P5_TA(2004)0119
Involvingyoungpeopleindecision-making
European Parliament resolution on the Communication from the Commission to the Council:
Follow-uptotheWhitePaperonaNewImpetusforEuropeanYouth/dashProposedcommonobjec-tivesfortheparticipationandinformationofyoungpeople,inresponsetotheCouncilResolutionof 27June 2002 regarding the framework of European cooperation in the youth field
(COM(2003)184/dashC5-0404/2003/dash2003/2127(INI))
TheEuropeanParliament ,
/dash havingregardtotheCommissionCommunication(COM(2003)184/dashC5-0404/2003),/dash having regard to Decision No 1031/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
13April2000establishingthe‘Youth’Communityactionprogramme(
1),
/dash havingregardtotheconclusionsoftheEducationandYouthCouncilof14February2002welcoming
theWhitePaperasastartingpointforthecreationofaframeworkofcooperationonyouthpolicyin
Europe,
/dash havingregardtoitsresolutionof14May2002ontheCommissionWhitePaper‘ANewImpetusfor
EuropeanYouth’(2),
/dash havingregardtotheResolutionoftheCouncilandoftherepresentativesoftheGovernmentsofthe
MemberStates,meetingwiththecouncilof27June2002regarding theframeworkofEuropean
cooperationintheyouthfield(3),
/dash havingregardtotheCouncilResolutionof25November2003oncommonobjectivesforpartici-
pationbyandinformationforyoungpeople(4),
/dash havingregardtotheCommissionWhitePaperof21November2001entitled‘ANewImpetusfor
European Youth’, which proposed a new framework for youth policy cooperation in Europe(COM(2001)681),
/dash havingregardtoArticle149oftheECTreaty,
/dash havingregardtoRules47(2)and163ofitsRulesofProcedure,
/dash havingregardtothereportoftheCommitteeonCulture,Youth,Education,theMediaandSportand
theopinionoftheCommitteeonWomen’sRightsandEqualOpportunities(A5-0081/2004),
A. whereas formulation of the commonobjectives followed on from an unprecedented consultation
processinvolvingyoungpeople,youthorganisations,researchersintheyouthfieldandpoliticalrep-resentativesatregional,nationalandEuropeanlevel,
B. whereasyoungpeoplemustbeseenasequalpartnersinthisconsultationprocess,andyoungpeople
whodonotbelongtoanorganisationand,inparticular,groupsofdisadvantagedyoungpeoplemustnotbeexcludedfromit,
C. whereas the open method of coordination is to be used for the objectives of participation and
information,
(1) OJL117,18.5.2000,p.1.
(2) OJC180E,31.7.2003,p.145.
(3) OJC168,13.7.2002,p.2.
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D. whereas young people are becoming less and less involved in existing organisational structures,
whereasyoungpeoplemustbegivenanopportunitytoinvolvethemselvesmoreinvoluntarywork,inexistingorganisationssuchaspoliticalpartiesandtradeunionsaswellasothersocialmovementsandorganisationsandtakepartmoresimply,swiftlyandeasilyinthedecision-makingprocessesofpubliclife,
E. havingregardtothepositivecontributionofvoluntaryworktothedevelopmentofactivecitizenship,F. whereasyoungpeoplemustbeencouragedtotakepartinthefirstEuropeanelectionsoftheenlarged
EU,
General
1. WelcomestheCommission’splansforcommonobjectivesforparticipationandinformation,which
makeasubstantialcontributiontosettinganewframeworkforEuropeanyouthpolicy;
2. Welcomes the Council’s acceptance of these objectives in its abovementioned Resolution of
25November2003asanimportantstepforwardinthepoliticaldialogueonyouthpolicycooperation;
3. RegretsthatthesubstanceofthatResolutiondoesnotfullyreflecttheCommission’soriginalpro-
posals;
ProceduralissuesandgeneralframeworkproposalsTheopenmethodofcoordination
4. ConsidersthattheCommission’sproposedopenmethodofcoordinationisanappropriatewayto
achievebettercooperationatEuropeanlevelinthespecificareaofyouthpolicy,andcallsforaninter-institutionalagreementtobeconcludedalongtheselines,asrequestedinitsresolutionof5June2003ontheapplicationoftheopenmethodofcoordination(
