: Evaluations in all Member States of all youth policy cooperation since 2001.
  •  27 April 2009: Communication from the European Commission based on the evaluations, with proposals for the future. 
  • 10–11 May 2009: Council meeting and adoption of conclusions and discussion of the evaluation.
  • 3–5 June 2009: Youth conference in the Czech Republic.
  • 12–14 September 2009: Youth conference in Sweden ahead of decision on future cooperation.
  •  26–27 November 2009: Adoption of new framework at Council meeting.

 

A Council for cultural exchange and diversity

In this configuration, the EU’s ministers for education, youth or culture meet, depending on what issues are to be addressed. Examples of issues are increased cooperation between European universities, EU support for films and action to improve the living conditions of young women and men. The Council meets three or four times a year. During the Swedish Presidency, an additional informal meeting on education will take place on 23-24 September in Göteborg. The Swedish Minister for Education, Jan Björklund, will chair the meeting.

Denna webbplats fungerar numera som arkiv och uppdateras inte. Här fanns tidigare ett foto som är borttaget på grund av upphovsrättsliga skäl.

This website is now functioning as an archive and will not be updated. Previously there was a photo here which has been removed for copyright reasons.

Faisant dorénavant office d’archives, ce site n’est plus remis à jour. Ici se trouvait précédemment placée une photo ayant été retirée pour des raisons de droits d'auteur.

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