Brussels, 16/09/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 September, the European Commission published its “Youth Report 2015”, which gives an overview of the situation for young people in Europe and assesses progress made towards the targets laid down in the framework of cooperation over the period 2013-2015, on the basis of an assessment of the situation of young people and strategic measures taken at EU and member state level.
The report states that in general, young people are better educated than earlier generations and that fewer of them drop out of school. They are active users of social media new technologies and half of them are involved in activities within organisations. Lastly, one in every four is or has been involved in a volunteering activity. However, the situation is still by no means ideal: 8.7 million young people aged between 15 and 29 are unemployed and 13.7 million are not in employment, education or training (“NEETs”). Furthermore, around 27 million are at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Few if any of these young people take an interest in citizenship.
The employment - and employability - of young people continued to be among the top priorities of the European Union between 2013-2015. However, the situation remains largely unchanged and in the current context, increased risks of exclusion, marginalisation and violent radicalisation call for the priorities to turn towards a better integration of young people in society, to make them into responsible, active and committed citizens. In order to do this, more systematic cooperation needs to be developed between the various policies which affect young people, by adopting a more global approach. Most specifically, the links between sports and education policies should be tightened up, as, given appropriate measures, these areas promote social inclusion and help to build young people's skills and employability. Young people should also be encouraged to take a very active role in political life. The programme Erasmus+ and other European political instruments should be used to help step up political efforts, the Commission goes on to stress. More money to pay for actions to promote social inclusion, citizenship and inter-cultural dialogue will be made available by Erasmus+ from 2016 onwards.
Reacting to the report, the European Youth Forum calls for a coherent strategy and warns that more must be done to get young people fully involved in their societies and in policy-making. The forum calls upon the Commission and the member states to act to fight the precarious situation in which young people find themselves, particularly by tackling youth unemployment and removing inequality leading to social exclusion. It is only by taking a holistic view of the problems affecting young people that the deeply-rooted causes of these problems can be tackled, Youth Forum warns. It also stresses the vital need to get young people more involved in creating the policies which concern them. Youth Forum is shortly to publish its own 'Youth Counter-Report'. (Isabelle Lamberty)