COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (EU Youth Strategy 2010-2018) 
Date: 2012-09-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: cultural promotion, education, fight against unemployment, public health, social integration, social participation, voluntary work, young person, youth employment, youth unemployment

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 10.9.2012  
COM(2012) 495 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of 
the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (EU Youth Strategy 
2010-2018) 

{SWD(2012) 256 final} 
{SWD(2012) 257 final} 

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COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL 
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of 
the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (EU Youth Strategy 
2010-2018) 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

The  Council  Resolution  on  the  renewed  framework  for  European  cooperation  in  the  youth 
field (2010-2018)1, requires an EU Youth Report to be drawn up at the end of each three-year 
cycle,  with  a  dual  objective:  namely  to  evaluate  the  progress  made  towards  the  overall 
objectives  of  the  EU  Youth  Strategy,  and  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  establishing  a  set  of 
priorities for the coming work cycle. 

This Communication presents a draft EU Youth Report to be agreed upon by the Council. It is 
accompanied  by  two  Staff  Working  Documents:  one  which  reviews  the  situation  of  young 
people in the EU and one which analyses actions taken under the strategy. 

2. 

EUROPE 2020 – SUPPORTING YOUTH IN A CONTEXT OF CRISIS  

Europe  is  undergoing  a  crisis  that  has  hit  young  Europeans  with  unprecedented  levels  of 
unemployment and the risk of social exclusion and poverty. Europe 2020, the EU strategy for 
smart,  sustainable  and  inclusive  growth,  sets  the  framework  for  a  coordinated  European 
response in order to emerge stronger from the crisis and to improve the long-term prosperity 
of Europe's citizens.  

Europe  2020  focuses  strongly  on  young  people,  with  a  headline  target  of  reducing  early 
school-leaving  and  increasing  tertiary  attainment.  Two  other  headline  targets  also  share  a 
clear  youth  dimension  –  to  reduce  the  risk  of  poverty  and  to  increase  the  share  of  the 
population in employment. Furthermore, the flagship initiative entitled Youth on the Move2 
promotes youth mobility, while young people are also included in An Agenda for New Skills 
and Jobs3 and A Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion4.  

In the second European Semester of economic policy coordination, the European Commission 
emphasised  the  need  to  act  towards  reducing  the  unacceptably  high  rate  of  youth 
unemployment. The Annual Growth Survey 2012, which sets out priorities for action at EU 
and  national  levels  in  order  to  boost  growth  and  jobs,  called  on  Member  States  to  support 
youth  employment.  Concrete  recommendations  included  promoting  quality  apprenticeships 
and  traineeships,  as  well  as  entrepreneurial  skills.  It  also  called  for  reforms  in  employment 
legislation and in education and training. Expressing concerns that the social tissue of the EU 

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3 
4 

OJ C 311, 19.12.2009, p. 1-11. 
COM(2010) 477. 
COM(2010) 682. 
COM(2010) 758. 

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is  being  put  to  the  test,  the  Commission  also  called  on  Member  States  to  protect  the 
vulnerable,  with  regard  to  social  protection,  inclusion  strategies  and  access  to  services 
ensuring  integration  in  the  labour  market  and  society5.  Country-specific  recommendations6 
have been adopted according to the particular situations of individual Member States.  

Against this backdrop, the European Commission proposed a dedicated Youth Opportunities 
Initiative (YOI),7 which aims to mobilise resources and increase efforts to drive down youth 
unemployment  and  make  young  people  more  employable.  In  this  context,  the  Commission 
urged  Member  States  to  make  better  use  of  the  European  Social  Fund  to  support  young 
people.  Commission  action  teams  are  assisting  eight  Member  States8  where  youth 
unemployment  rates  are  above  average.  Furthermore,  the  recent  ‘Employment  Package’9 
includes a first progress report on the YOI and a consultation on a new quality framework for 
traineeships. 

The Commission is also endeavouring to lift obstacles that EU citizens, including the youth, 
encounter  when  invoking  their  rights  as  EU  citizens,  notably  their  right  to  free  movement 
within the EU, including for volunteering, study or work. 

Efforts  to  boost  the  employability,  learning  mobility  and  participation  of  young  people  are 
supported through the current Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes, which –
from 2014 onwards – will be succeeded by a new EU programme targeting education, training 
and youth. 

3. 

