Brussels, 26/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - On 20 April 2011, the European Commission published a mid-term review of the 'Youth in Action' programme by independent experts, along with reports on the programme from participant countries. The experts were extremely positive about several outcomes, including relevance, coherence, value-added, addictiveness, efficiency and unparalleled customer satisfaction. The assessment was echoed by the national authorities, which also noted improvements on the previous programme, although the intervention set-up leaves room for improvement and Youth in Action is rather complex. In the three year period from 2007 to 2009, Youth in Action saw: 1) More than 380,000 participants; 2) of the 42,700 projects, 21,800 received funding and 52% of projects were accepted in 2007, compared with 43% in 2009; 3) some 20,000 project leaders were involved in Youth In Action each year. The experts made several recommendations for the future: 1) Improve the desgn of the programme by simplifying and rationalising it; 2) Greater focus on employability in youth-related areas; 3) Continue to combine aid for youth workers and organisations with direct subsidies for the young people themselves; 4) Greater promotion of Youthpass, to help people learn about non-formal education; 5) Greater promotion of action for disadvantaged youth, explain the costs involved; 6) Better targeting of young people using extra communication strategies; 7) Look at ways of cutting red tape; and 8) Improve the follow-up system. The Commission has announced that it will be introducing the recommendations, some through an action plan and others when deciding on activities to be provided for young people at EU level after the end of the current programme. (I.L./transl.fl)