A contribution to youth work and youth policy in Europe REpoRt of thE BElgiAn EU PresidEncy yoUth 1/7/2010 – 31/12/2010 table of content Foreword ···································································· 3 showing you the way through the Belgian EU presidency youth ········ 4 youth work on the European policy agenda······························· 5 the time was ripe ······························································ 6 1st European conference on the history of youth work and youth policy - Relevance for youth work policy today ··········································· 7 1st European youth Work convention ··········································· 14 Resolution on youth work ······················································ 22 A structured dialogue on youth employment ····························· 29 1 implementation of the structured dialogue ······································ 30 An EU youth conference in leuven············································· 31 Joint Recommendations of the Belgian presidency EU youth conference on youth Employment·············································· 33 European and international policy agendas on children, youth and children’s rights ······················································· 39 getting an overview of different policy agendas ································· 40 Expert meeting and conference “Europe de l’Enfance”··························· 41 council conclusions of 19 november 2010 on the European and international policy Agendas on children, youth and children’s Rights·························································· 48 fruitful soil for youth: covering a wide spectrum of youth (work) issues························· 51 international youth day: young people in the spotlights ·························· 52 Meeting of the director-generals for youth Affairs ······························· 53 Business Meeting of the national Agencies of the youth in Action programme ·· · · · 55 Urban youth and Europe ······················································· 57 young people and mobility, a luxury? Mobility projects, a right for all young people ···································· 59 All roads lead to the council ·············································· 65 the council of the European Union in a nutshell ································· 66 young people’s access to culture ··············································· 68 youth on the Move, a flagship initiative as part of the Europe 2020 strategy ··· · · · · · 72 An exchange of view on urban youth and Europe ································ 77 press release: 3046th council meeting Education, culture and sport·············· 78 What’s next? ······························································· 86 this Belgian EU presidency youth would not have been possible without you ································································· 87 colofon ····································································· 89 foreword the success of the Belgian presidency of the European Union has been unanimously ac- knowledged by all of the Member states. Also in the area of youth policy, an exciting and challenging trajectory has been completed. Belgium may take great pride in seeing the first ever European Resolution on youth Work adopted within our Union. this Resolution is the most notable aspect of my presidency, as it were, the crowning glory of our endeavours. By making the right strategic choices, we precisely defined the direction that we wished to travel, and what we wished to achieve with 2 the Resolution. When you just have a mere six months to complete your journey, you should not try to deal along the way with all of the topics at the same time. the various stages we did complete along the road clarify what this presidency considers important in the European youth policy. in addition, there are a number of memorable i am reiterating below the most important and moments i would like to highlight. the fact significant moments. that during the meeting of the European youth council two representatives of youth Work - the 1st European conference on the were allowed to take the floor and address history of youth work and youth policy the gathering is an occasion bound to remain brought about a broad consensus within deeply imprinted upon my memory and, no Europe about the historical place of youth doubt, upon the memory of all those present. work within Europe and its future role. it is my fervent hope that with this a trend was - the 1st European youth Work conven- created towards greater future participation of tion emphasizes the importance of youth the young themselves in the European project. work and led to the declaration of the 1st likewise the attention paid to youth in urban European youth Work convention, which centres is in line with the quest for greater constituted a significant step in the actual participation. Europe is ageing, but our cities realisation of the Resolution and was the are greening. youth in these urban centres starting point of a new policy procedure are precisely the least effective and capable, around youth Work within the European the least participative, the least active within Union. our Union. if it is indeed our wish to see the - the structured dialogue on the topic of recommendations of this presidency for more youth and employment highlights the economic, cultural, and social emancipation pressing problems that exist in this area become reality, these youngsters too - and and the attention that the Union is devot- perhaps they in particular - will have to be- ing to them today. that the voice of youth come integrated as part of our future Europe. must not be left unheard in the debate about access to employment is due to the Pascal Smet efforts of European youth Work. Under Flemish Minister for Education, Youth, Equal this presidency, that proposition was Opportunities and Brussels Affairs given forceful impetus and illustration. - the document that Belgium delivered about harmonisation between the Europe- an and international agendas on children’s rights met with wide-ranging resonance and response. this is, in effect, the first document ever to enumerate what kinds of initiatives exist within the European Un- ion and how these have been organized, and an important step towards the future harmonisation of the diverse visions and policy choices within the Member states. showing you the way through the Belgian EU presidency youth 2010 was an important year for the develop- diversity of youth work in Europe and asked ment of youth policy in Europe. Many matters the question: “how can we create the condi- demanded our attention and on-going proc- tions for youth work to grow and prepare itself esses created new opportunities. the follow- for the future?” delegates from all over Europe ing developments inspired in particular the developed the ghent Declaration addressing Belgian EU presidency youth: issues in nine fields (p. 15) which was a step- ping stone towards the Council resolution - the ‘Renewed EU framework for coopera- on youth work (p. 22). this resolution sets the tion in the youth field’ policy agenda for the coming years to recog- - the entry into force of the treaty of lisbon nise and further develop youth work in Europe. - the communication ‘Europe2020’ and the ‘youth on the Move’ flagship initiative - the European year of combatting pov- StruCtureD Dialogue 3 erty and social Exclusion (2010) and the on youtH emPloyment upcoming European year of Volunteering (2011) nothing about them without them. that’s why the EU Member states and the European the Belgian presidency youth took the initia- commission set up a process of ‘structured tive to play a role in further implementation of dialogue’ in which youth representatives dis- these European developments and seized the cuss important issues with policy makers. the moment by putting forward 3 priority themes: trio presidency of spain-Belgium-hungary chose to take on youth employment. the EU - youth work youth Conference in leuven (p. 31) focussed - youth and employment on eight important topics related to youth em- - European and international policy agendas ployment and came up with a list of recom- on children, youth and children’s rights mendations in this field (p. 33). the results of the different discussions, activi- EuroPean anD international ties and conferences are brought together in PoliCy agenDaS on chilDren, this report. it shows you how the Belgian EU youtH anD chilDren’S rigHtS presidency youth addressed the different pri- orities, without forgetting the other presidency Many different policy initiatives have been activities on the calendar. All presidency youth taken in the field of children, youth and chil- activities were consciously linked to the EU dren’s rights, but they sometimes overlap or council youth. therefore, the chapter detailing lack coherence. the ‘europe de l’enfance’ the preparation and achievements of the EU expert meeting and conference addressed council youth is the corner stone of this report this issue (p. 41). By integrating the ‘Europe de and of the Belgian presidency youth. l’Enfance’ meeting in the youth activities of the We hope this report gives you a feel of the presidency, the Belgian presidency created intensity, the pleasure and the youthful enthu- bridges between the often separated worlds of siasm that were central elements of those six children and children’s rights on the one hand, months of Belgian presidency. and