Brussels, 26/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 25 January 2011, the Youth Intergroup at the European Parliament held a meeting with EU Education, Culture, Youth and Multilingualism Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou to discuss “Youth on the Move”, a flagship European Commission initiative launched in September 2010 under the EUROPE 2020 strategy. The commissioner pointed out that the initiative aims to increase mobility options for all young people, improve their skills and qualifications and make it easier for them to get into the workplace. She therefore promised to support a recommendation on non-formal and informal education and promote a European Skills Passport. Hungary's education, youth and culture minister Miklós Soltesz said that the Hungarian Presidency is very interested in transmitting “strong conclusions in the framework of the work done with the Spanish and Belgian Presidencies within the Structured Dialogue”. Peter Matjasic, the president of the European Youth Forum, pointed out “the need for member states to act and commit enough financial resources and propose concrete plans for the implementation of these proposals. The ambitious objectives of Youth on the Move can only be reached by respecting the rights of young people and involving them in decision-making that directly concerns them.” “We have to be very happy about the ambition of the European Commission in making Europe more accessible to young people, with a great enlargement of youth mobility programmes for all. The Europe of mobility is the Europe of concrete actions!” said Damien Abad (EPP, France).
The Youth Intergroup is an informal, cross-party group of three dozen MEPs that discusses and encourages youth employment, youth mobility and active involvement. It was launched for the first time in the EP's history in 2009 and started operating in Strasbourg in February 2010. (I.L./transl.fl)