THE EU YOUTH STRATEGY – INVESTING AND EMPOWERING  

In 2009, the Council endorsed a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth 
field  (2010-2018),  based  on  the  Communication  ‘EU  Youth  Strategy:  Investing  and 
Empowering’10.  By  reinforcing  cooperation  and  sharing  good  practices,  the  EU  Youth 
Strategy's two overall objectives are to:  

(i) 

create  more  and  equal  opportunities  for  all  young  people  in  education  and  in  the 
labour market, and  

(ii) 

promote the active citizenship, social inclusion and solidarity of all young people. 

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6 
7 
8 
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COM(2011) 815. 
COM(2012) 299. 
COM(2011) 933. 
Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. 
COM(2012)173, SWD(2012)98, SWD(2012)99. 
The framework hereafter called ‘EU Youth Strategy’. 

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The EU Youth Strategy is action-based. As illustrated by the tree diagram, it branches out into 
eight policy areas (‘fields of action’): education & training; employment & entrepreneurship; 
social  inclusion;  health  &  well-being;  participation;  culture  &  creativity;  volunteering  and 
youth & the world.  

The  strategy  is  rooted  in  the  following  instruments:  evidence-based  policy-making;  mutual 
learning;  regular  progress-reporting,  dissemination  of  results  and  monitoring;  structured 
dialogue with young people and youth organisations and mobilisation of EU programmes and 
funds. This strategy sees youth work11 as a support to all fields of action and  cross-sectoral 
cooperation as an underlying principle. 

4. 

THE FIRST CYCLE OF THE EU YOUTH STRATEGY (2010-2012) 

Nearly all Member States report that the EU Youth Strategy has reinforced existing priorities 
at  national  level,  with  several  Member  States  emphasising  its  direct  impact.  Lithuania,  for 
example, mentions the strategy as a guiding document for developing its own National Youth 
Policy  Programme,  Austria  mentions  that  the  link  between  youth  policy  and  labour  market 
policies  has  been  strengthened,  and  dialogue  with  youth  has  been  further  developed  in  the 
Flemish Community of Belgium.  

The EU Youth Strategy advocates a cross-sectoral approach at all levels in implementing the 
youth  policy  framework.  Most  Member  States  report  having  a  national  youth  strategy  or  a 
cross-sectoral  plan  targeting  youth.  All  but  two  Member  States  have  an  inter-ministerial 
working  group  on  youth  or  some  other  institutionalised  mechanism.  While  some  National 
Youth  Reports  set  a  good  example,  such  groups  often  consist  of  different  actors  and 
stakeholders  in  the  ‘core’  youth  policy  field,  with  little  or  no  involvement  from  other 
government ministries, thereby limiting their cross-sectoral nature.  

Youth  work  supports  many  fields  of  action.  A  majority  of  Member  States  report  that  they 
have  taken  measures  to  support  youth  work  in  line  with  the  Council  Resolution  on  youth 

11 

Youth work covers a large scope of social, cultural, educational or political activities by, with and for 
young people. It is about ‘out-of-school’ education and leisure time activities managed by professional 
or  voluntary  youth  workers  and  youth  leaders.  It  is  based  on  non-formal  learning  and  voluntary 
participation. 

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work12.  In  July  2010,  a  European  Convention  on  Youth  Work  was  held  under  the  Belgian 
Presidency,  bringing  together  policy-makers  and  youth  stakeholders  from  across  Europe 
resulting in the adoption of a declaration addressing priorities and actions for youth work in 
the coming years. 

4.1. 

IMPLEMENTING THE EIGHT FIELDS OF ACTION 

In  each  of  its  fields  of  action,  the  EU  Youth  Strategy  proposes  initiatives  for  the  Member 
States and/or the Commission. Below is an overview of measures taken at EU level and those 
reported by Member States for the work cycle 2010-201213. 

Education & Training 

The Commission and Member States are working together to improve education and training 
through the ‘ET2020’ framework14. In this context, the Commission presented a strategy for 
the  modernisation  of  Europe's  higher  education  systems  in  201115,  and  is  preparing  an 
initiative on ‘Rethinking skills’, which is due to be launched later in 2012 to support policy 
development on skills and competences. 

