Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 25 May 2007 on creating equal opportunities for all young people — full participation in society
Date: 2007-05-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: EU Member State, equal treatment, social policy, young person, youth policy

22.12.2007

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 314/1

I

(Resolutions, recommendations and opinions)

RESOLUTIONS

Council

Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States,
meeting within the Council, of 25 May 2007 on creating equal opportunities for all young people —
full participation in society

THE COUNCIL AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS
OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

(4)

(2007/C 314/01)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

The European Year of Equal Opportunities
for All
2007 (1) pursues the aim of emphasising the value of a
just society based on social cohesion and of stimulating a
broad debate on how the participation of disadvantaged
groups and groups subject
to discrimination can be
improved.

In its Resolution dated 18 May 2004 (2) the Council reaf-
firmed that the social framework conditions in which
young people grow up have a direct
impact on the
success of political strategies and measures for promoting
equal opportunities and social and professional integra-
tion and that conditions for which young people usually
have no responsibility themselves often prevent
their
participation in society, restrict their ability to exercise
their civil rights and stand in flagrant contradiction with
the principle of equal opportunities.

On 18 May 2004 (3) the Council underlined the impor-
tance of the role of young people in combating racism,
xenophobia and anti-Semitism, as well as related intoler-
ance and all forms of discrimination, and their role in
promoting cultural diversity, mutual respect,
tolerance
and solidarity.

(1) Decision No 771/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 17 May 2006 establishing the European Year of Equal
Opportunities for All (2007) — Towards a just society (OJ L 146,
31.5.2006, p. 1).

(2) Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Govern-
ments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on social inte-
gration with regard to young people (doc. 9601/04 of 18 May 2004).
(3) Declaration of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments
of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on Racism and Intol-
erance in relation to Young People (doc. 9405/04 of 18 May 2004).

its 2005 Spring Summit

At
the European Council
adopted the European Pact for Youth as an element of
the renewed Lisbon Strategy with a view — by means of
horizontal political efforts — to fostering education and
training for young people, their mobility as well as their
professional integration and participation in society, and
in so doing, to focusing particular attention on young
people with fewer opportunities.

its 2006 Spring Summit

At
the European Council
described social cohesion and the promotion of equal
opportunities for all as a crucial basis for economic and
employment policy reforms in the Member States, in line
with the aims of
the Lisbon Process, and regarded
measures to implement the European Pact for Youth as a
matter of priority.

Social inclusion is an important priority of the Youth in
Action Programme (4) and a strategy has therefore been
established to provide access to programme activities, in
particular for young people from less-privileged educa-
tional, socio-economic, cultural and geographical back-
grounds and for those with disabilities.

In its contribution to the Spring 2007 European Council
meeting the Council
identified four key priorities for
further implementation of the European Pact for Youth,
for young people in the transitions
namely: support
between education, training and work; the need for indi-
vidual paths towards integration; the need for coherent
local and regional implementation strategies for the Pact;
and greater embodiment of a youth dimension in the
overall implementation of the Lisbon Strategy.

(5)

(6)

(7)

(4) OJ L 327, 24.11.2006, p. 30.

(8)

(9)

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The Spring 2007 European Council invited the Commis-
sion to present an interim report in Autumn 2007 with
a view to its proposal for the Integrated Guidelines for
Growth and Jobs (2008-2011). It called for a reinforced
lifecycle approach to work in order to improve access to
the labour market. Member States agreed to further
develop policies which promote the role of young
people, including their transition from school to working
life, as active participants in the economy and the labour
market, aiming at using their full potential to contribute
to the economic and social development of our societies.

4.

in order to make equal prospects a reality for young people
with fewer opportunities, specific measures are necessary to
promote the development of their individual potential and to
overcome stereotypes and prejudices within society;

5.

in order to implement policies that respect intergenerational
equity, structural barriers to equal opportunities and to
young people's participation in society need to be eliminated.
This also contributes
to fighting discrimination against
young people not just on the grounds of age, but, as is often
the case, discrimination on multiple grounds.

In the framework of
the structured dialogue, young
people and representatives of youth organisations met in
April 2007 in Cologne on the occasion of the German
Presidency's youth event and identified a number of poli-
and commitments with a view to
tical priorities
and participation in
improving equal opportunities
society in the shape of an action plan.

NOTE that:

1. equal opportunities for participation in society must mean
the right of all young people to have access to high-quality
education and training, housing, ‘good work’ and all relevant
areas of the social security and/or employment systems, in
accordance with national
law and practices in conformity
with Community law, and to participate in social and poli-
tical discussion and decision-making processes concerning
them and not least to enjoy a healthy and autonomous life-
style with free time in which to pursue their own interests;

2. the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All seeks to
make people in the European Union aware of their rights to
equal treatment and to launch a debate on the benefits of
diversity for both society and the individual.
In order
to enable young people to exercise their rights, they need
tailor-made information and support for their engagement
against all forms of discrimination. Such information and
support needs to be provided not only by their families, but
also by society at large — in particular the education system,
those active in the youth field, NGOs, the media as well as
administrations at all levels and national anti-discrimination
bodies;

