Article 165(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that Union action is to be aimed at, inter alia, encouraging the participation of young people in democratic life in Europe.
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In the Bratislava Roadmap of 16 September 2016, the 27 Heads of State or Government committed to ‘provide better opportunities for youth’, in particular by means of Union support for Member States in fighting youth unemployment and enhanced Union programmes dedicated to youth.
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In the Rome Declaration of 25 March 2017, the leaders of the 27 Member States and of the European Council, the European Parliament and the Commission pledged to work towards ‘a Union where young people receive the best education and training and can study and find jobs across the continent’.
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The 2019–2027 European Union Youth Strategy, based on the Council Resolution of 26 November 2018 (3), recognises that young people are the architects of their own lives, contribute to positive change in society and enrich the Union’s ambitions. It also recognises that youth policy can contribute to creating a space in which young people are able to seize opportunities and relate to Union values. Previous European Years, such as the 2021 European Year of Rail, the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage, the 2013–2014 European Year of Citizens and the 2011 European Year of Volunteering, offer valuable experience which should inform future efforts to engage and empower young people to shape their future and the future of Europe.
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NextGenerationEU, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council (4), ensures the acceleration of the green and digital transition and provides the possibility to collectively emerge stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. NextGenerationEU re-opens perspectives full of opportunities for young people, including quality jobs and adapting to social change. The Union aims for young people to be fully on board in the rollout of NextGenerationEU, enhancing their role in the green and digital transition.
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The President of the Commission announced in her State of the Union address of 15 September 2021 that the Commission would propose to make 2022 the European Year of Youth (the ‘European Year’). Highlighting the confidence that she draws for Europe’s future from the inspiration provided by Europe’s young people, the President of the Commission added that ‘if we are to shape our Union in their mould, young people must be able to shape Europe’s future’. Europe needs the vision, engagement and participation of all young people to build a better future, and Europe needs to give young people opportunities for the future, a future that is greener, more digital and more inclusive. This is why the President proposed ‘a year dedicated to empowering those who have dedicated so much to others’.
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The European Year should trigger a reflection process on the future of youth and their active participation in building the future of Europe. For that reason, youth policies should be mainstreamed through all relevant Union policies.
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The active participation of young people in democratic processes is crucial for the present and the future of Europe and its democratic societies. In line with the Council conclusions of 1 December 2020 on fostering democratic awareness and democratic engagement among young people in Europe (5) and of 21 June 2021 on strengthening the multilevel governance when promoting the participation of young people in decision-making processes (6), the communication of the Commission of 3 December 2020 on the European democracy action plan and the resolution of the European Parliament of 11 November 2015 on the reform of the electoral law of the European Union (7), the European Year therefore aims to boost the active involvement of young people in Europe’s democratic life, including by supporting participation activities for young people from diverse backgrounds in processes such as the Conference on the Future of Europe, promoting civic engagement and volunteering initiatives, thereby raising awareness of Union values and fundamental rights and European history and culture, bringing together young people and decision-makers at local, regional, national and Union levels and contributing to the process of European integration.
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The United Nations resolution of 25 September 2015 entitled ‘Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ (the ‘2030 Agenda’) recognised the essential role of young people as change makers on the international scene and stated that young people need to be supported ‘to channel their infinite capacities for activism into the creation of a better world’. The European Year is a concrete contribution to the 2030 Agenda, which highlights that ‘children and young women and men are critical agents of change’, and should provide further impetus for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, the road to sustainable development, and the capacity of young people to shape the present and the future, not only of the Union, but also of Union partner countries and of our planet as a whole.
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In line with the Council conclusions of 5 June 2020 on Youth in external action, stressing the contribution of young generations to building stronger, more legitimate, peaceful and democratic societies, the European Year should contribute to strengthening youth participation in the Union’s external action across all policies, to creating new opportunities for education, learning and exchanges, to developing partnerships and dialogue between young people from the Union and partner countries, including the Eastern Partnership, the Western Balkans and the Southern Neighbourhood, to capitalising on existing platforms for youth dialogue and partnerships such as the AU-EU Youth Cooperation Hub and the Union’s Youth Sounding Board and to increasing the role of youth engagement in strategic communication and public diplomacy action.
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The European Youth Goals, which are an integral part of the 2019–2027 European Union Youth Strategy and which have been developed by young people for the benefit of young people under the EU Youth Dialogue process, are a testament to the eagerness of many young Europeans to participate in defining the direction in which the development of the Union should go.
