At its plenary session in Brussels on Thursday 15 June, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted two opinions on youth. The first argues for greater participation by young people in the political decision-making process, while the second looks at their employment conditions.
Greater political participation
Requested by the future Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, the opinion by Nicoletta Merlo (Italian) looks at European youth policy and how to encourage the active participation of young people.
It therefore recommends promoting “EU Youth Dialogues” (EUYD) (see EUROPE 13182/5), systematically and significantly involving youth organisations and encouraging the participation of all categories of young people.
The text also calls for the introduction of “youth tests” on all national and European policies, to better identify their impact on this category of citizens.
More broadly, the opinion calls for access to employment, education, care - including mental health care - and affordable housing to be promoted.
See the opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/7hw
A fair employment market
The second opinion adopted and drafted by Michael McLoughlin (Irish) concerns equal treatment in the workplace. Above all, the text stresses the importance of ensuring that young people’s first experiences of the job market are positive.
Like the European Parliament (see EUROPE 13201/9), the EESC is calling for better supervision of unpaid internships and for working conditions to be adequate. It also invites the European Commission to look into the question of a minimum wage for young people.
See the second opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/7hx (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)