The EU Youth Strategy focuses primarily on non-formal learning as a complementary tool, in 
order  to  acquire  the  cross-cutting  skills16  that  are  much  appreciated  in  the  labour  market17. 
The  Commission  will  propose  a  draft  Council  recommendation  on  the  recognition  and 
validation of non-formal and informal learning in 2012, and is also working on tools to make 
it easier to record the skills acquired through non-formal learning. 

Both  the  Commission  and  Member  States  actively  support  youth  organisations  as  an 
important provider of non-formal learning opportunities. Many Member States emphasise the 
role of youth work in reaching out to early school leavers and helping them to get back into 
education or work. In this context, they have recently taken action to raise awareness of non-
formal learning and to recognise learning outcomes at national level. 

Employment & Entrepreneurship 

Youth  employment  was  the  overall  thematic  priority  of  the  first  Trio  Presidency  after  the 
entry into force of the EU Youth Strategy. During this period, the Council adopted resolutions 
on  the  active  inclusion  of  young  people18  and  the  role  of  youth  work  in  promoting 
employability of young people. The first cycle of Structured Dialogue also focused on youth 
employment.  Young  people  recommended  concrete  actions,  which  fed  into  a  Council 
Resolution19  highlighting  the  need  for  access  to  labour  market  information,  non-formal 
learning,  a  quality  framework  for  internships,  focus  on  flexicurity  and  equal  access  to 
mobility. The recommendations were taken up in subsequent Commission initiatives, such as 

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OJ C 327, 4.12.2010, p. 1-5. 
Activities  in  the  Strategy's  fields  of  action  are  further  described  in  the  Staff  Working  Document 
accompanying this Communication. 
OJ C 119, 28.5.2009, p. 2-10. 
COM(2011) 567. 
See also framework on key competences for lifelong learning, OJ L 394 of 30.12.2006. 
Eurobarometer survey ‘employers' attitudes to skills’. 
OJ C 137, 27.5.2010, p. 1-6. 
OJ C 164, 2.6.2011, p. 1-4. 

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the  draft  recommendation  on  non-formal  and  informal  learning  and  in  the  wider  context  of 
YOI. 

According to National Youth Reports, several Member States have changed their labour laws 
or applied tax incentives to improve access to the labour market for young people. These are 
frequently  combined  with  programmes  to  allow  young  people  to  gain  work  experience  or 
benefit from counselling. 

Entrepreneurship  education  is  being  increasingly  promoted  in  most  European  countries.  To 
date, eight countries have launched specific strategies, while 13 others include it as a part of 
their national lifelong learning, youth or growth strategies20. 

At EU-level, youth entrepreneurship was given a more visible profile during European Youth 
Week, raising awareness of the value of entrepreneurial skills and of starting a business as a 
career option. Also, a number of actions are currently being taken to support entrepreneurial 
learning at all levels of education. 

Health & Well-being 

At EU level, young people are a particular target group of EU health initiatives put in place to 
tackle smoking, alcohol related harm, nutrition, obesity and drug-use.  

All  but  two  Member  States  report  that  they  have  taken  concrete  measures  to  follow  up  the 
Council Resolution on the Health and Well-being of Young People21. Many Member States 
mention initiatives that focus on specific issues, such as alcohol, tobacco or healthy nutrition, 
or emphasise the value of peer-to-peer education in promoting healthy lifestyles. 

Social Inclusion 

EU initiatives to combat youth unemployment also make important contributions to the social 
inclusion  of  young  people.  A  majority  of  Member  States  also  addressed  youth  as  a  specific 
target  group  during  the  European  Year  of  2010:  Combating  Poverty  and  Social  Exclusion. 
These initiatives stress the need to fight poverty from an early age in order to break the inter-
generational cycle of poverty. 

Many Member States confirm the importance of a cross-sectoral approach to social inclusion, 
linking it with education, employment or health policies, for example. Many of them report on 
specialised  training  programmes  for  youth  workers,  youth  leaders  and  young  people  to 
develop  intercultural  awareness  and  combat  prejudice.  A  number  of  Member  States  cited 
examples of youth-targeted support measures related to housing. 

Participation 

Youth participation has figured prominently on the EU youth policy agenda in recent years. 
The  Council  confirmed  its  dedication  to  this  field  by  making  ‘youth  participation  in 
democratic  life’  the  overall  priority  of  the  second  Trio  Presidency  in  the  youth  field  (mid 
2011-2012), in line with Article 165 TFEU. Structured Dialogue has become an increasingly 
influential  instrument  for  involving  young  people  in  decision-making.  All  Member  States 

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Entrepreneurship Education at School in Europe, European Commission, 2012 
OJ C 319, 13.12.2008, p. 1-3. 

