fi ' 
' it 
>i 
i < 
"il" COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(93) 524 final 
Brussels, 28 October 1993 
THE YOUTH FOR EUROPE PROGRAMME 
ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 
- 1992 -
INTRODUCTION 
1. The Youth for Europe Programme is an action programme for the promotion 
of youth exchanges in the European Community. The second phase of the 
programme was adopted by the Council Decision of the 29 July 1991, and 
covers the period 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1994 (1). 
2. The Commission has presented three earlier reports on the Programme, 
covering its first phase of implementation (2). 
3. This report covers the first operational year of the second phase and 
is based on the information provided by the National Agencies, who are 
responsible for the implementation of the Programme at national level 
in the Member States. 
II THE STRUCTURE AND GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAMME 
4. The second phase of the Youth for Europe Programme comprises a range of 
incentive measures to promote the development of youth exchanges in the 
European Community, by increasing their number in all Member States and 
by attaching particular attention to the involvement of young people 
who have little opportunity to meet young people from other Member 
States. 
5. The Programme is designed, in particular, to promote the participation 
of young people whose personal circumstances have previously prevented 
them from taking part in existing exchanges between Member States. 
6. The Programme is also aimed at improving the quality of youth exchanges 
by diversifying the type of projects, achieving a better balance 
between the Member States and by providing youth workers involved in 
these exchanges with relevant training. 
7. Youth for Europe exchange projects are targeted at the 15-25 age group. 
Additional measures are aimed at those able to generate a multiplier 
effect so that young people can derive the maximum benefit from their 
participation in exchanges. 
(1) Decision 91/395/EEC of 29 July 1991, OJ L 217, p.25 
(2) COM (90) 378, COM (91) 355, SEC (92) 1262 
8. During its second phase, the Programme 1s articulated according to 
various actions designed to support and achieve Its general objectives 
across the Member States : 
Action 1.1 
Action 1.2 
Action 1.3 direct support for youth exchanges; 
voluntary service activities; 
support for the organization of short study 
visits for youth workers; 
Action 1.4 : support for training activities for youth 
workers, particularly at European level; 
Action 1.5 : pilot projects; 
Action II : support for infrastructures designated by the 
authorities in each Member State, as 
responsible for the coordination of the Youth 
for Europe Programme at national level 
(National Agencies). 
An estimated budget of 25 million ECU was initially earmarked for the 
financing of the second phase of the Programme from 1992 to 1994. 
Community budgetary provision for the period covered by this report 
amounted to 10 million ECU. 
Ill THE OPERATIONAL AND ADVISORY INFRASTRUCTURE 
9. According to article 4 of the Council Decision, the Youth For Europe 
programme is implemented by the Commission in active cooperation with 
the Member States. 
The Youth For Europe Advisory Committee 
10. The Commission is assisted in the implementation of the Programme by an 
Advisory Committee composed of two representatives from each Member 
State, appointed by the Commission further to nominations by each 
country. The Council of Europe and the Youth Forum of the European 
Communities are invited to attend the committee's meetings as 
observers. 
11. The Advisory Committee met three times during the period covered by 
this report. It was consulted on the overall development of the 
Programme in the various Member States, in particular with regard to 
budgetary, evaluation and training aspects. The Committee was also 
informed of the implementation of the Priority Actions by the 
Commission. 
The National Agencies 
12. The Youth For Europe Programme was the first largely decentralized 
Community programme. According to the terms of the Council Decision, 
the Member States are responsible for the promotion, coordination and 
co-financing of its actions and accompanying measures. Each country 
was required to designate structures to this end (National Agencies). 
In Belgium, there are three "National" Agencies, one for each of the 
three language communities. 
13. These structures were set up during the first operational year of the 
first phase of the Programme. Their essential task was to implement 
the Programme i.a. by establishing direct contact with young people in 
their own country, and by advice on the Programme, as well as its 
administration. 
