MEPs in the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) held a first discussion, on Monday 25 October, on the Commission’s proposals for theEuropean Year of Youth 2022 (see EUROPE 12791/9).
In mid-October, the Commission presented a draft decision on the subject (see EUROPE 12812/1), which must be approved by the co-legislators by the end of December.
This particularly short deadline “irritates” the Parliament and has forced the CULT Committee to adopt its position by means of a simplified legislative procedure (Art. 52.2 of the Rules of Procedure).
Committee Chair Sabine Verheyen (EPP, Germany) announced on Monday that she would therefore draft a series of amendments herself, with the help of the coordinators. These amendments are expected to be communicated to the whole of the CULT committee by Wednesday.
Ms Verheyen promised, in particular, that she would try to get a bigger budget and insisted that this initiative should be a “turning point for European youth, both in terms of participation and in taking into account the interests of young people in all policy areas”. Two demands also made by the coordinators of the different groups.
Budget. In terms of funding, the European Commission plans to allocate around €11 million to the project, including some €8 million from the Erasmus+ (see EUROPE 12622/27) and European Solidarity Corps (see EUROPE 12622/28) budgets.
However, MEPs had openly opposed the loss of several million euros from these programmes to an initiative announced late in the day (see EUROPE 12809/18). They reiterated these criticisms on Monday, also advocating for the Commission to mobilise even more.
“Other programmes will contribute. We’re currently talking at all levels to be sure that we can have this horizontal Commission effort”, reacted Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot from the Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.
Ms Eriksson Waterschoot stressed that the figures given were only indicative and that they should be revised upwards.
Participation. Furthermore, the coordinators stressed the importance of including young people in the initiative - especially young people of all ages (including children and adolescents) and from third or neighbouring countries.
There were also calls for guarantees that young people from less privileged backgrounds and living in remote or rural areas would be included.
Socialist coordinator Petra Kammerevert (Germany) also requested binding provisions on youth participation. “There must be a greater obligation to take up their proposals”, she insisted, calling for young people to be involved in the whole process.
Last Friday, the Commission launched an online survey on this subject (see EUROPE 12818/27). In response to concerns from the Renew Europe group, Sophia Eriksson Waterschoot said that the survey would be available in all EU languages starting Tuesday 26 October. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)