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The European Year should boost the successful implementation of Principle 1 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (8), which highlights that ‘everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning’. In that respect, the European Year should help to make noticeable progress towards achieving, by 2025, the European Education Area, which aims to stimulate young people in their personal, social and professional fulfilment and foster citizenship education by creating a genuine European space of learning and removing barriers to the automatic mutual recognition of degrees, qualifications and periods of learning in the Union. The European Year should consider young people’s social situation and well-being. The European Year should contribute to the successful implementation of Principle 3 of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which highlights that ‘everyone has the right to equal treatment and opportunities regarding employment, social protection, education, and access to goods and services available to the public’.
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The European Year should support the Union’s efforts to expand employment opportunities for young people as part of the recovery plan following the COVID-19 pandemic as stated in the resolution of the European Parliament of 8 October 2020 on the Youth Guarantee (9), which underlined that lockdown measures have caused a sudden disruption to young people’s formal and non-formal education, as well as to informal learning, traineeships, internships, apprenticeships and jobs, and have affected young people’s income, earning potential and well-being, including their health, and in particular their mental health. In both that resolution and its resolution of 17 December 2020 on a strong social Europe for Just Transitions (10), the European Parliament condemned the practice of unpaid internships when not related to the acquisition of educational qualifications as a form of exploitation of young workers and a violation of their rights. In its resolution of 17 December 2020, the European Parliament called on the Commission to put forward a legal framework for an effective and enforceable ban on such unpaid internships, traineeships and apprenticeships.
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The European Year should provide further impetus for the creation of quality youth employment opportunities under the Youth Employment Support initiative, including through the Council Recommendation of 30 October 2020 on a reinforced Youth Guarantee (11) and the new Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve (ALMA) initiative proposed by the Commission to be implemented under the European Social Fund Plus established by Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). The ALMA initiative should be a cross-border youth mobility scheme for disadvantaged people who are not in employment, education or training.
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The European Year should contribute to the recognition of youth work and to the objectives of the resolution of the Council of 1 December 2020 on the Framework for establishing a European Youth Work Agenda (13) (the ‘European Youth Work Agenda’) and the Bonn process, and thus contribute to strengthening youth work structures, in order to make them sustainable and more resilient in all parts of the Union, and cross-border cooperation. The European Year should also promote the validation of competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning, including through youth work, while recognising the high value of learning in youth work alongside formal education and the need to strengthen the partnership between youth work and formal education.
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In its resolution of 10 February 2021 on the impact of COVID-19 on youth and on sport (14), the European Parliament underlined the particularly acute impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on young people not in education, employment, or training and highlighted the need to tackle the problems faced by young people from vulnerable groups, including young people with disabilities. It also noted that youth unemployment and poverty had risen steadily since the COVID-19 outbreak of the pandemic and urged the Commission and the Member States to take all the necessary measures to counter the disastrous effects on youth employment. It also recalled the role of volunteering in developing life and work skills for young people and considered that the European Solidarity Corps, established by Regulation (EU) 2021/888 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15), could help young people to broaden their opportunities beyond their local realities.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep social and economic impact on our society as a whole and has led to an unprecedented increase in mental health issues, particularly among young people. Therefore, the European Year should promote the discussion and development of sustainable solutions, including preventive measures, to help tackle those challenges.
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The European Year should support giving effect to the European Youth Work Agenda and the Council conclusions of 5 June 2019 on Young People and the Future of Work (16), of 10 December 2019 on digital youth work (17) and of 7 December 2017 on smart youth work (18).
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Reflecting the importance of tackling climate and nature crises in accordance with the Union’s commitments to implement the Paris Agreement adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (19) (the ‘Paris Agreement’), and to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the European Consensus on Development, the European Year should contribute to mainstreaming climate- and nature-related actions and to the implementation of the objectives set out in the communication of the Commission of 11 December 2019 entitled ‘The European Green Deal’ in a fair and inclusive manner, Horizon Europe missions, as set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/695 of the European Parliament and of the Council (20), and the Fit for 55 package set out in the communication of the Commission of 14 July 2021 entitled ‘“Fit for 55”: delivering the EU’s 2030 Climate Target on the way to climate neutrality’, in particular by encouraging young people to formulate their own initiatives and creative ideas on achieving the relevant targets, thereby recognising the creative and innovative potential and abilities of young people.
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The European Year should provide further impetus to the resolution of the European Parliament of 15 September 2020 on effective measures to ‘green’ Erasmus+, Creative Europe and the European Solidarity Corps (21), which underlined that Erasmus+, through its support for formal and non-formal education, learning and training and for youth participation activities, is crucial for awareness-raising among Europeans, in particular young generations, to encourage them to have an active and informed position on sustainability and relevant policies and to become engaged and conscious future citizens. The European Parliament also highlighted, in that resolution, the major role played by youth and civil society organisations in that respect in sharing best practices and implementing projects raising younger generations’ awareness about sustainability.