14. Compared with the first phase of the Programme, the period covered by 
this report shows a marked change in the work priorities of the 
National Agencies. As the Programme developed and became known by 
young people at all levels, the National Agencies have played a major 
role in providing guidance and consultancy for young people wishing to 
participate in the Programme, as well as in other transnational 
cooperation activities. 
15. The communication and cooperation network between the National Agencies 
and between the Agencies and the Commission has grown in importance and 
efficiency. One joint working meeting was organised in 1992, dealing 
mainly with operational aspects of the second phase. Other matters 
dealt with concerned the enlargement of the programme to the EFTA/EEA 
countries. 
16. As in previous years, a thematic seminar was organised in 1992 by the 
French National Agency and the Commission in St. Jorioz, in October 
1992, on short study visits for youth workers. The seminar focused on 
the quality and the importance of the study visits in relation to the 
development of youth exchanges, and on suggestions for possible new 
elements and models to develop. Discussion on participation criteria 
and aims, and methodological and didactic contents resulted in a series 
of recommendations to the National Agencies. 
Technical Assistance Unit 
17. The Commission is assisted in the overall implementation of the 
Programme by a technical assistance unit, the Petra/Youth Bureau. 
18. Further to a call for tender, the Petra Youth Bureau was established to 
assist the Commission in the implementation of the second phase of the 
Youth For Europe Programme and the Priority Actions in the youth field 
and also in the implementation of the second phase of the Petra 
programme. 
19. In 1992 the Youth Unit within the Petra Youth Bureau assisted the 
Commission, in particular with the dissemination of information on 
Youth For Europe, the applications made by European non-governmental 
organisations to the Commission for financial support, the central 
management of Action 1.3, the general monitoring and evaluation of the 
Programme, the overall coordination of European-level training courses, 
and the preparation and follow-up of Advisory Committee and National 
Agencies meetings. In addition, the Youth Unit provided advice to the 
National Agencies in all aspects related to the implementation of the 
Programme. 
IV DEVELOPMENT AND RESULTS OF THE ACTIVITIES WITHIN ACTIONS 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 
1.4 AND 1.5 OF THE PROGRAMME 
Action 1.1 : direct support for youth exchanges 
20. Support is given to bi-, tri- or multilateral project-centred exchanges 
lasting at least one full week of programme and involving a group of 16 
to 60 young people aged between 15 and 25 years, resident in the Member 
States. The projects must have an educational purpose and be theme-
related. As explicitly stated in the Council Decision, priority in 
allocating support is given to exchanges which : 
are specially designed for young people with disadvantaged 
backgrounds; 
bring together young people with different social, economic 
and cultural backgrounds; 
make young people aware of the European dimension, for 
example through their multilateral nature; 
stress the active participation of young people from the 
beginning of the project; 
concern regions of the Community where few opportunities 
for exchanges are available; 
concern young people living in peripheral areas and/or 
linguistic areas having a limited coverage. 
21. According to the decentralized nature of the Programme, the National 
Agencies received, in 1992, the major part of the overall budget for 
the direct support of youth exchanges (see Annex 1). 
22. Action 1.1, the core of the Youth For Europe Programme, continued to 
attract the interest and the participation of young people throughout 
the Community. The further development of the National Agencies' 
working infrastructures enabled them to improve their response to the 
demand, the overall result being an increase not only in quantitative, 
but also in qualitative terms. 
23. In quantitative terms, the National Agencies received three to four 
times more applications for youth exchange projects than in the 
previous year. This increase in demand was accompanied by an increase 
in the quality of the projects supported, the National Agencies had to 
assess applications in even greater detail in order to establish their 
relative quality. 
24. During the first phase of the Programme, the main overall objective was 
to make the Programme known. At this stage, the disparity between the 
number of applications received and the financial means available 
obliged the National Agencies to apply priorities in the allocation of 
grants. The advice and guidance provided by the National Agencies 
added to the general improvement of quality. 
25. Estimates based on provisional reports from the National Agencies 
indicate that some 30.000 young people have benefitted directly from 
the Programme in 1992 and that there has been an equal participation of 
young men and women. 