1);
Implementationoftheobjectives
5. Callsforspeedyandunbureaucratic implementationoftheactionlinestoachieve theproposed
objectives,withduerespectfortheprincipleofsubsidiarityasregardsthecurrentMemberStatesandthe
accessioncountries;
6. Welcomesthefactthattheproposedmeasuresaretobeimplementedinadecentralisedway,observ-
ingtheprinciplesoftransparencyanddemocraticcontrol;considersthatvisibilityshouldalsobeafeatureoftheachievementofthecommonobjectives;
7. CallsontheCouncilandtheMemberStatestomakespecificproposalsforregularexchangesof
experience andto formulate evaluation criteria sothat an objective comparison can be made, takingaccountofthedifferingstructuresindifferentcountries,andtomakethenecessaryfinancialresourcesavailableforthiscooperation;
8. Endorsesthedemandthat,whensettingtheframeworkforyouthpolicyandalsowhenimplement-
ingtheactionlines,theremustbenodiscriminationongroundsofgender,race,ethnicity,socialback-
ground,religionorideology,disability,ageorsexualorientation;
9. Emphasises that there must be gender equality and that problematic areas for women must be
identifiedandappropriatemeasuresdevisedtoovercometheseobstacles;
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10. WelcomesthefactthatthedraftTreatyestablishingaConstitutionforEurope(1)refersexplicitlyto
theparticipationofyoungpeopleinthedemocraticlifeofEuropeinArticleIII-182andtothecreationofaEuropeanVoluntaryHumanitarianAidCorpsinArticleIII-223;
11. IsconvincedthattheguidelinesannouncedintheWhitePapershouldbedevelopedwithoutdelay
andthereforecallsontheCommissiontodevelopjointlywiththeEuropeanParliamentandtheCouncil
specificmechanismsandstructuralprerequisitesinordertotakegreateraccountoftheconcernsofyoungpeopleinotherCommunitypolicies;
Participation
12. EndorsestheCommission’sbasicapproachofconsultinginternationalyouthorganisations,which
shouldbeadoptedincreasinglyindevelopingopencoordinationintheyouthpolicyarea,andcallsalsofornationalyouthcouncilstobeconsultedlikewise;
13. CallsontheMemberStates,usingthebottom-upprinciple,toidentifyopportunitiesforyoung
peopletoparticipateindecision-makingatlocal,regionalandnationallevel,tofindeffectivewaysforyoungpeople’sviewstobeheardandtomaketheresultsofthisparticipationvisibletothegeneralpublicandtoyoungpeoplethemselves;
14. Isconvincedthatahighlevelofparticipationofyoungpeopleinthedecision-makingprocessin
theareaofyouthpolicyisneededtoincreasetheeffectivenessofyoungpeopleatalllevelsofdecisionmaking;
15. CallsontheMemberStatestoimproveandstrengthenexistingframeworksandstructuresatlocal
level(townyouthgroups,nationalandregionalyouthcouncils)and/ortocreatenewonestomakeitpossibletocoordinateyouthworkandyouthpolicyanddirectlyinvolveyoungpeople;
16. Pointsoutthatexistingyouthorganisationsandnetworksintheareaofyouthworkshouldbe
recognisedandreinforcedsothatsynergyisfullyexploitedandongoingdialoguebecomesroutine;
17. IsconvincedthatautonomyandbestpracticemechanismshelptostrengthentheEuropeandimen-
sionofyouthwork;
18. CallsontheMemberStates,whenimplementingtheactionlinestoachievetheproposedobjectives,
tomakesurethattheparticipationofyoungpeopleandyouthorganisationsatnationallevelisgovernedbytheprincipleofequaltreatment;
19. WelcomesandendorsestheCommission’sintentiontoencourageyoungpeople’sinvolvementin
societyandabroadspectrumofyouthinitiativesandatthesametimecallsontheCommissionandtheMemberStatestoencourageyoungpeopletovoteintheEuropeanelectionsin2004;
20. Isinfavourofusinginnovativemethodsinformal,non-formalandinformaleducationandsuppor-
tingorganisationsthatareactiveinthisfield;
21. Callsforyouthworkinitiativesthatareopentoallandprovidedbyprivateorganisationstobe
linkedtoEuropeanaffairscoursesofferedinschools;
