Brussels, 17/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption of the report by German Social Democrat Lissy Gröner on the White Paper on "a new impetus for European Youth" (see EUROPE of 7 February, p.18), the European Parliament considers that the policies proposed in the White Paper must be translated rapidly into concrete actions and that the method of open coordination in the field of youth policy must be initially applied to the themes of participation, information, voluntary work, and the improvement of knowledge of the youth arena.
In addition, the Parliament calls on: 1) the European Convention to resolutely tackle the status of young citizens in Europe; 2) the Commission and Council to: - protect the right of children and young people to live in a safe environment, supporting the ILO in its wish to implement the Convention on prohibiting the enrolment of child soldiers and imposing work on them that could be harmful for their physical health, their security and their moral health; - involve the candidate countries in the application of the White Paper; 3) the Commission, to elaborate every three years a report on the situation of youth in Europe.