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have  set  up  National  Working  Groups  to  organise  consultations  with  young  people  in  their 
countries and to feed into EU-level debates. 

The  Commission  took  steps  to  strengthen  the  evidence  base  on  participation  through  the 
Eurobarometer  on  ‘Youth  on  the  Move’22  and  a  forthcoming  study  on  changing  patterns  of 
youth participation. It furthermore initiated two processes that will come to fruition in the next 
three-year cycle: namely re-developing the European Youth Portal23 as an interactive platform 
for  online  engagement,  and  a  ‘Youth  on  the  Move  Card’  which  will  further  enable  youth 
mobility and participation through incentives, information and support services. 

Participation  is  key  to  youth  policy  in  all  Member  States  and  many  activities  have  been 
carried out, including the development of structures for involving young people in decision-
making, with room for more dialogue online. 

Voluntary Activities 

Member States and the Commission have worked together to implement the Recommendation 
on the Mobility of Young Volunteers across the EU24 in an expert group. Around half of the 
Member  States  report  that  they  have  raised  awareness  about  opportunities  for  mobility  of 
young volunteers further to this recommendation. Alongside the European Voluntary Service, 
a number of Member States report having bilateral or multi-lateral exchange programmes. 

Several Member States report that they have developed national volunteering schemes or have 
established a new civic service. The European Year of Volunteering (2011) involved young 
people and youth organisations in emphasising its youth dimension. 

Culture & Creativity  

Member  States  and  the  Commission  cooperate  closely  in  this  area  through  a  European 
Agenda for Culture25.  The  Council  emphasised the importance of creativity,  culture and  the 
role of young people in a number of its conclusions26. Under the EU Youth Strategy, a study 
on  youth  access  to  culture  in  Europe  from  201027  included  good  practices  and  proposals  to 
address obstacles such as cost and distance. 

Although the Member States acknowledge the links between culture and creativity and youth 
policy, the National Youth Reports do not report many activities in this ‘field of action’. 

Youth & the World 

Through  the  youth  partnership  with  the  Council  of  Europe,  the  Commission  organised  and 
contributed 
its  Eastern  and  Southern 
neighbourhoods28.  The  Council  adopted  Conclusions  on  the  Eastern  Dimension  of  Youth 

to  high-level  youth  policy  symposia 

in 

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24 
25 
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28 

Youth on the Move – Analytical reports (Flash Eurobarometer 319a and 319b May 2011), target group 
age 15-30.  
http://europa.eu/youth. 
OJ C 319, 13.12.2008, p. 8-10. 
OJ C 287, 29.11.2007, p. 1-4. 
OJ C 326, 3.12.2010; p. 2-3. OJ C 372, 20.12.2011, p. 19-23; OJ C 169, 15.6.2012, p. 1-4. 
Interarts, EACEA/2008/01. 
Sharm-al-Sheikh (2010), Odessa (2011), Tbilisi (2012), Tunis (2012). 

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Participation29 designed to reach out further into Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Moreover, 
a  decision  was  taken  to  set  up  an  Eastern  Partnership  Youth  Window  to  fund  more 
opportunities for youth partnerships and cooperation under the Youth in Action programme. 
Activities were  organised  in  Europe  and China  throughout  the  2011  EU-China  Youth  Year. 
The Commission also contributed to the UN Year of Youth and its youth summit in Mexico in 
2011; it also co-organised two policy conferences as part of a bilateral cooperation agreement 
with Canada. 

‘Youth & the world’ is a new ‘field of action’. Member States nonetheless report that they had 
already been active prior to 2010, and they continue to underline its relevance. Almost half of 
the Member States report that they have addressed this issue in their education curricula or as 
part of youth policy strategies. Most Member States provide opportunities for young people to 
exchange views with policy-makers on global issues. 

4.2. 

IMPLEMENTATION INSTRUMENTS  

The EU Youth Strategy applies a set of dedicated instruments to pursue activities in the eight 
fields described above. The following paragraphs assess to what extent these instruments have 
been used successfully in order to achieve the overall objectives of the strategy. 

