RESOLUTION on youth activities

The European Parliament,

- stressing the importance of evolving comprehensive policies at Community level in favour of young people and with their complete involvement and cooperation,

- recognizing the significant contribution already made by the Youth Forum, in its brief period of existence, to the evolution of policies of relevance to young people,

- aware of the serious crisis in which the young generation is going through, not only where ideals, culture and the quest for new patterns of behaviour are concerned but also from the economic point of view and the difficulties of finding employment,

- aware of the role which the Community can play in the elaboration and implementation of measures in the field of vocational training and education which can have a considerable influence on the lives of young people, by eliminating inequalities and combating unemployment,

- particularly concerned that exchanges of young people at Community level-enshrined in Article 50 of the EEC Treaty-be intensified,

- further concerned that greater efforts be made towards ensuring closer coordination of measures for the young disabled in the field of education and training,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council of 1978 concerning the teaching of foreign languages in the Community (exchanges of young people aged 10 to 18),

- having regard to the preliminary draft report on cooperation among young people in Europe (Foulkes report - Council of Europe 65/456),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Youth, Culture, Education, Information and Sport (Doc. 1-826/80),

The European Youth Forum

1. Welcomes the fact that the Community regards the European Youth Forum as a partner, particularly in regard to questions relating to young people, and recommends that the Commission should consult the European Youth Forum before taking decisions in this area so as to take its recommendations in account;

2. Calls on the Forum to see itself, in its working methods, choice of subjects, membership and rights of participation, as a forum within the EEC, to remain open to all categories of young people, particularly the underprivileged, who do not belong to organizations;

3. Considers the Forum to the proper place for the young people of Europe themselves to tackle the problems raised by the present crisis and the transformation of their cultural values inasmuch as they relate to the changing attitude of youth to work, the manifestations of maladjustment among young people, the growing mistrust in institutions and the emergence of new values of solidarity and a new relationship with nature;

4. Calls on the Forum to familiarize young people with the European situation and through its own initiatives to win their support for the idea of European unification, to have in mind the young people of Greece and the two applicant countries and give them an opportunity to voice their opinions and participate fully in the Forum's activities;

5. Requests the Council therefore to facilitate implementation of these important activities by approving the Commission's proposals to increase appropriations under Article 254 to cover the Forum's annual operating costs and to provide finance for complete projects;

6. Stresses that the Youth Forum has the right to express its own opinions independently of the European institutions, and that it should continue to report on its activities to the European Parliament through the appropriate parliamentary committees;

Education and training

7. Calls on the Commission to draw up a report on the application of the principle of equal educational opportunities including action taken on previous recommendations of the European Parliament and the various meetings of the Council, which report should also give an account of measures taken with regard to the teaching of handicapped young people, children of the economically deprived social classes, girls and children of migrant workers;

8. Is anxious that the Council Directive of 25 July 1977 on the education of children of migrant workers who are nationals of a Member State should be implemented as quickly as possible, and therefore requests the Commission to forward to Parliament without delay the information it has received from the Member States concerning the measures they have adopted in application of this Directive;

9. Notes that appropriations from the European Social Fund can be used to organize special courses for immigrant worker's children and to train teachers for the purpose, as well as to draw up pilot projects; regrets that the funds available are very limited and calls on the Commission to provide information on the activities funded and their results;

10. Welcomes the fact that account is being taken in syllabuses of the development of new technologies (such as data processing) and that efforts are being made to prepare pupils for these innovations; requests the Commission to keep it regularly informed of such efforts to help pupils to adjust;

11. Regards the European Schools as too closed, and therefore considers that they should be improved in structure and increased in number with the aim of improving teaching programmes, especially in the language field, and of extending their intake to include children who are not members of the families of Community officials;

12. Considers that the most effective and equitable long-term strategy would be to adapt the existing schools controlled by the public authorities to meet the requirements of both native and migrant children through a type of teaching which corresponds to reality and the local situation;

13. Considers that the European dimension shold be incorporated in all disciplines on the curricula for all types of school in the EEC countries, in order to encourage the development of a European awareness by treating historical, cultural, linguistic and social policy matters and the problems of and need for European integration;