3. Member States' and European policies aimed at a better
social and professional
integration of young people must
take account of the particularly high number of problems in
disadvantaged urban and rural areas and recognise that
youth policies need to press for targeted and cross-sectoral
action,
in order to ensure equal opportunities for young
people growing up in such areas;

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION TO:

1. promote the various forms of structured dialogue with
young people and take due account of the outcomes of
that dialogue at all levels;

2.

improve the coherence of measures to implement
the
European Pact for Youth aimed at ensuring the sustainable
inclusion of young people, as well as ensuring that such
measures actually reach their target groups,
in particular
young people with fewer opportunities, by taking into
account their needs, backgrounds and motivation;

3. endeavour, also in consultation with social partners,

to
develop a well-balanced approach for young people in
terms of ‘flexicurity’, facilitate the transitions from school
to working life, avoid unemployment and precarious
working conditions and contribute to reconciling family,
private and professional life;

4. emphasise youth policy aims via the open method of coor-
dination in the field of social protection and social inclu-
sion and make corresponding contributions, as appropriate,
the Social Protection and Employment
to the work of
Committees in order to strengthen the youth dimension
and foster the social inclusion of young people and reduce
the risk of poverty;

5. emphasise the significance of the four priorities of the open
method of coordination in the youth field — participation,
information, voluntary activities and greater understanding
and knowledge of youth — in terms of a successful inclu-
sion policy, and strengthen the impact of the open method
of coordination when shaping policies for equal opportu-
nities and better social and professional integration;

6. broaden knowledge about

the quality of

life of young
women and men in Europe, particularly as regards living
and working conditions, attitudes, values, concerns and
opportunities for better participation in society, making use
including the
of existing research, procedures and data,
7th Research Framework Programme,
in order to render
such data and findings more meaningful and comparable;

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7. make full use of the Youth in Action Programme in order
to provide numerous and extensive opportunities
for
non-formal and informal learning, with the aim of giving
as many young people as possible the chance to acquire the
skills and competences necessary for active citizenship and
to lead autonomous and healthy lifestyles;

8.

the outcomes and experience obtained;

in line with the Council Resolution of 19 May 2006 (1),
extend opportunities for non-formal and informal learning,
as well as for voluntary activities, and improve recognition
of
in particular
opportunities for intercultural learning should be strength-
ened, thereby promoting values such as mutual respect,
diversity, equality, human dignity and solidarity. With this
aim in mind, young people should be invited to participate
in the preparation and implementation of the European
Year of Intercultural Dialogue 2008;

9. seek,

together with youth organisations, young people
themselves and other youth policy stakeholders, ways of
achieving more active participation of all young people in
discussion and decision-making processes concerning them
and, in so doing, stimulate new forms of participation for
young people in disadvantaged urban or rural areas;

10. give greater emphasis to the concerns of young people in
anti-discrimination policies and assist young people and
their organisations in combating discrimination,
inequal-
ities, social exclusion and intolerance;

11. promote the social dimension of sport and culture as a
integration to fight discrimination and

factor of social
strengthen tolerance among young people;

12. take account of the rights of all young people to equal
opportunities and participation in society when developing
an EU strategy on the rights of the child;

13. ensure that in the evaluation of and follow-up to the 2007
European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, young people
and a youth policy focus are taken into account at all levels
— European, national, regional and local.

INVITE THE COMMISSION:

1.

in its commitment to equal opportunities and better profes-
sional and social integration, to further develop close coop-
eration between its relevant services in order to reinforce the
youth dimension of social inclusion policies and within the

framework of the renewed Lisbon Strategy for Growth and
Employment;

2. to submit for the Council's attention information on the
youth-related analyses on the state of implementation of the
European Pact for Youth which are conducted regularly in
the process of evaluating the national reform programmes.

INVITE THE MEMBER STATES TO:

1. facilitate the development of local and/or regional strategies
as part of the further implementation of the European Pact
for Youth. Such strategies should include all relevant stake-
holders, social partners and young people themselves and
should help to put in place individual support measures to
promote qualified, easily accessible guidance and counselling
services concerning the transitional stages between educa-
tion, training and employment and suitable conditions to
reconcile family, private and professional life;

2. to prioritise the concerns of young people in the national
reform programmes and the key policies which affect the
quality of life of young people, in particular by enhancing
the cross-sectoral cooperation between youth policy and
(educational, economic and
other
employment, family, social, health and sports policy, policy
on the rights of the child, gender equality policy, cultural
policy, as well as housing and regional and local planning
policy);

relevant policy areas

3. continue efforts to further reduce the numbers of early
school
leavers through appropriate incentives and actions,
particularly by taking specific measures in order to make full
participation in education a reality for young people with
fewer opportunities, and by promoting the quality and
attractiveness of education and training;

4. utilise the resources of the European Structural Funds, parti-
cularly the European Social Fund,
to shape and provide
measures in line with the European Pact for Youth, so as to
further implement the Pact, especially at local and regional
level;

5.

in accordance with the principle of the structured dialogue,
develop or expand the participation of young people in
social space planning procedures in disadvantaged urban and
rural areas, and disseminate their findings and experiences
using the open method of coordination.

(1) Resolution of the Council and of the Representatives of the Govern-
ments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, on the recog-
nition of the value of non-formal and informal learning within the
European youth field (OJ C 168, 20.7.2006, p. 1).