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The European Year should build on and seek synergies with European events and initiatives, such as the European Youth Event, the European Youth Week, the European Youth Capital, the European Capital of Culture, Europe Day and European Heritage Days, and the Council of Europe’s ‘Youth for Democracy, Democracy for Youth’ campaign.
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In her State of the Union address, the President of the Commission highlighted that ‘Europe needs all its youth’. In fulfilling its objectives, the European Year should be fully inclusive and should actively promote the participation of young people of diverse backgrounds, young people with fewer opportunities and young people from the outermost regions, in line with Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1877 (22).
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It is important that the European Year contribute to increasing the interest and active participation of young people in democratic life and electoral processes, in particular at Union level. According to the European Parliament’s 2019 Post-Election Eurobarometer, during the 2019 European Parliament elections, voter turnout among young people was much higher (42 %) as compared to that during the 2014 European Parliament elections (28 %). Turnout among young people should be further encouraged.
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The European Year is firmly anchored in the principles recognised by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’). In particular, the European Year seeks, in its actions and activities, to ensure full gender equality and non-discrimination based on grounds of sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to promote the application of the Charter. The EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child, set out in the communication of the Commission of 24 March 2021 entitled ‘EU strategy on the rights of the child’, and the European Child Guarantee, established by Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 (23), set a new standard for child and teen representation and recognise children and young people as active citizens and agents of change.
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In order to ensure that the European Year is efficiently and effectively implemented, the European Year should make maximum use of delivery mechanisms that are already in place. In order to optimise the added value of the European Year and produce an additional positive impact on young people, synergies and complementarity should be sought, in particular, between the European Year and Union programmes, including programmes with international outreach specifically dedicated to young people and programmes without a transnational or international character, in particular programmes relating to education and training, sport, culture and the media, youth and their health, including mental health, as well as to solidarity, volunteering, employment and social inclusion, research and innovation, industry and enterprise, digital policy, agriculture and rural development, where those programmes have a focus on young farmers, environment and climate, cohesion policy, migration, security and international cooperation and development. Synergies and complementarity should also be sought between the European Year and activities undertaken by the Member States. Synergies and complementarity should build upon such Union programmes and activities undertaken by the Member States.
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By creating an environment for promoting the objectives of the European Year simultaneously at Union, national, regional and local levels, a greater synergy and a better use of resources can be achieved. In that regard, the Commission should provide information in a timely manner to, and closely cooperate with, the European Parliament, the Council, the Member States, the Committee of the Regions, the European Economic and Social Committee and bodies and associations active in the field of youth at Union level. In order to ensure that activities developed for the European Year have a European dimension, it is important to encourage Member States to collaborate with each other.
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The coordination of the European Year at Union level should allow for co-creation. The Commission should convene joint or separate meetings with stakeholders and representatives of organisations or bodies in the field of youth and national coordinators to assist in co-creating and implementing the European Year at Union level. The EU Youth Coordinator should have a key role in those meetings and in reaching out to the various stakeholders and representatives of organisations or bodies in the field of youth.
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The European Year should also focus on actions and activities which present potential European added value. The notion of ‘European added value’ is to be understood broadly and to be demonstrated in different ways, such as where actions or activities have a transnational character, particularly with regard to cooperation aimed at achieving a sustainable systemic impact or contributing to young people’s European identity, awareness and ownership of Union values and fundamental rights, including gender equality, and ability to take part in the Union’s representative and participative democracy.
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The European Year should promote the dissemination of good practice, the undertaking of studies and research and the collection of data, statistics and other qualitative or quantitative information on the situation of young people in the Union, including on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, using sources such as the Youth Wiki, the EU Youth Report and the Youth Progress Index.
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At Union level, the necessary financial allocation for the implementation of this Decision should be identified within the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework. The minimum operational budget for the implementation of this Decision should be EUR 8 million. Additional financial support to the European Year should be provided by relevant Union programmes and instruments, subject to the availability of funding, and in accordance with the applicable rules. The financing of the European Year should not be to the detriment of the financing of projects in current Union programmes and should aim at securing a long-lasting legacy for the European Year beyond 2022. Without prejudice to the powers of the budgetary authority and in accordance with Article 314 TFEU, funding for that legacy should be identified within the 2021-2027 multiannual financial framework.
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Since the objectives of this Decision cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States but can rather, by reason of the scale and effects of the proposed action, be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
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In light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young people and, consequently, the pressing need for the European Year’s objective of honouring, supporting and engaging with young people in a post-COVID-19 pandemic perspective, it is considered to be appropriate to provide for an exception to the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national Parliaments in the European Union, annexed to the TEU, to the TFEU and to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community.
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Following the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, timely application of this Decision is needed for the purpose of ensuring a swift implementation of the European Year. This Decision should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and should apply from 1 January 2022,
