Negotiators from the Council of the EU and the European Parliament are expected to meet in a few weeks time, on 6 December, to try to agree on the modalities of the 2022 European Year of Youth (see EUROPE 12791/9).
The two institutions, which hope to reach an agreement before 1 January, have already worked separately on the proposal for a decision presented by the European Commission on this subject (see EUROPE 12812/1).
In the European Parliament, amendments were drafted urgently by German MEP Sabine Verheyen (EPP - see EUROPE 12819/18): they raised no objections, and the decision to start interinstitutional negotiations on the basis of these amendments was voted unanimously by the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) on Monday 15 November.
On the EU Council side, a negotiating mandate was also drawn up, and the EU27 ambassadors were asked to authorise the negotiations to continue.
Project financing
The co-legislators are expected to make only moderate changes to the European Commission’s proposal. The main new items are expected to concern the budget for this European Year.
MEPs will propose that the funding target for the initiative be set at €10 million - as opposed to the €8 million proposed by the European Commission - and will call for a dedicated budget line to be included in the EU’s multiannual financial framework for 2020-2027.
“We want to be told very clearly that there will be a separate budget line. It is not acceptable that the burden falls solely on Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps”, Petra Kammerevert (S&D, Germany) insisted on Monday.
The European Commission plans to use the funds allocated to these two European programmes to finance the initiative.
The Parliament is also demanding an additional €2 million envelope for the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023 to support the activities that will take place during this period and “to create a long-lasting legacy for the European Year”.
In the EU Council, the budget provisions are expected to be reviewed shortly. According to a note from the Slovenian Presidency dated 4 November, a copy of which was obtained by EUROPE, all national delegations have asked the European Commission for detailed information on the financial contributions that the institution intends to make from the envelopes of programmes other than Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps. Further discussions will therefore take place in light of this information.
Legacy of the initiative and youth participation
For the rest, the co-legislators are expected to call for a more comprehensive follow-up: both institutions would like the report presented by the European Commission at the end of 2023 on the implementation and results of the initiative to also include ideas for creating a lasting legacy for the European Year.
The Parliament suggests that the report should identify “further common endeavours” to be implemented in the youth area.
Both the EU Council and the Parliament will also argue that the text should support the “active” participation of young people in the project.
In particular, the EU Council will call for young people to be invited to “co-create and implement the activities of the European Year together with the national coordinators” appointed for the occasion.
In its negotiating mandate, the Parliament suggests that activities related to the European Year be organised “within schools and classrooms” in order to “promote the direct participation of students” in the initiative.
Another amendment envisaged by MEPs states that “the European Year of Youth should trigger a reflection process on the future of youth and their active participation in building the European project. In that sense, youth policies should become a horizontal priority mainstreamed through all Union policies”.
To see the negotiating position adopted by MEPs: https://bit.ly/3noM0Sn (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)