Brussels, 02/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a joint letter sent on Monday to the President of the EU, Jan Peter Balkenende, and published by the Elysée two days ahead of the European Council, the French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the President of the Spanish government José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson call upon the Union to make youth "a priority, as part of the review process of the Lisbon Strategy to which the Wim Kok report makes a major contribution", and to draw up "a European Pact for Youth" before the Spring 2005 European Council.
The four Heads of State and Government explain that this European pact for youth should give young Europeans "the means to succeed, by responding more efficiently to youth unemployment and their problems to integrate socially and professionally". They write that this pact should also "seek greater coherence in the EU's youth-related actions", and include "new actions to underpin European demography". To this end, the four leaders stress in particular that "better reconciliation should be possible between one's professional, personal and family lives".
Mr Chirac, Mr Schröder, Mr Zapatero and Mr Persson call upon the Presidency of the EU and the Commission to "undertake the work necessary so that we can draw conclusions from it as part of the decisions expected from the next Spring European Summit". They conclude: "To commit to youth is an excellent choice, because it expresses confidence in the future, willingness to move forward, the conviction that the European model can and must keep all of its strength (…). It is on this dynamism, which better educated and trained young people will bring to our societies, that our growth and competitiveness objectives rest".