European Year of Youth kicks off

10.01.2022

Enthusiasm, energy, talent: youth is the backbone of every society, the best of its present and its future. In the last two years, the pandemic has frustrated many youths' ambitions, but young people remain the first source of hope for a better future. That’s why it has been decided to designate 2022 as the European Year of Youth. This means increasing efforts to include youth priorities in relevant EU policy areas and at every level of the EU’s decision-making process, to re-establish a positive outlook for European young people negatively affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The European Year of Youth includes conferences, initiatives promoting youth participation in policymaking, awareness-raising campaigns on a more inclusive, green and digital EU, as well as studies and research on the situation in which young people find themselves.

The European Year of Youth goes hand in hand with NextGenerationEU, which reopens perspectives for young people, including quality jobs and education and training opportunities for the Europe of the future, and supports young people's participation in society.

The Year of Youth will seek synergies and complementarity with other EU programmes targeting youth across the policy spectrum - from rural development programmes focussed on young farmers to research and innovation programmes, and from cohesion to climate change actions - including EU programmes with international outreach or of a transnational nature.

Besides, Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, with budgets of €28 billion and 1€ billion respectively for the current financial period, the EU's Youth Guarantee and Youth Employment Initiative are creating more opportunities for young people. While, in 2022 also, a new programme called ALMA will be launched to support cross-border professional mobility for disadvantaged young people.

The EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 is the framework for EU youth policy cooperation. It supports youth participation in democratic life and aims to ensure that all young people take part in society. The EU Youth Dialogue is a central tool in these efforts.

Finally, the Conference on the Future of Europe, which will draw its conclusions also in 2022, ensures that the views and opinions of young people on the future of our Union are heard.

The full programme of activities and further information will be available on the Youth Portal. The scope of activities will cover issues that mostly affect young people, following the priorities highlighted in the Youth Goals, such as equality and inclusion, sustainability, mental health and well-being, and quality employment. They will also involve young people beyond the EU.

Europe calls for the vision, engagement and participation of all young people to build a better future, that is greener, more inclusive and digital. With this proposal, Europe is striving to give young people more and better opportunities for the future.

Links:

European Year of Youth: Creating new pathways for young people