Resolution of the Council and the Ministers of Youth meeting within the Council of 8 February 1999 on youth participation
Date: 1999-02-08
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: European Union, citizens' Europe, social participation, young person

17.2.1999

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

C  42/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

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;

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
life  and  the
social,  political,  cultural  and  economic 
promotion  of  personal  development  in  the  foreground,

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;

NOTE  that  both  the  substance  and  the  time  horizons  of
the  decisions  taken  at  the  Community 
level  and  at
national  levels  have  a  long(cid:220)term  impact  on  the  future
prospects  and  opportunities  for  the  young  generation;

Recalling  the  Lisbon  Declaration  on  youth  policies  and
programmes(cid:216)(˛)  which  postulates  that  the  active  partici(cid:220)
pation  of  youth  is  to  be  encouraged  in  all  spheres  of
society  and  in  decision(cid:220)making  processes;

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

Considering 
to  protect
the  resolution  on  measures 
minors  in  the  European  Union,  adopted  by  the  European
Parliament  on  12  December  1996(cid:216)(ˇ),  which  calls  upon
the  Member  States  to  promote  the  political  participation
of  young  people  and,  in  particular,  to  support  the  esta(cid:220)
blishment  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  partici(cid:220)
pation  in  the  familiy  and  in  society;

(˛)(cid:217)Adopted  at  the  World  Conference  of  Ministers  responsible

for  youth,  Lisbon,  August  1998.

(ˇ)(cid:217)OJ  C  20,  20.1.1997,  p.  170.

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  partici(cid:220)
pation 
in  European  and  national  civic  society  and
political  affairs,  the  objective  being  to  enable  young
people,  on  a  step(cid:220)by(cid:220)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
their
in  all  aspects  of  active  citizenship, 
political  participation  and 
the
European  Union,  thereby  involving  the  young  citizens  in
the  process  of  further  European  integration;

their  mobility  within 

including 

C  42/2

EN

Official  Journal  of  the  European  Communities

17.2.1999

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:

-(cid:217)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,

-(cid:217)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,

-(cid:217)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,

-(cid:217)to  enter  into  dialogue  with  young  people  in  the  areas
outlined  above,  and  to  take  the  opinion  of  young
people 
in  the  development  of
Community  programmes  and  activities  in  these  areas,

into  consideration 

-(cid:217)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:

-(cid:217)supporting  the  creativity  of  young  people  to  develop
in  civic

different  forms  of  participatory  dialogues 
society,

-(cid:217)encouraging 

in  the  best  possible  way 

innovative

participatory  projects  and  structures,

-(cid:217)encouraging  the  participation  of  young  people 

in
democratic  processes  at  local,  regional  and  national
level,

-(cid:217)promoting  the  integration  of  innovative  participatory
in  democratic

learning  opportunities 

projects  and 
decision(cid:220)making  structures,

-(cid:217)encouraging  the  active  participation  of  young  people
in  the  development  of  the 
in
particular  for  young  people  with  little  experience  of
such  involvement,

local  community, 

-(cid:217)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,

-(cid:217)encouraging  within  existing  youth  associations  and
youth  organisations  opportunities  for  cooperation
and  participation  with  open  access  to  all  young
people,

-(cid:217)recognising  the  valuable  contribution  provided  by
youth  associations  and  organisations  to  the  devel(cid:220)
opment  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  appro(cid:220)
priate,  to  assess  the  potential  effects  of  measures  to  be
launched  on  the  living  conditions  of  young  people.