Young people, politicians and experts debate social rights in times of crisis

Over the last two days, representatives of youth organisations, as well as experts and politicians have been meeting at a high level event in Sofia, Bulgaria to discuss and debate young people's access to social rights in Europe today.

The event, entitled 'Social Rights in Times of Crisis: the Youth Perspective’ was organised by the European Youth Forum, in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and brought together 30 of the Youth Forum’s member organisations, along with 30 members of the Bulgarian Youth Forum.

Four interactive workshops, with expert input, explored key topics including employment, social protection, integration of young refugees, and access to services such as housing. The event concludes with a high level panel with Bulgarian and European leaders, including: ALDE MEP Enrique Calvet Chambon, Aurelio Cecilio from DG Employment of the European Commission, Katalin Csiba, Political Advisor of MEP Tamas Meszerics of the Greens/EFA, Thiebaut Weber, Confederal Secretary of ETUC and Iliana Balabanova, Vice-President of the European Women’s Lobby.

The discussions from the workshops will feed into the European Youth Forum's contribution to the Consultation of the European Commission on the European Pillar of Social Rights. The Pillar has been put forward by the European Commission as the flagship initiative on social policy. The Youth Forum believes that the Pillar must concretely address the gaps that young people specifically face when it comes to equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions, and adequate and sustainable social protection.

Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policy Denitsa Sacheva, speaking at the event, said:

“There is enough evidence that issues about social rights need to be timely addressed by decision-makers and stakeholders. In that process, it is of crucial importance to incorporate the youth point of view in all policies and initiatives, at all levels. Managing these challenges could not be done without the meaningful participation of young people.”

Enrique Calvet Chambon MEP, said:

“It is undeniable that disillusion has indeed settled across the spectrum of youth and young people are legitimately demanding political transparency and honesty. The EU needs to react consistently and procure and ensure the respect of the rights of young people such as thus which entitle them to quality employment, education, competitive training and mobility amongst others”

Lora Lyubenova, Board Member of the European Youth Forum, said:

“European leaders have a duty to provide a safety net for young people, but our welfare states are too often failing to do this! Poverty is a reality for way too many young Europeans and the traditional route from youth to adulthood is blocked by lack of access to good quality education, poor quality or no jobs and inaccessible or inadequate social protection. European leaders must invest in young people and in the future. If it does not, the European social project – and therefore peaceful and harmonised societies – will collapse. It was a great pleasure to host this event in Sofia and bring together key players to discuss these some of the biggest topics facing our society today.”

Earlier this year, the Youth Forum published an in-depth study “Social inclusion and young people. Excluding youth – a threat to our future” which illustrates that Europe’s social model, which should provide a safety net for everyone, is broken. It highlights that welfare state interventions are no longer supporting young people, but are actually stopping them from achieving autonomy, with a grave impact not just on the individual young person but on European society as a whole. The findings of this publication also fed into the debates and workshops in Sofia.

Read more about the European Pillar of Social Rights: http://ec.europa.eu/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/towards-european-pillar-social-rights_en

Read more about the Social Inclusion of Young People in the Youth Forum’s latest report: http://www.youthforum.org/assets/2016/05/Excluding-youth-a-threat-to-our-future.pdf