On Friday 23 August, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) published a report presenting a comparative analysis of integration practices for young people in 33 European countries.
As part of the European Year of Youth achievements, this document takes a closer look at the instruments used to analyse the impact of youth-related regulations - known as ‘youth checks’ - in Belgium (Flemish Community), Germany, France and Austria.
The EACEA maps out these ‘youth checks’, promoting the exchange of best practices between countries.
The Agency aims to encourage greater awareness of youth issues in the political decision-making process, correlating this with increased legitimacy and effectiveness of public policies.
Divided into five sections, the study begins by presenting the main concepts related to youth mainstreaming and youth impact assessment, and continues with an overview of European practices in this area. The aim is also to detail the characteristics of ‘youth checks’ in the four EU Member States studied.
The analysis shows a number of similarities between practices of the countries studied.
In all cases, the instruments for analysing the impact of youth-related regulations apply to legislation initiated by the government and are carried out upstream of the decision-making process.
These assessments, based on quantitative and qualitative evidence, help to prevent legislation’s potential negative consequences for young people. However, the report also highlights the lack of youth participation in these processes, although informal consultations are sometimes organised.
Germany stands out by entrusting the responsibility for ‘youth checks’ to a body outside of government administration, while in Austria, a systematic evaluation of legislation’s impact on young people is required five years after its implementation.
In France, unlike the other countries, checks are systematically applied to all new legislation.
Read the report: https://aeur.eu/f/d7s (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)