26. On average, 30% of all participants who benefitted from the Youth for 
Europe Programme were young people who were not members of youth 
organisations and associations. The participation of youth 
organisations which have not earlier been involved in the Programme 
also increased, mainly at national and local level. 
27. Bilateral exchange projects are still the most popular within Youth for 
Europe. However, an increase of 10% in tri- and multilateral exchanges 
should be noted. 
28. As multilateral exchange project incur higher costs, an increase in the 
support of such projects has an impact on the financial provision 
available. For this reason, National Agencies which have already 
allocated 20% of their exchange budget for multilateral activities can 
forward further multilateral projects to the Commission for selection 
and grant allocation at central level. 
29. The participation of disadvantaged young people continued to be a 
priority in the second phase of the Programme. The Council Decision 
clearly states that 1/3 of the budget should be allocated to exchanges 
for participants who are disadvantaged for socio-economic, 
geographical, cultural or physical reasons. 
30. The attempts to improve the regional balance in youth exchanges across 
the Member States continued to be successfully in 1992. This did not 
only apply to Member States on the periphery of the Community, but also 
to the regional participation within Member States. It should be 
emphasized that National Agencies made considerable efforts to promote 
bilateral youth exchanges between countries with less tradition of 
exchanges activities. 
31. The increase in the regional participation in the Programme is also due 
to efforts made by the National Agencies in finding appropriate 
partners abroad. The partner-finding system set up during the first 
phase of the Programme improved in efficiency during the period covered 
by this report. 
Action 1.2 : voluntary service activities 
32. The Council Decision states that : "... Grants shall be made available 
on a experimental basis to support transnational projects enabling 
young people to take part in voluntary service activities in another 
Member State". In this context, "voluntary service activities" means 
activities in which young people devote their time and efforts to a 
cause of value to society, excluding similar activities which exist in 
some Member States in the framework of compulsory military service or 
as an alternative thereto". A report on the impact of the voluntary 
service activities during the first two-year experimental phase will be 
presented in 1993. 
33. The Commission decided to encourage the diversification of activities, 
in order to be able to draw lessons from a broad variety of 
experiences, and also in order to consider as many interesting projects 
as possible. 
34. The voluntary service activities supported within the Programme were 
not only limited to practical work, but also allowed for interaction 
between the participants and the hosting community. The quality of 
preparations of the participants before departure was one of the main 
selection criteria for grants, and importance was attached to the 
monitoring and support of the young people during their stay. 
35. During the experimental phase, this Action was managed at central 
level. The National Agencies, however, were requested to distribute 
information, provide advice and guidance for participants and 
organisations. The National Agencies were kept informed of the 
projects selected. 
36. Before launching this activity, the Commission invited representatives 
from the National Agencies, the Youth Forum of the European Communities 
and European NGOs to attend a meeting in January 1992, in order to 
provide necessary information and to establish a commonly agreed base 
for the operation of this activity. 
37. In 1992, the Commission supported 37 voluntary service projects. The 
young people involved devoted their time and effort working in a 
variety of projects linked with environmental protection, development 
of youth exchange projects and youth networks, assistance to the 
elderly, local community work, street work, drugs prevention, the fight 
against racism and xenophobia. An overall evaluation of the impact of 
this Action in its first experimental year will be presented 
separately. 
Action 1.3 : short study visits 
38. This Action is considered an important preparation and support for the 
implementation of Action 1.1. Short study visits are primarily 
designed to enable multilateral groups of youth workers interested in 
the same topics and issues to meet potential partners and to get 
acquainted with each other's culture and youth work realities. 
39. In 1992, the Commission allocated 400 bursaries to the National 
Agencies. The recruitment, selection and preparation of the 
participants, as well as the contents and the practical organisation of 
the visits were the responsibility of the National Agencies. 
40. There is a growing trend towards organising study visits on a regional 
basis, and the National Agencies are increasingly assisted in this 
activity by bodies familiar with the respective regional youth 
services. The feedback from 1992, based on evaluation questionnaires, 
is very positive. Short study visits paved the way for a number of 
youth exchanges and some National Agencies give priority in supporting 
youth exchanges emerging from such visits. 