Evidence-based Policy-making 

Further  to  the  EU  Youth  Strategy,  the  Commission  –  together  with  experts  nominated  by 
Member  States  and  youth  stakeholders  –  developed  a  dashboard  of  EU  Youth  Indicators, 
which was released in 201130. This dashboard presents 40 indicators covering all eight fields 
of action. A study documents the fact that the development of EU Youth Indicators has not 
only  improved  the  recognition  and visibility of youth policy, but has also triggered positive 
developments in Member States, both in pursuing cross-sectoral co-operation and in applying 
an evidence-based approach.  

During  the  first  work  cycle  of  the  strategy,  the  Commission  carried  out  two  studies31  and 
conducted  a  Flash  Eurobarometer-survey  on  youth  (Fl319a  and  Fl319b).  The  European 
Knowledge  Centre  on  Youth  Policy  (EKCYP)  within  the  EU-CoE  youth  partnership  also 
contributed to strengthening the evidence-base for youth policy in Europe through its online 
portal. 

Mutual Learning 

The Open Method of Coordination is a good framework for peer learning and the sharing of 
experience  among  national  policy-makers  in  the  youth  field.  Every  six  months,  EU  Youth 
Conferences  are  organised  by  the  country  holding  the  Presidency,  with  the  support  of  the 
Commission, in conjunction with meetings of Directors-General for youth. These conferences 
bring together young people and policy-makers from across the EU to discuss the results of 
the  Structured  Dialogue  and  to  prepare  joint  recommendations  which  feed  into  Council 

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OJ C 372, 20.12.2011, p. 10-14. 
SEC (2011) 401. 
Studies  on  youth  access  to  culture  (InterARTS,  2010)  and  youth  participation  in  democratic  life 
(London School of Economics, 2012). 

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resolutions  or  conclusions32.  Mutual  learning  was  also  achieved  through  a  specific  peer-
learning activity on cross-sectoral cooperation33. 

Regular Progress-reporting, Dissemination of Results and Monitoring 

For  this  reporting  exercise,  the  Commission  developed  an  online  questionnaire  which 
addressed  specific  concrete  action  lines  mentioned  in  the  EU  Youth  Strategy.  This  made  it 
possible to conduct a comparative assessment of the National Youth Reports submitted by all 
Member States, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro and Croatia34. Input was also provided by 
the  European  Youth  Forum,  the  representative  platform  of  international  non-governmental 
youth organisations and national youth councils. 

In  addition  to  releasing  the  Staff  Working  Document  to  the  EU  Youth  Report,  all  National 
Youth  Reports  are  made  public  on  the  Commission's  website.  This  is  in  line  with  the  EU 
Youth Strategy, which calls for broad dissemination of the results of the reporting exercise. 

Structured Dialogue with Young People and Youth Organisations 

All Member States established National Working Groups for Structured Dialogue with young 
people  early  in  the  first  cycle.  The  Structured  Dialogue  –  which  is  an  elaborate  and  formal 
method of consultation with young people – has become a vibrant and integral part of youth 
policy-making.  The  consultations  during  the  first  Trio  Presidency  (2010-11)  resulted  in 
valuable joint recommendations between youth policy-makers and young people on the most 
pressing employment issues.  

More and more people are participating in the evolving and on-going dialogue – over 20 000 
youth leaders and young people were directly involved in the latest round of consultations.  

Mobilisation of EU programmes 

The  Youth  in  Action  programme  is  a  key  instrument  to  support  the  EU  Youth  Strategy. 
Alongside  the  Lifelong  Learning  programme,  it  has  contributed  to  the  learning  mobility  of 
young  people.  It  focuses  on  non-formal  learning  activities  for  young  people,  youth  workers 
and  youth  organisations.  In  line  with  the  EU  Youth  Strategy,  it  promotes  a  sense  of 
citizenship  and  solidarity  among  young  people  and  places  the  emphasis  on  youth  work, 
volunteering  and  civic  activities  as  a  suitable  environment  in  which  to  acquire  transversal 
skills.  This  programme  involved  around  150 000  and  185 000 participants  in  2010  and  2011 
respectively,  which  was  a  noticeable  increase  compared  to  the  beginning  of  the  programme 
(111 000 participants in 2007). 