14. Considers that sport should be regarded as a facet of education and culture which is important in its own right; expresses the hope that appropriate Community measures will be proposed to promote the organizations of sports events for young sportsmen and that the new regulations of the Regional Fund will enable it to make a financial contribution towards the creation or improvement of sports facilities for young people;

15. Believes that, where aid from the Member States is insufficient, Community aid must be granted for vocational training and vocational preparation; the resources of the Social Fund must therefore be increased as a matter of urgency; support should in particular be given to efforts to introduce systems for alternating work and training;

16. Takes the view that on the eve of the international year of the disabled the Community must improve and increase measures to help young disabled persons, in order to ensure closer coordination of national polices on rehabilitation, education and medical research;

17. Considers, moreover, that there can be no effective policy without proper funding and that it is therefore essential to ensure a substantial increase in the appropriations so far earmarked for the disabled, particularly for educational purposes;

18. Notes the alarming increase in alcoholism and drug addiction among young people and believes that a strenuous programme or education is needed to stress the dangers of alcohol and drugs;

Exchanges of young people

19. Believes that exchanges of young people at Community level are essential for increasing mutual understanding as a step towards creating a common attitude in the interests of a better Europe;

20. Welcomes therefore the second programme to promote exchanges of young workers, but requests the Commission also to consider measures to encourage large undertakings with branches throughout the EEC to increase the mobility of their employees and to ensure that young workers taking part in exchange programmes are given reasonable remuneration, adequate social security, suitable training for the transition to working life and the opportunity to obtain the required knowledge of the language of their host country;

21. Calls on the Commission, after consultation with the Youth Forum, to put forward proposals for the creation of an EEC youth exchange organization to improve the promotion of exchanges of youth groups of all kinds and of young people attending school, studying or working or unemployed, whether they belong to organizations or not, including special measures in favour of young people who are disadvantaged because of low income, residence in a backward area or a physical or mental handicap; such proposals should also include support for Member States to promote and intensify bilateral youth exchanges;

22. Calls therefore for the inclusion in the Community budget for 1982 onwards of an appropirate amount to promote such youth exchange programmes, starting with pilot projects;

23. Requests the Commission to draw up an annual report on its youth policies, particularly its exchange programmes, which could be included in a special chapter in the Annual Report on the Social Situation;

24. Is however of the opinion that a Community exchange programme alone can neither meet requirements nor take the place of the work so far carried out by the Franco-German Youth Office and the Central Bureau for Educational Visits and Exchanges, and therefore calls on the Member States to promote youth exchanges, in particular by setting up the necessary machinery for the exchange of advice and information on educational matters in collaboration with the organizations that have so far filled this major role and the new ones which continue to be set up;

25. Hopes that the smaller countries will be encouraged to set up machinery of an appropriate type and size to promote closer practical links with teachers at the local level;

26. Urges that Community arrangements be made concerning the mutual recognition of academic qualifications and courses for students at universities and institutes of higher education, so that courses abroad are recognized as part of the student's education in his own country;

27. Calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of exchanges of young unemployed people in specific professions within Europe; such a scheme could be viewed in the context of the setting up of a European employment office;

28. Calls, in addition to exchanges at school and at work, for the setting up and support of exchange programmes for specific interest groups (e.g. cultural groups in general, musicians, ecologists, political groups, European Youth Orchestra, sports teams, philatelists, etc.).

Voluntary youth work

29. Considers that exchanges of young people through European voluntary social and cultural service should be encouraged and calls on the Commission to examine the possibility of social and cultural projects, for example, voluntary aid to disabled people in the social field and the restoration of ancient monuments in the cultural field;

30. Suggests that some thought should be given to reviving the idea of a European peace corps of young volunteers to help with work the host countries cannot carry out on their own; the young people would, however, have to be helped to acquire the necessary professional qualifications or experience; thought should also be given to the introduction of a voluntary year of social work for young people which could be carried out within the European Community;

Conclusion

31. Considers that the projects described in this resolution cannot proceed satisfactorily unless the funds made available to the Commission for this purpose are substantially increased;

32. Hopes that the Council of Europe, in view of its interests in youth activites, will become a privileged partner of the European Parliament and therefore considers that joint working meetings should be held between the representatives of the two assemblies;

33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.