Debate: One youth, one Europe
Date: WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2022
Speaker: Margaritis Schinas
Language: FR

Depuis 1987, Erasmus + et les programmes qui l’ont précédé ont offert la possibilité à presque 13 millions de jeunes européens – des étudiants – de voyager, d’apprendre, de se former et de s’engager dans des actions de volontariat partout en Europe et au-delà de l’Europe.  Nous sommes vraiment très fiers – je pense que nous devons être collectivement fiers – parce que, dans le nouveau budget communautaire pour les sept années à venir, nous avons tous ensemble réussi à presque doubler les ressources pour Erasmus + et à convertir ce programme en un programme plus inclusif, plus vert et plus ambitieux.  Mr President, honourable Members, civic engagement and participation of young Europeans is a key objective of this European Year of Youth. It is not the European Union that will be doing things for young Europeans, it’s the young Europeans that have to engage within the European Union structure and procedures and tell us what they want to do, where they want to go next. And that’s why, within Erasmus+ this year, we will finance very aggressively at least 500 projects that would provide opportunities for civic engagement, intercultural learning and youth participation. This European Year of Youth is also a great opportunity to co—create, with youth organisations and youth associations, what we want to achieve together as Europeans. We have invited more than 150 youth organisations from all backgrounds to take part in the stakeholder group so that we are involving them in the success story. And the same goes for this House. We are closely working with the European Parliament to make this year an interinstitutional success story. Many of the initiatives that we will be rolling out have been conceived together with your representatives to have a lifespan that goes well beyond the end of 2022. And as the Minister just said, we are determined to open up youth policy as a horizontal objective. We do not see youth policy as a deep and narrow technical policy area. Each member of the College of Commissioners will invite young people to the Berlaymont to engage in policy debates in the course of this year, and we will ask them to express views, raise questions, share ideas and suggestions in the areas that each member of the College is responsible for. And the scope of this year will thus permeate the borders of portfolios and Directorates-General, and specialists, and open up to a real political debate. Inclusion will be a top priority in this context, and I’m very happy that organisations such as the European Disability Forum, the European Rural Youth Organisation, the European Union of Jewish Students are all part of the stakeholder groups on the year. And we will do the same with youth, and youth will feature prominently in the agenda of major events on inclusion, such as the European Summit Against Racism that is scheduled for 19 March. And inclusion will also be at the heart of the new Commission initiative ‘Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve’ (ALMA), which will be implemented in the context of the European Social Fund Plus. ALMA will be the Erasmus of the disadvantaged young Europeans, those aged 18 to 30, who do not have the opportunity to be in active engagement, in active training. And these are the people that we want to put at the forefront by supporting their participation in the work—related learning experience in another country and offering them coaching before, during and after their stay abroad. Mental health is another priority for young people. We will set up an expert group to support learning environments and wellbeing at school, and we will also address mental health for young Europeans under the pathways to success at school and healthy lifestyle for all initiatives. Projects implemented by the EU Council of Europe Youth Partnership also will be crucial to address this issue. And, we all know it, the COVID crisis hit hard on youth employment. That’s why we want to reinforce the Youth Guarantee. Member States committed to ensuring that all young people under the age of 30 receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship or traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving education. This is a great European initiative, and we are determined to make it a success. Member States now need to implement it fully and particularly address the challenges of reaching out to the most vulnerable groups. Our young people need quality job and quality learning opportunities, adapted to the societies of today and tomorrow. They need green, digital and entrepreneurial skills to be able to contribute fully to the development of our societies, and we will help them. The stakeholder alliances under the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, since its renewal in the July 2020, have now around 160 000 apprenticeship places pledged by 41 new members, and that’s a very encouraging beginning. Honourable Members, young Europeans missed many opportunities during these nightmarish two years. They missed opportunities for mobility, opportunities for education, opportunities for employment. We owe them and we are determined to pay them back.