Prems 112512 This report is part of a series of international reviews of national youth policies carried out by the Council of Europe in collaboration and consul­ Youth policy in Belgium tation with government agencies and ministries responsible for the develop­ ment and implementation of youth policy, as well as with non­governmental youth organisations. The reviews are carried out by an international team which outlines the strengths and challenges of the countries’ youth policies in a constructive manner, drawing where appropriate upon broader inter­ national evidence and debate. The international review process was established to fulfil three distinct objectives: – to advise on national youth policy; – to identify components which might combine to form an approach to youth policy across Europe; – to contribute to a learning process in relation to the development and implementation of youth policy. Youth policy in Belgium The Council of Europe has 47 member states, covering virtually the entire continent of Europe. It seeks to develop common democratic and legal prin- ciples based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other refe- rence texts on the protection of individuals. Ever since it was founded in 1949, in the aftermath of the Second World War, the Council of Europe has symbolised reconciliation. Council of Europe youth policy reviews ISBN 978-92-871-7377-5 Council of Europe Publishing 9 789287 173775 €21/US$42 http://book.coe.int Prems 112512 GBR 2546 YouthPolicyInBelgium 7377 COUV 16x24.indd 1 03/05/2013 17:06:51 Youth policy in Belgium Check cover page It’s more complex than you think! Gazela Pudar Leena Suurpää Howard Williamson Manfred Zentner Members of the international review team: Georges Metz (CDEJ] (Chair) Bjorn Jaaberg Hansen (CDEJ) Jorge Orlando Queirós (CDEJ) Kyrylo Ivliev (Advisory Council) Camelia Nistor (Advisory Council) André-Jacques Dodin (Secretariat) Gazela Pudar (Researcher) Leena Suurpää (Researcher) Manfred Zentner (Researcher) Howard Williamson (Co-ordinator) Council of Europe youth policy reviews Council of Europe Publishing French edition: La politique de jeunesse en Belgique – C'est plus compliqué que ça ! ISBN 978-92-871-7632-2 The opinions expressed in this work are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the Council of Europe. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated, reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic (CD-Rom, Internet, etc.) or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the Directorate of Communication (F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex or [email protected]). Cover design: Documents and Publications Production Department (SPDP), Council of Europe Layout: SPDP, Council of Europe Council of Europe Publishing F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex http://book.coe.int ISBN 978-92-871-7377-5 © Council of Europe, April 2013 Printed at the Council of Europe Contents Acknowledgements ..........................................................................5 Chapter 1 – Introduction ................................................................7 Chapter 2 – Youth policy in the Flemish Community ............... 19 Chapter 3 – Youth policy in the French Community .................47 Chapter 4 – Youth policy in the German-speaking Community ................................................................75 Chapter 5 – A case study – dealing with youth unemployment ........................................................ 101 Chapter 6 – Conclusions and recommendations .......................111 Bibliography ...................................................................................121 Contents 3 Acknowledgements The Secretariat of the Youth Directorate (now the Directorate for Democratic Citizenship and Participation) and the members of the international review team would like to thank the many people in Belgium who extended a strong welcome and personal hospitality over and above their professional co-operation and collaboration with the review process. In particular, we would like to thank the senior officials from the three Communities – Jan Vanhee (Flemish Community), Francoise Crémer (French Community) and Armand Meys (German-speaking Community) – for oiling the wheels in the planning and organisation of the team’s visits and the wider review process. Like many things in Belgium, this was not straightforward but effective collaboration within Belgium and between those in Belgium and the co-ordinator of the review made it possible. In particular, Jan Vanhee anchored the lines of communication and, when necessary, went the extra mile to ensure that arrangements kept to time and task. We all know that this is embedded in Jan’s character, but we thank him all the same. We would also like to thank the European Union National Agencies for the Flemish Community (Koen Lambert) and the French Community (Laurence Hermand and Thierry Dufour) for hosting a number of meetings and for making their premises at the Coordination Agency for International Youth Work (JINT) and the Bureau International Jeunesse (BIJ, or International Office for Youth) available to the team for both relaxation and reflection. Beyond these named individuals, who have been valued colleagues on the European stage in relation to youth policy as well as constructive protagonists for the youth policy review of Belgium, there are many more who took the time to meet us and furnished us with supplementary information. We applaud the commitment of all three ministers responsible for youth issues; they are very much “hands-on” and informed of the challenges to which there needs to be an evolving response. We welcomed the opportunity to meet with the three Community youth councils, both independently and under the auspices of the unofficial J-Club, which brings them together to construct, when possible, a Acknowledgements shared position on federal, European and international matters. And, finally, we want to express our appreciation to all those policy makers, managers, administrators, practitioners and researchers, both in the youth field and 5 beyond in arenas that affect young people, who contributed to the review and who contribute in their different ways to the lives of young people in Belgium. Youth policyYouth in Belgium 6 Chapter 1 – Introduction Some background to the Council of Europe international reviews of national youth policy C’est plus compliqué que ça. “It’s more complex than you think.” This was the recurrent response to attempts by the Council of Europe international review team to clarify and confirm their understanding of a range of core youth policy issues in Belgium. The team itself was a complex construction, in an attempt to respect and respond to the specific political, geographical, linguistic and cultural characteristics of Belgium. Routinely, an international review team comprises six or seven individuals: nominations by the statutory bodies of the Youth Department (part of the Directorate of Democratic Citizenship and Participation) of the Council of Europe – from the governmental committee and from youth organisations, a member of the Secretariat, two or three youth researchers or youth experts, and, in the past few years, the co-ordinator of the review process, who himself is active in youth research. The nominee from the inter-governmental steering group on youth (the CDEJ) is the designated chair of each review. But with Belgium it was different. The international team for the youth policy review of Belgium was composed of no less than 11 individuals – three from each of the statutory bodies (though one of the youth organisations’ nominees, regrettably, was not able to take part), three youth researchers, the representative of the secretariat, and the co-ordinator. The rationale behind this constellation was that the international team would be able to divide its focus, engagement and, critically, understanding, between the three language communities (which are also formal administrative Communities) of Belgium. In a sense, this meant conducting three rather separate “mini-reviews”, though the smaller teams were not so rigid that its members had no opportunity to witness youth policy activity in other parts of Belgium. Indeed, arrangements explicitly sought to provide as many team members as possible with some opportunity to gain at least a “feel” for youth policy in contexts other than the one on which they were primarily focused. Introduction After all, a central tenet underlying the Council of Europe international reviews is that a team is interested in the lives of all young people within the boundaries of the country under review, not just those defined by administrative, cultural 7 or political borders. Given the experience in many of the countries previously reviewed (for example, Estonia, Romania, Slovakia, Cyprus and Moldova), this has been an important, principled stand. The international review of youth policy in Belgium But of course Belgium is, arguably, both different from as well as more complicated than that! Though its political and linguistic communities do anchor the core of “youth policy” – at least in its sense of being cultural and educational practice – the international review team also had to take account of regional activity and responsibilities that affect the lives of young people and, indeed, policy and practice within the municipalities of Belgium. We attempt, with some anxiety