41. The National Agencies received, on average, three times more 
applications than the number of bursaries available. As a consequence, 
stricter criteria had to be applied in the selection of participants. 
An important element was the subsequent role of participants to act as 
multipliers and to contribute to the quality of youth exchanges. 
Action 1.4 : support for training activities 
42. The support for training activities of youth workers is allocated to 
activities bringing together participants from two or more Member 
States, or training related to youth exchanges. 
43. In 1992, support for training courses was allocated to two series of 
activities : multilateral training activities submitted by European 
NGOs, and training courses organised by the National Agencies. Of the 
18 applications received, 13 were approved, and 10 of these, involving 
284 participants, were submitted by the National Agencies. The effort 
of National Agencies to organise bilateral training courses should be 
noted, as should be the fact that such courses led to contacts between 
youth workers from countries or regions who had not hitherto been able 
to cooperate. 
Action 1.5 : pilot projects 
44. The Council Decision provides aid "... for pilot projects relating to 
youth workers, with the chief aims of : 
making them aware of the situation of young people in other 
Member States; 
enabling them to establish the contacts necessary for the 
organisation of exchanges; 
promoting intercultural training". 
45. Accordingly, two main strands of activity were launched : training and 
information material and systematic exchange of information between 
youth worker trainers and training institutions. Furthermore, other 
pilot projects directly linked to the development of youth exchanges 
and mobility in the European Community could also be submitted for 
funding. 
8 
46. In 1992, the Commission supported 5 projects, involving 405 
participants. The projects supported focused on : 
developing a video-project on youth exchanges within the 
framework of the Programme; 
a "Euro-Caravan" aiming at developing young people's 
knowledge of Europe and each others' countries of origin; 
development of an experimental antiracist learning module 
to be used by youth organisations in general; 
an experimental project aiming to develop the participants' 
professional skills and social and professional 
integration; 
a multilateral pilot project for disadvantaged young 
people, focusing on the progress of a project from start to 
end in order to define examples of good practice for 
dissemination to future project organisers. 
47. The organisations who received funding under this Action have been 
requested to submit a detailed report on the activities carried out. 
An overall evaluation will be available later this year. 
Action II : support to National Agencies 
48. The Council Decision specifies that the Commission shall provide 
support for the National Agencies in connection with the development of 
information, consultation facilities, coordination of activities, and 
the administration of grants for projects within the Youth For Europe 
Programme. 
49. Throughout the year 1992, the National Agencies continued to 
disseminate information on the Programme to young people, exchange 
organisers and relevant bodies at local, regional and national level. 
Special attention was paid to the decentralisation of the information 
and the identification of specific information needs of certain target 
groups and on the means to respond to these needs. 
50. The National Agencies played a major role as providers of advice and 
guidance to young people and youth organisations. The Agencies had to 
meet an overall increase of 20% in requests for consultation compared 
with the previous year. The National Agencies also responded to this 
demand by organising several types of training courses for youth 
workers, including : 
courses at regional and national level, bringing together 
youth workers and those responsible from youth structures; 
bilateral training courses bringing together youth 
organisation representatives from two different countries, 
in order to encourage the development of bilateral youth 
exchanges; 
multilateral training courses at European level, mainly 
focused on the development of intercultural learning. 
51. In addition, the National Agencies started preparing for the future 
enlargement of the Programme to include the EFTA/EEA countries, i.a. by 
producing information material on the subject. This preparatory work 
also included the setting-up of an enlarged partner finding system, the 
planning of specific study visits and training courses, and practical 
measures enabling them to deal with this enlargement. The Commission 
provided supplementary grants for the support of each National Agency's 
preparatory activities in view of the enlargement of the Programme. 
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES 
52. The first operational year of the second phase of the Youth For Europe 
Programme confirms the leading role of the Programme in the promotion 
of European youth exchanges in general. During 1992, the consolidation 
of the existing framework and the emergence of new networks and links, 
in the field of youth mobility and exchanges should be noted in 
particular, as well as the significant increase in demand, far 
exceeding the possibility of support provided by the budget available. 
