At the European Parliament plenary session on Tuesday 18 April, MEPs questioned Commissioner for Youth Mariya Gabriel on the legacy of the European Year of Youth. The year comes to an end in May, and feedback is mixed.
“We have had events, forums, but no concrete progress, no new legislative proposals”, summarised Laurence Farreng (Renew Europe, French), deploring a “sense of unfinished business”.
Review in 2023
Ms Gabriel defended the results: in total, the Year of Youth generated 13,000 events that reached 150 million citizens, she recalled. In terms of budget, it went from €8 million from Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps to €140 million, thanks to the mobilisation of several European funds.
She announced that a communication will provide a follow-up on the Year of Youth, by the end of 2023. This will take the form of a working document and will include “contributions from the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and youth organisations”. However, some MEPs thought this was a long time to wait, expressing concern about the short timeframe for implementing the communication before the end of the legislature.
Communication
Regarding the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities or who are geographically remote, the Commissioner recalled that she had asked the national agencies to develop inclusion strategies. It is therefore up to them, she argued, to make more effort to publicise the initiatives.
However, she conceded that there was a lack of communication on the full range of youth initiatives. “It seems to me that we have an increasing need for an entry point where all this information is available”, she added, mentioning in particular the European Youth Portal.
Year of Skills
MEPs also asked her about the links between the previous year and the European Year of Skills. While this link will be made clear in the communication on the Year of Youth, Ms Gabriel said she wanted best practices to continue. The Commission plans, for example, to organise 12 Youth Dialogues in 2023. She also noted the various measures relating to education, such as the Pathways to School Success and the recommendations on digital education (see EUROPE 13164/11).
“Now, what I would like is for Member States to make good use of the unprecedented budget they have for these matters”, the Commissioner stressed, recalling that Member States have not only their recovery plans, but also an inflated Erasmus+ budget (see EUROPE 13143/35).
Finally, regarding the central themes raised during the Year of Youth, Ms Gabriel promised to include a youth section in the forthcoming communication on mental health, scheduled for June. As for paid traineeships, she said she was working with the Commissioner for Jobs Nicolas Schmit to ensure that “the various instruments available to us are adapted to the demands of young people”. The same applies to “youth tests”: while the Commission is considering this, it also wants to improve the participation of young people in the legislative process through existing instruments. (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)