The European Commission has now given concrete form to the announcement made by its President Ursula von der Leyen in her State of the Union address that 2022 will be the European Year of Youth.
With the submission of a proposed resolution, the idea now leads to a formal decision-making process, because the European Parliament and the Council of the EU still have to give their consent. As can be seen from the short legislative text, the main aim of the year is to put young people at the center of public attention. Appreciation, support and involvement of young people are the key terms that should clarify the goal: to involve young people much more strongly than before in the central future debates and scenarios and to take their concerns into account.
The Commission specifies this on the basis of three complementary subject areas in which the EU states and their regional and local actors are to become active in the next year
- Clarify perspectives and opportunities of ecological and digital change for young people and their future,
- Promoting active civic engagement of all young people, building capacities for participation and engagement of young people,
- Improved information and awareness-raising about what offers and strategies exist in the EU from the local to the European level in order to guarantee positive personal, social and professional development of young people even in times of transformation.
As ambitious as the goals are, the actions and measures that contribute to the cause of the European Year can be as varied. It will depend above all on the EU states whether the campaign reaches young people and society. As stated in the proposal, they are responsible for ensuring that the year is implemented at national level. The European Commission will coordinate the campaign and carry out its own pan-European activities. For this there is to be an additional € 8 million from the EU budget. The Member States themselves are called upon to use the EU programs to promote measures in the spirit of the Youth Year. Erasmus +, the European Solidarity Corps, the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Agricultural Fund are just some of the examples of EU funding pots that are implemented under the responsibility of the federal and state governments in Germany and for the European Year Youth can be used in various ways.
Whether conferences, events, information, education and awareness campaigns or studies and research work, the basic principle should be to involve young people in all phases and to further develop their participation. The EU managing authority has kicked off and launched a public consultation. This is aimed at the young generation with the invitation to contribute expectations, interests and ideas for the year.
Together with the decision, the EU authority presented a current youth report that reflects the implementation of the existing EU youth strategy and the situation of young people over the past three years. Not surprisingly, one of the key statements is that the Covid-19 outbreak is accelerating digital trends and has had a major negative impact on education, employment and the mental health of young people. The youth ministers will now have to act politically.