RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL AND THE MINISTERS OF YOUTH MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL of 8 February 1999 on youth participation (1999/C 42/01)

THE COUNCIL AND THE MINISTERS OF YOUTH, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Taking due account of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child, in particular Articles 12 to 15;

Considering the Conclusions of the European Council of Cardiff on 15 and 16 June 1998, which seek to bring the European Union closer to the people and make it more transparent;

Recalling the Lisbon Declaration on youth policies and programmes (1) which postulates that the active participation of youth is to be encouraged in all spheres of society and in decision-making processes;

Considering the resolution on measures to protect minors in the European Union, adopted by the European Parliament on 12 December 1996 (2), which calls upon the Member States to promote the political participation of young people and, in particular, to support the establishment of representative youth parliaments at the local, regional and national levels, and to encourage the participation of children in democratically governed organisations and associations;

Bearing in mind Recommendation R(97)3 of 4 February 1997 and Recommendation 1286 of the Council of Europe of 24 January 1996 which advocate a change in attitude to young people as individuals with rights of their own and favour their active and responsible participation in the familiy and in society;

Taking note of the debate which took place at the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Youth in Cork in 1996, which put the inclusion of youth in institutions of social, political, cultural and economic life and the promotion of personal development in the foreground,

NOTE that both the substance and the time horizons of the decisions taken at the Community level and at national levels have a long-term impact on the future prospects and opportunities for the young generation;

REGARD the increased active participation sought by young people as one of the central challenges in the process of shaping European society;

RECOGNISE the importance of young people having a say in all aspects of society, in particular in political, social, economic and cultural affairs;

Therefore CONSIDER it desirable to grant young people in the European Union a wider scope for active participation in European and national civic society and political affairs, the objective being to enable young people, on a step-by-step basis, to assume their share of both opportunities and responsibilities and to encourage them to become active citizens;

ENCOURAGE the European Institutions and the Member States of the European Union to consider how to associate the citizens more closely with the shaping of European policies, to enable young people to participate in all aspects of active citizenship, including their political participation and their mobility within the European Union, thereby involving the young citizens in the process of further European integration;

CALL UPON young people to avail themselves of the existing participatory opportunities and to bring in their contributions to active citizenship;

Expressly INVITE the youth associations and youth organisations as well as the young people themselves to forward their views in general and specific proposals for the promotion of participatory projects;

Considering the above, the Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council HEREBY ADOPT the following Resolution:

Youth participation at the Community level

The Commission is invited:

- to focus on young people's interests as a guiding principle for action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched at the Community level on the living conditions of young people, and to show ways and means of taking the interests of young people into account,

- to promote the involvement of young people in the development, execution and evaluation of youth activities and programmes at the Community level by utilising the interest young people take in shaping the Europe of today and tomorrow,

- to promote the performance of studies to examine the possibilities and conditions of participation for young people in Europe, the exchange of experience, information and the documentation of activities in this field,

- to enter into dialogue with young people in the areas outlined above, and to take the opinion of young people into consideration in the development of Community programmes and activities in these areas,

- to enhance at Community level an exchange of experience on measures or projects aiming at promoting the participation of young people.

Youth participation in the Member States

The Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council advocate the full participation of Europe's youth in the political, economic, social and cultural potentials of the Member States, and strive to ensure this within their respective scope of action. They welcome and support the efforts made in the Member States to involve young people to a greater extent in decisions of relevance to the development of politics and society.

In the further pursuit of existing efforts, having regard to the competence of the Member States and in the context of their own legal system as regards the reception and implementation of the following objectives, the Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council agree to the importance of:

- supporting the creativity of young people to develop different forms of participatory dialogues in civic society,

- encouraging in the best possible way innovative participatory projects and structures,

- encouraging the participation of young people in democratic processes at local, regional and national level,

- promoting the integration of innovative participatory projects and learning opportunities in democratic decision-making structures,

- encouraging the active participation of young people in the development of the local community, in particular for young people with little experience of such involvement,

- facilitating adequate access for young people to participatory opportunities so as to strengthen the social involvement of youth initiatives and innovative networks and young people outside of organised structures,

- encouraging within existing youth associations and youth organisations opportunities for cooperation and participation with open access to all young people,

- recognising the valuable contribution provided by youth associations and organisations to the development of channels for youth participation at local, regional and national level.

The Member States are invited to focus on the young people's interests as a guiding principle of action to be applied to all relevant policy areas and, where appropriate, to assess the potential effects of measures to be launched on the living conditions of young people.

(1) Adopted at the World Conference of Ministers responsible for youth, Lisbon, August 1998.

(2) OJ C 20, 20.1.1997, p. 170.