Almost  all  Member  States  report  having  used  other  sources  of  EU  funding,  such  as  the 
European  Social  Fund,  the  European  Regional  Development  Fund  and/or  PROGRESS  to 
integrate young people into the labour market. 

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34 

See the Staff Working Document which accompanies this Communication. 
Organised under the Spanish Presidency. 
These four non-EU countries responded to the Commission's invitation to EU candidate countries and 
EFTA  states  to  submit  National  Youth  Reports  on  a  voluntary  basis.  Separate  contributions  were 
submitted by Belgium’s three language communities. 

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5. 

THE NEXT CYCLE (2013-2015) 

Strengthening the link between the EU Youth Strategy and Europe 2020 

According  to  the  Council  Resolution  on  the  EU  Youth  Strategy,  a  number  of  priorities  for 
European  cooperation  will  be  set  for  each  work  cycle  to  contribute  to  the  fields  of  action 
identified under the framework. The priorities for the next cycle are to be adopted on the basis 
of the current EU Youth Report. 

The  EU  presidencies  focused  in  the  first  cycle  on  'employment  and  entrepreneurship'  and 
'participation'.  The  EU  Youth  Strategy  and  its  fields  of  action  together  encompass  the  full 
range  of  issues  that  concern  young  people  in  transition,  albeit  affecting  them  to  differing 
degrees.  More  importantly,  the  strategy  acknowledges  and  reinforces  inter-relationships 
between  these  fields  and  among  stakeholders,  to  deliver  effective  instruments  to  achieve 
policy coordination and synergies.  

The EU and National Youth Reports confirm the robustness and relevance of the EU Youth 
Strategy and its two overall objectives: (i) creating more and equal opportunities for all young 
people in education and in the labour market, and (ii) promoting citizenship, social inclusion 
and solidarity. Both tie in well with Europe 2020, the Annual Growth Survey 2012, Youth on 
the Move and the Youth Opportunities Initiative.  

The priorities for the next work cycle should reflect the current overall priorities and activities 
under Europe 2020. Youth employment will remain high on the EU agenda. Building on the 
Annual  Growth  Survey  2012  and  possible  reviews  of  priorities  under  the  upcoming  Annual 
Growth  Survey  2013,  and  on  the  Youth  Opportunities  Initiative,  Member  States  should  in 
particular target young people who are not in employment, education or training, and therein 
make full use of available EU funding. They should undertake more efforts to increase young 
people's  access  to  work,  apprenticeships  and  traineeship  contracts  and  improve  their 
employability.  

The  Commission  supports  the  efforts  of  Member  States  with  new  EU  initiatives,  such  as 
"Your  first  EURES  job",  which  helps  young  people  find  a  job  abroad,  support  to  the 
development  of  Youth  Guarantees35  and  a  quality  framework  for  traineeships.  It  has  also 
increased  possibilities  for  learning  mobility  through  the  Lifelong  Learning36  and  Youth  in 
Action37  programmes.  Furthermore,  the  cross-cutting  tools  developed  under  the  EU  Youth 
Strategy  can  serve  to  foster  partnerships  between  different  actors  involved  in  delivering 
support  to  young  people  in  transition,  including  employment  services,  education  providers, 
youth work, social services, employers and young people themselves. Stronger cooperation on 
the ground can be beneficial in offering tailor-made approaches,  especially to  young people 
with more complex life situations or that are hard to reach through conventional methods. The 
strategy  can  also  play  a  role  in  the  promotion  and  recognition  of  non-formal  and  informal 
learning through youth work and in encouraging participation in youth organisations as means 
to  gain  transversal  skills.  It  can  thereby  contribute  to  strengthening  synergies  between 
different forms of formal, non-formal and informal learning. 

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The  Commission  intends  to  propose  by  the  end  of  2012  a  Council  recommendation  on  guidelines  to 
establish  youth  guarantees,  which  are  schemes  to  be  designed  by  Member  States  to  ensure  that  all 
young people receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a 
traineeship within four months of becoming unemployed (or leaving formal education). 
130 000 company placements in 2012 in other EU countries for university-level and vocational students 
10 000 young people with opportunities through the European Voluntary Service 

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The situation on the labour market and unemployment has related social effects. The Annual 
Growth  Survey  2012  refers  to  clear  signs  of  increases  in  the  number  of  people  at  risk  of 
income poverty, notably child poverty, and social exclusion, with acute health problems and 
homelessness  in  the  most  extreme  cases.  A  growing  group  of  young  people  are  at  risk  of 
social exclusion.  

