Δελτίο Τύπου του Ευρωπαϊκού Φόρουμ Νεολαίας με την ευκαιρία του Συμβουλίου Υπουργών Νεολαίας της 14ης Φεβρουαρίου 2008

Ακολουθεί η επίσημη ανακοίνωση του Ευρωπαϊκού Φόρουμ Νεολαίας στην αγγλική γλώσσα


PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 14 February 2008

The European Youth Pact needs greater impact: YFJ launches new report on its implementation


The European Youth Forum (YFJ) welcomes the “Key messages on further implementation of the European Pact for Youth”, adopted today by the Education, Youth and Culture Council of the European Union. The implementation of the European Youth Pact should be genuine and better coordinated on the national level in line with the structured dialogue which aims at involving young people in policy shaping debates. The YFJ strongly supports the Council’s consideration on the need for further progress towards a cross-sector youth policy.

While the Council’s key messages point out that “Member States should work with young people and all the relevant partners to improve the implementation and evaluation process regarding the European Youth Pact”, it falls short of mentioning the role youth organisations can play, both in adding a valuable youth perspective to the debate and contributing to the realisation of the Pact’s objectives.

Moreover, the YFJ considers that the European Youth Pact should be discussed regularly, e.g. on the occasion of the publication of the Commission’s three-yearly Youth Report, and in the Council of Ministers for General Affairs, and that it should not be limited to the Education, Youth and Culture Council: in such a way, policies at both the national and European level can then be developed and effectively coordinated together. The Council of Ministers for General Affairs is a Council formation that will only be created if the Lisbon Treaty is adopted.

On the occasion of the adoption of these ‘Key messages’, and ahead of the European Council Spring Summit (to be held on 6-7 March), the European Youth Forum is launching the “YFJ Shadow Report on the Implementation of the European Youth Pact” This political instrument, adopted by the European Council in 2005 as part of the revised Lisbon Strategy, aims to improve education, training, mobility, employment and the social inclusion of young people. However, the whole spectrum of European youth policies has not yet been able to significantly improve the social and professional integration of young people. To reach the ambitious objectives concerning youth set out in the Lisbon Strategy, the EU Member States should fulfil their commitments.

By issuing this report, the YFJ is presenting the perspective of youth organisations at the moment EU Member States report on their implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. The YFJ report offers an assessment of the Lisbon National Reform Programmes and gives feedback from National Youth Councils, on a country-by-country basis.

Πηγή: European Youth Forum