Mariya Gabriel, the Commissioner for Education and Youth, believes that the crisis has highlighted the urgent need to promote online and distance learning as well as digital skills for young people. On Tuesday 19 May, following the informal online meeting of the ministers of culture in the morning, Gabriel attended the informal videoconference of the ministers for young people.
The meeting focused on the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic for young people in terms of mobility, programmes and work, access to services and employment, general well-being and participation in decision-making. Ville Majamaa, the Vice-President of the European Youth Forum, also took part in the meeting.
European actions
The same morning, Nicolas Schmit, the Commissioner for Employment, said at a European Policy Centre conference that young people will be among the main victims of the crisis. After a steady decline in recent years, analysts expect youth unemployment to increase again as a result of the crisis.
“Since early March, we’ve taken all necessary actions to help the beneficiaries of Erasmus and Solidarity Corps to face the situation. This includes extending the duration of projects, flexible approaches to project implementation and allowing the coverage of additional costs. An initiative to fight disinformation is the setting up of a section in the European Youth Portal”, Gabriel said at the press conference following the in-camera meeting.
She referred to the challenges ahead while also highlighting the Commission's intention to present a “reinforced youth guarantee” to address the consequences of the crisis for young people. She also mentioned the forthcoming Digital Literacy Action Plan, which “will offer a more ambitious vision of education in the digital age, including through the use of non-formal methods”. She also announced her intention to offer stakeholders in the youth sector a new dedicated tool, ‘The Digital Youth Community of Practices’, to provide young people with access to pedagogic materials, guidance and good practices.
Rural and remote areas
Vesna Bedeković, the Croatian minister for young people, mentioned the acts of solidarity that have emerged from this sector since the beginning of the crisis. “Despite the challenges that young people face today, many young people and organisations carry out various volunteer activities, thus showing solidarity and helping those in need”, she said.
The Presidency reiterated its intention to have Council of the EU conclusions on increasing opportunities for young people in rural and remote areas adopted by written procedure in the next few days. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)