Proposals for a new Youth Agenda for the EU: The YFJ’s main expectations of the next mandate of the European Parliament and European Commission (2009-2014)

As young Europeans, sharing a vision of Europe based on the values of democracy, peace, solidarity, sustainability, equality, human rights and freedom, and recognising the success of European integration, we stress that we can successfully face future challenges only if the EU is able to speak and to act as a real Union.  We expect brave and innovative decisions from our national and European leaders and institutions and we want concrete benefits from the EU in our everday lives.

The European Parliamentary Elections, the renewal of the Commission adn the subsequent legistlative period present a unique opportunity in which the citizens of Euopre have a direct say on the policy development within the EU.  It is important to make the elections a truly Euroepan affair, focusing on issues that concern all EU citizens and not 27 (or more) Member State elections.  In order to get young people and all citizens interested in participating in EU decision-making, we need to inform them what the institutions do and why they matter.  Politicising and personalising the EU policy-making is a natural step forward in European integration and the best way of guaranteeing a cross-border debate on issues affecting our lives.

In the pursuit of a more transparent Europe, the European Youth Forum (YFJ) hopes that the composition of the Commission will reflect the results of the elections and therefore we demand that the European political parties propose their candidates for the Commission President.

 The YFJ further supports the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and hopes for a thorough debate on the future of Europe in the upcoming years.  The youth of Europe should be an integral part of the launching of a roadmap towards a European constitution.

The current legislative period of the European Commission and the European Parliament saw some important developments in policy areas that are important for young people.  Unfortunately, at the same time, on some priorities that young people and youth organisations put forward in the run-up to the European Parliament elections and the appointment of a new European Commission in 2004 - or even earlier - not much progress has been made.

 However, despite the increased importance of youth on the EU agenda, the development of specific across-the-board policies remained difficult.  The mobility and status of volunteers, visa obstacles to youth work, a legal status for European associations, a coherent approach to youth autonomy are, inter alia, still issues that have not been properly addressed, mainly due to difficulties in overcoming divisions between fields of competence.  The YFJ hopes that such divisions can be overcome in the period 2009-2014, and that the increased attention to youth will lead to specific imporovements for young people and youth organisations.

In view of the above, the YFJ puts forward the following proposals for a new EU youth agenda: to realise them and ensure their impact, the YFJ calls upon the incoming European Commission and Parliament to include them in their priorities for the next legislative term and counts upon corresponding commitment from the Member States.

Further to these proposals, we consider that the gender dimension and other equality issues should be mainstreamed in every youth policy, giving a concrete and measurable overview of how each policy affects different persons differently.