Information
22. Calls on the Commissionand the Member States, in further developing and supporting youth
informationnetworks(such as youth informationcentres), to ensure that measures and materials are
developed,incooperationwithyouthorganisationsandrepresentativesofyouthgroups,sothatyoung
people can obtain, though local,personal contact, high quality informationthat has been specificallydevelopedforthem;
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23. CallsforparticularattentiontobepaidtotheCommission’sinformationnetworksandforawider
rangeofdirecttrainingandinformationeventstobemadeavailabletoprovidersofpoliticaleducationforyoungpeople;
24. CallsontheCommissionandtheMemberStatestosupportmeasuresthatencourageyoungpeople
themselvestobecomesourcesofinformationforotheryoungpeople,andstressestheimportanceofagreeing qualitative andquantitative benchmarksforcomparing youngpeople’sparticipation inyouthinformation;
25. Pointsoutthatinplanningandimplementinginformationpolicyinthecontextofpoliticaland
sociallifeatEuropean,nationalandlocallevel,youngpeoplemustbeseenasaspecifictargetgroup,
whichisparticularlyimportantwithregardtotheplannedinformationcampaignin2004onenlargement
andtheEuropeanelections;callsforinclusivelanguagetobeusedinallpublicationsproducedforcam-paigns;
26. Isconvincedthat,inthisregard,youngpeoplemusthaveunlimitedaccesstoinformationproducts
thatarecomprehensible,user-friendlyandappropriatetotheirexpectationsandneeds;
Widerperspectivesforyouthpolicy
Thefutureofthe‘Youth’actionprogramme
27. CallsontheCommissiontodevelopanindependentfollow-upprogrammeforthe‘Youth’action
programme,withsufficientfinancialresourcestomeetthegrowingdemandsintheyouthpolicyarea;
28. Proposes,inthecontextofpreparingfutureactionprogrammesintheyouthfield,thatasmany
youngpeopleaspossiblefromdifferentcountriesareinvolvedinthemeasuresasatargetgroup,ensuring
thatthereisfairrepresentationofallregionsofEuropewithaspecialattentionbeingpaidtothemost
disadvantagedareas;
29. Furtherproposessupportingcross-borderregionalgroupsinwhichyoungpeoplecanaddresscross-
borderissues,enablingthemtomeetinthecontextofintensiveinternationalcooperationanddiscussissuessuchaspeacekeeping,environmentalprotectionandsoon;
30. Proposesthemotto‘overcomingexclusion’asthebasisforthefuturethematicframeworkforyouth
projects;thiswouldincludesuchcomplexsubjectareasassocialinclusion,xenophobia,interculturallearn-ing,theenvironment,artasabridgetocommunication,sportandglobalisation;
31. Emphasisesthatthefutureyouthprogrammeshouldpromotethepoliticalandsocialparticipation
ofyoungpeopleinaEuropean context;notesthattheprogramme shouldconsequentlyallowyoungpeopleroomformanoeuvreifandtotheextentthattheywishtodecidethemselvesthepoliticalandsocialissuesinrelationtowhichtheywishtodevelopjointprojects;youthorganisationsandtheorgani-sationscarryingoutprojectsshouldthereforebeconsultedregularlywithregardtothedefinitionoftheprogramme’sobjectivesandpriorities;
EuropeanYouthWeekasapermanentfixture
32. WishestoseeathoroughassessmentoftheEuropeanYouthWeek2003andcallsontheCommis-
siontomakeanynecessaryadjustmentstothisinitiativebasedonthisassessmentandtoascertainwhetheritcanbemadeintoapermanentfixtureandadurablefeatureofEuropeanyouthpolicy,andcallsforplanstoincludeanintroductory‘youthparliament’day,givingyoungpeopleanopportunityactivelytoexperiencedemocracyatworkintheEuropeanParliament;
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33. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,Commission,thegovernmentsand
parliamentsoftheMemberStatesandaccessioncountriesandtheEuropeanYouthForum.C98E/178 EN23.4.2004 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanUnion
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