Discussions on the Structured Dialogue with the Committee on Culture and Education

On Tuesday (28/02/17), youth participants of EU Youth Conferences, including 3 Board members of the Youth Forum were hosted by the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) in the European Parliament to discuss the outcomes of the 4th and 5th cycles of the Structured Dialogue with young people.

The discussions focused on topical issues such as youth empowerment for political participation and the need to provide youth with the right life skills in order to meet present and future challenges.

European Youth Forum Vice-President and European Steering Committee Chairperson, Carina Autengruber, presented the concept of the Structured Dialogue to the Committee and outlined where the process currently stands. She invited MEPs to participate in the Structured Dialogue process as their input can provide a crucial and alternative perspective.

Diane Delava from our member organisation Conseil de Jeunesse presented a recommendation that was specifically directed to the CULT committee from the 4th cycle of Structured Dialogue. It focused on citizenship education: “Member States should further develop or include citizenship education in the curricula at all levels of formal education, bringing a local, national, European and global perspective. Formal education providers must include non-formal learning methodologies to encourage critical thinking and enable young people from all backgrounds to develop attitudes and values to participate actively in the society. CULT committee is invited to advance the citizenship education discussion in the European Parliament.”

Kristen Aigro and Andrea Casamenti, Youth Forum Board members, presented the recommendations from the 5th cycle of Structured Dialogue on a “diverse, inclusive and connected Europe” and highlighted how they can be included in the current work of the CULT committee.

During the discussion, the European Youth Forum invited the CULT committee to put forward an own initiative report on the upcoming EU Youth Strategy. We also presented our position on the EU Solidarity Corps and highlighted that while offering significant benefits new funding sources would have to be found to finance it as funds should not be redirected from other programmes such as Erasmus+ for this purpose.

We are happy to hear MEPs Sabine Verheyen, Silvia Costa, Jill Evans, Michaela Sojdrova and Krystyna Lybacka voicing their support on key claims defended by the Youth Forum, especially vote at 16. The Chair of the CULT Committee, Ms Petra Kammerevert also invited the Youth Forum to provide input to the European Solidarity Corps for the committee’s consideration in drafting their own report.

We would like to thank the CULT committee and its former and current Chairs Ms Silvia Costa and Petra Kammerevert for inviting us to the European Parliament. We are looking forward to continuously enhance our cooperation for the sake of young people!

Want to know more about the Structured Dialogue? Read more HERE.