53. The Programme will continue to support youth exchange projects and the 
measures considered to be of great value and complementarity for its 
development and the increase of its quality. An increase in demand for 
Community financial aid can be envisaged in the years to come and the 
Commission, depending on the funds available, will try to meet young 
people's expectations and their needs in the field of action covered by 
the Programme. 
54. The future enlargement of the Programme to the EFTA/EEA countries will 
bring another dimension to the Programme. Observers from the EFTA/EEA 
countries have already attended National Agencies and Advisory 
Committee meetings and are aware of the current Programme procedures. 
During 1993, these observers will be invited to attend similar meetings 
in order to prepare for the best possible implementation of the 
enlarged Programme. 
55. In 1992, the Commission launched an external evaluation of the 
Programme, covering the first phase and the first year of the second 
phase. The evaluation covered an analysis of the operation and the 
structures of the Programme, the role and the degree of awareness of 
Youth For Europe in the various Member States, the degree of 
implementation of its objectives and the development of the measures 
supporting youth exchanges, in particular the short study visits and 
the training of youth workers. The evaluation report will be published 
during the first half of 1993. 
56. During the first half of 1993, the Commission organised a third round 
of bilateral discussions with delegations from all Member States on the 
implementation and future perspectives of the Programme. 
10 
57. The second phase of Youth for Europe comes to an end on 31 December 
1994. The Commission will submit a proposal for the third phase of the 
Programme before the end of 1993, taking into consideration the 
ratification process of the Treaty on European Union. When preparing 
this proposal, the Commission will take into account the present 
development and impact of the Programme, the results of its evaluation 
and the bilateral discussions with the Member States, as well as 
coherence and complementarity with other Community programmes and 
actions aimed at the transnational cooperation of young people. 
77 Annex 1 
YOUTH FOR EUROPE PROGRAMME 
BUDGET 1992 
Action 1.1 
Action 1.2 
Action 1.3 
Action 1.4, 1.5 
Action II Direct grants to young people 
Voluntary service 
Study visits 
Professional development for 
youth workers and Pilot projects 
European level activities and 
technical support 
National Agencies 
Total estimated budget available for expenditure 
in 1992 7f180.000 ECU * 
120.000 ECU 
360.000 ECU 
340.000 ECU 
1.000.000 ECU 
1.000.000 ECU 
10.000.000 ECU 
* : this sum includes support for multilateral activities submitted by 
National Agencies and European NGOs (10%) 
Action 1.1 : Financial Action 1.3 : Number of 
aid for youth exchanges grants for the organi-
(1) by Member State sat ion of short study 
visits by Member State 
B 269.493 25 
D 1.081.985 55 
DK 215.395 15 
E 813.150 50 
F 811.464 55 
GR 328.232 50 
I 988.524 50 
IRL 211.451 15 
L 147.665 50 
NL 352.018 25 
P 346.881 25 
UK 895.742 55 
EC 718.000 
1 TOTAL J 7.180.000 400 | 
(1) : Grants calculated according to the parameters set down in article 3.A, 
of the appendix to the Council Decision of 29 July 1991 (91/395/EEC) 
s\l 
ACTION 1.1 
Breakdown of age of participants in % for 1992 
S) '3 
ACTION 1.1 
Gender of participants in % for 1992 
Male 
49% 
Female 
51% 
i 7 
18 i 
16 i 
14 j 
12 { 
10 t 
8 ACTION 1.2 
Projects received/accepted by Member State in 1992 
hLïàt 1 1 
m * o o or UJ u-on REC 
ACC 
ir 
ACTION 1.4 
Breakdown of age of participants in % in 1992 
25+ ™ 16 17 
14% 2/o2% 2% 18 
5% 
ACTION 1.4 
Gender of participants in % in 1992 

n^ 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM (93) 524 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 16 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-559-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-60161-2 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg