EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 22.10.2004 
COM(2004) 694 final 
  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE CO MMISSION TO THE COUNCIL 
Follow-up to the White Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth: evaluation of 
activities conducted in the framework of European cooperation in the youth field 
 
EN 2   EN TABLE OF CONTENTS 
1. Introduction................................................................................................................ .. 3 
2. European cooperation in the youth field ...................................................................... 3 2.1. The process............................................................................................................... .... 3 
2.2. The framework of European cooperation in the youth field........................................ 4 3. The open method of coordina tion in the youth field.................................................... 5 
3.1. Implementation of the OMC ........................................................................................ 5 3.2. The fourteen common objectives of the OMC............................................................. 6 3.3. Evaluation of the OMC ................................................................................................ 6 4. Reinforcing the youth dimens ion in other policies ...................................................... 7 
4.1. Lifelong learning......................................................................................................... .7  
4.2. Employment and social integration.............................................................................. 8 4.3. Combatting racism and xenophobia............................................................................. 8 4.4. Autonomy for young people ........................................................................................ 8 4.5. Evaluation of the taking into account of the youth dimension in other policies.......... 8 
5. Other initiatives and actions undertaken in the context of implementing the White 
Paper priorities ............................................................................................................. 9 
5.1. Participation ............................................................................................................. .... 9 
5.2. Information............................................................................................................... .... 9 
5.3. Voluntary activities .................................................................................................... 10  
5.4. Greater understanding and knowledge of youth ........................................................ 10 5.5. New European programme for youth......................................................................... 10 6. Conclusions................................................................................................................ 1 0 
 
EN 3   EN 1. I NTRODUCTION  
The European Union has been developi ng programmes for young people since the 
late 1980s, but not until the Commissi on published its White Paper on a New 
Impetus for European Youth1 in November 2001 did the development of policy 
cooperation in this field real ly start. The cooperation pr ocess launched by the White 
Paper and, in particular, the implementati on of an open method of coordination in 
this field have broadened and deepened th e discussion of youth issues at European 
and national level, as well as at the le vel of those principally concerned, young 
people themselves. 
The dynamic launched by this White Paper obt ained more concrete form with the 
adoption by the European Council in June  2004 of the Constitutional Treaty for the 
European Union which provides for the deve lopment of the legal basis in the youth 
field. 
The prospect of reinforcing its policies and activities to promote active citizenship, in 
particular among young Europeans, is also  taken up in the Co mmission’s proposals 
for a new financial framework from 2007 onwards2. It will be for the Council and the 
newly elected European Parliament to consolidate and develop these guidelines, and for the new Commission to implement them, specifically in the context of the future YOUTH IN ACTION programme
3. 
In the context of the launch of a new cy cle in youth policy, th e Commission takes the 
view that it would be useful and opportune to take stock of the progress made since 
publication of the White Pape r, in terms of the mandate  expressly conferred upon it 
by the Council and the undertakings made with  regard to all thos e involved in this 
process, in particular young people.  
This document is therefore a response to the Council’s request in its Resolution of 
June 2002 regarding the framework of Eu ropean cooperation in the youth field4. In 
this Resolution, the Council called on the Commission to draw up an evaluation report on the cooperation framework includi ng an evaluation of the open method of 
coordination and, as appropriate, suggesti ons for its modification. The provisional 
timeframe was for this report to be examined by the Council in 2004. 
2. E
UROPEAN COOPERATION IN THE YOUTH FIELD  
2.1. The process 
The White Paper identified the main challe nges for youth policy in a European socio-
demographic context characterised by a growing disequilibrium between the young 
and the not so young and changing living conditions for young people, at a time 
                                                 
1 COM(2001) 681 final of 21.11.2001 
2 COM(2004) 101 final of 10.2.2004 
3 COM (2004) 471 of 14.7.2004  
4 OJ C 168 of 13.7.2002 
 
EN 4   EN when the European Union is enlarging as never before and against the backdrop of 
increasing globalisation.  
It was based on a very broad consu ltation among young people, reflecting the 
determination to bring citizens closer to the decisions a ffecting them, thus 
contributing to bringing political institutions closer to the public. 
The White Paper announced a new ambition for youth and proposed a new 
cooperation framework for the EU in this field that was both ambitious, reflecting 
young people’s aspirations, and realistic, settin g priorities and being mindful of the 
various levels of responsibility. 
The European Parliament5 supported the proposals in the White Paper and its 
implementation. The same applies to the European Economic and Social Committee6 
and the Committee of the Regions7.  
The White Paper was a turning point in youth policy. The Commission’s main 
findings on youth turned out to be well founde d, and the priorities were confirmed by 
researchers, national author ities and youth organisations. 
The White Paper is still an important refe rence point in the Union and in the other 
countries of Europe and the wider world. Ho wever, the youth field is still evolving, 
and it will soon be time to look at the priorities to be dealt with over the coming years. 
2.2. The framework of European cooperation in the youth field  
The framework of European cooperati on in the youth field, established by the 
Council Resolution of June 2002 based on the Commission White Paper, has two 
complementary strands: 
a) applying the open method of coordinati on (OMC) to the specific priorities of 
the youth field; 
b) taking better account of the yout h dimension in other policies. 
The Resolution establishes the principles of flexibility in the method, non-
discrimination and equal opportunities, the involvement of young people and the association of the app licant countries in the cooperation framework. 
In the Resolution, the four priorities proposed in the White  Paper, i.e. (i) 
participation, (ii) information, (iii) voluntary activities among young people, (iv) 
greater understanding and knowledge of youth, are confirmed as priorities of the 
OMC, and the procedures to be followe d which should lead to the adoption of 
common objectives by the Council and th e Member States are laid down. The 
Resolution also provides mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the objectives. 
                                                
 
5 Report No A5-0126/2002 of 19.4.2002 
6 OJ C149 of 21.6.2002 
7 Opinion 389 of 17.7.2002 
 
EN 5   EN The Resolution also states which policies and programmes should, henceforth, 
include a youth dimension: lifelong lear ning, mobility, employment and social 
integration, combating racism and xenophobia. The Commission’s intention to 
convene a working group on the autonomy  of young people in society is noted. 
3. T HE OPEN METHOD OF COORDI NATION IN THE YOUTH FIELD  
3.1. Implementation of the OMC 
In accordance with th e Resolution, the European Co mmission sent questionnaires to 
the Member States and the applicant count ries in July 2002 concerning participation 
and information and, one year later, ques tionnaires on voluntary activities and greater 
understanding of youth. 
The Commission analysed all the replies, drafted summary reports and drew up draft 
common objectives accompanied by lines of action. 
The Commission organised, at European leve l, consultations on the questionnaires, 
summary reports and draft common objectives  involving the main parties concerned. 
The European Youth Forum8 was systematically consul ted, without excluding other 
forms of consultation, for example during the conferences with young people (point 
5.1). Depending on the theme in question and the opportunities provided, the network of researchers in youth issues and the young people th emselves attending 
the conferences organised by the Presidenci es of the Council were also consulted. 
The common objectives relating to young pe ople’s participation and information 
were proposed by the Commission in April 2003
9, and the Council adopted them in a 
Resolution of November 200310. 
The proposed common objectiv es for voluntary activities11 and for a greater 
understanding and knowledge of youth12 were adopted by the Commission in April 
2004 and should be the subject of resolutions  at the Council meeting in November 
2004. 
The meeting of the Directors-General for Youth, a body for discussion and informal 
policy consultation, has become partic ularly important in supporting the 
implementation of the common objec tives adopted by the Council.  
Three working groups have started examini ng 1) participation at local level, 2) 
information and 3) young people’s commitme nt and the recognition thereof. The aim 
of these groups is to promote the exchange of good practices in order to support and speed up the implementation of the objectives  established. The results will be used 
                                                
 
8 http://www.youthforum.org/en/  – The European Youth Forum is an international organisation 
comprising national youth councils and international youth NGOs representing the interests of young people throughout Europe. It is the only platform in Europe representing youth organisations at 
international bodies such as the European Union, the Council of Europe and the UN. 
9 COM(2003) 184 final of 11.04.2003 
10 OJ C 295, 05.12.2003. 
11 COM(2004) 337 final of 30.04.2004 
12 COM(2004) 336 final of 30.04.2004 
 
EN 6   EN for the implementation of the objectives at  national level and the drafting of the 
reports which the Member States have undertaken to produce by the end of 2005. They will also serve as a basis for the Council’s Youth working party and the Ministers themselves to deal with these subjects.  
3.2. The fourteen common objectives of the OMC 
The Commission proposed fourteen objec tives, four of which come under the 
heading of a greater understanding and know ledge of the youth field and ten target 
young people directly: 
– To create the conditions for young people’s active citizenship, three 
participation  objectives were adopted by the Council concerning young 
people’s participation in the life of their local community, their participation in the system of representative democracy and learning to participate. 
– With regard to young people’s information , a precondition for participation, 
the three objectives adopted by the Counc il relate to access to information, the 
quality of systems and the greater involvement of yo ung people in the 
preparation and dissemination of information. 
– Voluntary activities exist in all the Member States in various forms, and the 
European Voluntary Service has been enjoying ever more success within the framework of the YOUTH programme. Th e Commission’s objectives are to 
develop these activities in their diversit y, facilitating access to them for even 
more young people and promoting and bette r recognising their individual and 
collective benefit. 
– Policy discussion and action must be based on a greater understanding and 
knowledge of youth.  The Commission’s first two objectives focus on 
identifying and updating existing knowledge , firstly on priority themes specific 
to the youth field and in a second stage on other themes of general interest to 
young people, whilst the next two objectiv es relate to the quality of the 
methods and tools, on the one hand, and the promotion of exchanges, dialogue 
and network creation on the other. 
3.3. Evaluation of the OMC  
The new framework of European coope ration has become a reality, and the 
Commission’s undertakings have  all been fulfilled. The youth field is now a political 
field where all those involved are mobilised, in dialogue and cooperating with each other.  
The choice of a flexible open method of c oordination adapted to youth has facilitated 
the setting up of a coherent plan of action and the establishment of political priorities. These European priorities also constitute a reference point for the establishment of 
national priorities. 
This method of working has mobilised the national administrations and given 
visibility to activities de veloped for youth. The speed at  which the work plan has 
been developed has enabled each of the successive Presidencies to make the process 
 
EN 7   EN of implementing the objectives coming under the responsibility of the Member States 
even more dynamic.  
The open method of coordination for youth is  different from the open methods of 
coordination in other areas to the extent that: 
– the objectives laid down are still qualitat ive, and there are no plans to quantify 
them at this stage (‘benchmarks’); 
– the implementation of the objectives, left up to the Member States, is not the 
subject of national plan s of action coordinated at European level. 
Without bringing these choices, which ha ve proved to be i ndispensable for a 
consensual approach in the implementati on of the new cooperation framework, into 
question, it is important to consider the necessary balance between the method's 
flexibility and effectiveness.  
The implementation of the common objectives  by the Member States is crucial for 
the success of the OMC. Each Member St ate, depending on its national situation, 
should draw up a plan of action to  achieve the agreed objectives. 
Finally, it is essential for young people to be  consulted at all levels, European as well 
as national, and at the vari ous stages of the procedure (answers to questionnaires, 
drafting and follow-up of the national actio ns, reports for the Commission, etc.). 
4. R EINFORCING THE YOUTH DIME NSION IN OTHER POLICIES  
Certain policies have a c onsiderable impact on young peopl e’s lives, in particular 
those mentioned as priorities in the White  Paper and listed in the Council Resolution 
of June 2002: lifelong learning, mobility, employment and social integration, 
combating racism and xenophobia., and aut onomy to exercise citizenship. The 
following actions have been developed at European level: 
4.1. Lifelong learning 
The Council’s Youth working party contribut ed to the Council Resolution of June 
200213 on lifelong learning, which recognises th e value of non-formal and informal 
education in youth activi ties outside a formal educational framework. 
Follow-up was ensured in the form of the implementation of the work programme on 
the objectives of education and training systems14 and the Copenhagen Declaration 
on Enhanced European cooperation in  vocational education and training15. 
The European Commission has also jointly  drafted a working document with the 
Council of Europe16, and organised a research seminar on the recognition and 
validation of education and training in the youth field17. 
                                                 
13 OJ C 163, 09.07.2002. 
14 http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/2010/et_2010_en.html 
15 http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/copenhagen/index_en.html 
 
EN 8   EN 4.2. Employment and social integration 
The Council’s Youth working party contri buted to the Employment Committee with 
a view to taking young people’s situati on into account in the revision of the 
European Employment Strate gy and its guidelines in 2003.  
In May 2004, the Youth Council adopted a Resolution on young people and social 
inclusion which recommends, in partic ular, that young people with fewer 
opportunities be given priority in the open method of coordination relating to 
combating social exclusion. 
4.3. Combatting racism and xenophobia 
In May 2004, the Council adopted a Declaration on Racism and Intolerance in 
relation to Young People18 which establishes a plan of  action up to the end of 2005. 
The Commission has stepped up its cooperation with the European Monitoring 
Centre on Racism and Xenophobia  19 and has supported many projects to combat 
racism and xenophobia using the YOUTH progr amme, in particular a European 
Internet site against raci sm and xenophobia for young people20.  
4.4. Autonomy for young people 
In October 2003, the Commission organi sed a seminar on young people’s autonomy 
for experts on various subjects. This is a complex subject relating to young people’s 
economic independence, their free choice  of path in life and their personal 
development. Young people’s autonomy is  linked to other policies: education, 
employment, social protection and financia l security. Suggestions for action to be 
taken were made in May 2004 to the Di rectors-General for Youth, who approved 
them. 
4.5. Evaluation of the taking into account of the youth dimension in other policies 
The various policies recognised as priori ties in the White Paper have all been 
examined closely to ensure that they take into account issues relating to young 
people.  
The initiatives taken are helping to build  bridges for the necessary interactions 
between the various methods, pl ans of action and programmes. 
The results are encouraging, but the first lessons to be drawn are: 
                                                                                                                                                         
16 http://www.coe.int/T/E/Cultural_Co-
operation/Youth/2._Priorities/research_partnership.asp#TopOfPage 
17 http://www.training-youth.net/ 
18 Declaration of the Council and th e Representatives of the Government s of the Member States, meeting 
within the Council, on Racism and Intolerance in relation to Young People (9405/04 of 28 May 2004). 
19 http://www.eumc.eu.int/eumc/index.php 
20 http://www.d-a-s-h.org 
 
EN 9   EN – that you have to better understand the situ ation of young people with regard to 
these policies in order to influence them, which is why a greater knowledge 
and understanding of youth is important; 
– that all actors (policymakers, youth organi sations) at all levels (local, regional, 
national and European) have to be mob ilised in order to have real impact. 
5. O THER INITIATIVES AND ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN IN THE CONTEXT OF 
IMPLEMENTING THE WHITE PAPER PRIORITIES  
In addition to the activities provided for in the Council Resolution, the Commission 
undertook to step up the Union’s political action in the priori ty areas identified in the 
White Paper.  
5.1. Participation 
The participation of young people is a policy ob jective and is treated as such in the 
OMC. It is also one of the principles of  good governance at European level. In this 
context: 
– The Commission has organised a direct  dialogue with youn g people and their 
organisations at each step of the OMC. 
– The conferences co-organised with the Council Presidencies on subjects 
relating to young people’s participation a nd voluntary activities have facilitated 
the development of regular and stru ctured dialogue between young people, 
administrations and policymakers. 
– The Commission has supported the initia tives to involve young people actively 
in the discussions surrounding the drafting of the new European Constitution 
(YOUTH 2002, convention for young people in July 2002). 
In the context of new activities for th e benefit of young people, the Commission has 
launched two calls for proposals for pilot pr ojects in favour of  youth participation21 
and their networking. 
5.2. Information 
The European Youth Week from 29 September to 5 October 200322 enabled to 
highlight the political acti on taken in favour of young peopl e at European level and 
in the Member States, as we ll as the results of the YOUT H programme, with a series 
of events at the European Parliame nt, the Commission and throughout Europe. 
The launch of the European portal on youth23, in May 2004, was the conclusion of a 
long-term project to provide accessible, useful and high-quality information for 
young Europeans, as announced in the White Paper.  
                                                 
21 OJ C/140 of 14.6.2003 and OJ C/113 of 30.4.2004 
22 http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/youthweek/index_en.html 
23 http://europa.eu.int/youth/ 
 
EN 10   EN 5.3. Voluntary activities 
Together with the Italian Presidency, th e Commission organised, in November 2003, 
a conference on civic services in Eur ope. The conference called for enhanced 
cooperation between these serv ices at European level24. 
5.4. Greater understanding and knowledge of youth 
The Commission has published the results of two Eurobarometer surveys, one in 
2001 for the Member States of the Union25, the other in 2003 fo r the then candidate 
countries26, confirming that young people’s interest  in Europe is accompanied by a 
certain mistrust of traditional political institutions. 
Researchers working in the youth field were involved in drawing up the White Paper, 
the proposed common objectives, the confer ences organised by the Presidencies and 
the work of the group on autonomy. 
An agreement between the Commission a nd the Council of Europe has led to 
progress in the development of a database on youth policies, and the development and enhancement of analyses and data on the OMC priorities. 
5.5. New European programme for youth 
On 14 July 2004, the Commission proposed a new European programme for youth 
for the period 2007-2013, entitled YOUTH IN  ACTION. This new programme will 
ensure continuity with the current program me and facilitate the development of new 
activities in support of the pr iorities established in the c ontext of policy cooperation, 
in particular young people’s participati on, which contributes to their active 
citizenship, the extension of voluntary act ivities and support for the studies and 
research required to gain a better understanding of youth. 
6. C
ONCLUSIONS  
The Commission calls on the Council to rec ognise the results achieved so far in the 
area of European cooperation in the youth field. 
All the undertakings in the Commissi on White Paper have been fulfilled. A 
consistent cooperation framework has been  created. A widespread mobilisation of 
young people, youth organisations, public au thorities, ministers and European 
institutions has been achieved. 
Yet, already, the Union is facing new chal lenges in this field. It is important to 
prevent any loss of the new impetus imparted by the White Paper. Once the new Constitutional Treaty has been ratified, new actions will be needed, given that 
society in general and youth in pa rticular are evolving so fast.  
                                                
 
24 http://europa.eu.int/comm/youth/whitepaper/post-launch/post_en_3.html#voluntary 
25 EB 55.1 ‘Young Europeans in 2001’ 
26 CCEB 2003.1 ‘Youth in the New Europe’ 
 
EN 11   EN For this reason, the Commission would like to  draw the Council’s attention to the 
following aspects: 
– The priorities of the framework of Eu ropean cooperation in the youth field, 
which should guide political action in this  area in the coming years (reinforcing 
existing priorities, new prioriti es, etc.) must be discussed. 
– The balance between the flexibility a nd effectiveness of the open method of 
coordination in the youth field must be reassessed.  
– The open method of coordination must lead  to effective action at Member State 
level, in particular in order to continue to guara ntee young people’s support for 
and commitment to the process. 
– Young people should be consulted constant ly, in a structured and effective way 
at both national and European level. 
The Commission will communicate its conclu sions to the European Parliament, the 
European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.