The EU Youth Strategy can play a role in reaching out to vulnerable young people. Based on 
its  cross-cutting  perspective  and  focus  on  the  participation  of  all  young  people  in  various 
aspects of  society,  it  addresses a multitude  of challenges  linked to exclusion, alienation and 
young  people's  efforts  in  building  an  independent  life.  For  the  coming  years,  the  strategy 
should  increasingly  focus  on  the  consequences  of  the  current  crisis  and  its  effects  on  social 
inclusion and the health & well-being of young people. To this purpose, it needs to step up its 
focus on participation in democratic and societal activities, as well as build on youth work in 
developing  young  people's  life  skills,  their  overall  personal  development  and  a  sense  of 
belonging to the society in which they live.  

Taking implementation forward 

Cross-sectoral cooperation can be further improved across all policy areas that affect young 
people. Member States should seek to further enhance inter-ministerial cooperation at national 
level. Additional efforts should be made to strengthen the evidence base of youth policy and 
to share examples of good practice through mutual learning. 

Youth policy should continue the dialogue with young people, in order to fully understand the 
challenges  youth  face  and  their  expectations  towards  policy-makers  and  support  providers. 
The  Structured  Dialogue  with  young  people  can  be  further  developed  by  making  the 
membership  of National Working Groups more  inclusive and ensuring that decision-makers 
take recommendations from young people more fully into account.  

The Commission will develop the initiative of the ‘Youth on the Move Card’ in order to make 
it easier for young people to be mobile across Europe. It will also reach out to, and facilitate 
dialogue with, all young people, particularly those with fewer opportunities, through the new 
interactive  tools  of  the  European  Youth  Portal.  Youth  policy  will  also  explore  measures  to 
foster  the  creative  and  innovative  potential  of  young  people  when  attempting  to  tackle 
challenges related to employment, employability and inclusion38.  

The  Youth  in  Action  programme  and  the  future  EU  programme  targeting  youth  will  play  a 
particular role in supporting these initiatives. 

6. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  implementation  of  the  first  three-year  work  cycle  of  the  EU  Youth  Strategy,  covering 
2010-2012, demonstrated that it is both lasting and flexible as a framework for a whole range 
of actions – by the Commission, Member States and other relevant stakeholders. The strategy, 
with  its  cross-sectoral  and  all-inclusive  perspective,  has  been  greeted  with  interest  and  has 
inspired  not  only  EU  Member  States,  but  also  countries  in  the  larger  Europe  and  the  world 
beyond. 

38 

Council  Conclusions  on  fostering  the  creative  and  innovative  potential  of  young  people,  OJ  C  169, 
15.6.2012, p. 1-4. 

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The  EU  Youth  Strategy  has  served  as  a  vehicle  to  forge  links  between  fields  of  action, 
including  employment  &  entrepreneurship,  education  &  training  and  social  inclusion,  to 
develop  multi-faceted  solutions  in  support  of  young  people.  This  has  proved  relevant  in 
looking for answers to address the current high levels of youth unemployment and to support 
the  growing  number  of  young  people  who  are  not  in  employment,  education  or  training. 
Youth work has contributed to young people's development and has the potential to do more 
in all fields of action. 

The participation of young people in democratic life is central to youth policy. Deepening and 
widening the dialogue with young people not only raises both the quality and legitimacy of 
youth policy, but also raises expectations for the EU and its Member States to deliver. The EU 
should do its utmost to encourage all of its young people to become involved in shaping the 
EU's  future,  particularly  on  those  issues  which  –  as  successive  consultations  and  opinion 
surveys have demonstrated – matter most to them. 

In order to further its contribution to Europe 2020, the second three-year work cycle of the EU 
Youth Strategy (2013-2015) should address the challenges facing young people as a result of 
the  crisis.  Emphasis  should  continue  to  be  placed  on  employment  and  entrepreneurship, 
increasing  access  to  work,  along  with  developing  the  innovative  and  creative  capacities  of 
young  people.  It  should  increasingly  focus  on  social  inclusion,  health  and  well-being.  The 
future  EU  programme  targeting  young  people  will  contribute  towards  achieving  these 
objectives of the EU Youth Strategy. 

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