Συμβούλιο Υπουργών Νεολαίας (updated): Επίσημη ανακοίνωση σχετικά με την ημερήσια διάταξη και τα θέματα συζήτησης

Ακολουθεί η επίσημη ανακοίνωση του Συμβουλίου της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης στην αγγλική γλώσσα


Council of the European Union
General Secretariat - press office

Brussels, 11 February 2008

"BACKGROUND"

EDUCATION, YOUTH and CULTURE COUNCIL
(Education and Youth issues only)
Thursday 14 February, Brussels


YOUTH

The Council will adopt key messages on further implementation of the European Pact for Youth as a contribution of the youth policy field to the Spring European Council. The Council will hold an
exchange of views on intercultural dialogue and young people.


Implementation of the European Pact for Youth - contribution to the European Council

The Council will adopt key messages addressed to the spring meeting of the European Council (13 and 14 March) on further implementation of the European Pact for Youth (5582/08). The document is divided in two parts: progress made in implementing the European Pact for Youth in 2007 and priority steps for its further implementation.

The key messages focus on the importance of the member states' employment and social strategies to include a special emphasis on the specific problems faced by young people, on the need for tailored measures to support young people with fewer opportunities and on the importance of a cross-sectoral approach and youth empowerment in the implementation and evaluation of the European Youth Pact. The adoption of the European Pact for Youth in March 2005, as a part of a revised Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, was a recognition of the importance of integrating young people into society and working life and of making better use of the potential they represent.


Intercultural dialogue and young people

The Council will hold an exchange of views on the basis of a Presidency background note on intercultural dialogue and young people in the context of the initiative European year of
intercultural dialogue 2008 (5584/08). The Ministers will be invited to reflect on how measures taken in the framework of youth policy and young people themselves can contribute to intercultural respect and solidarity and how to ensure that intercultural dialogue as a topic forms part of the European cooperation in the youth field also beyond the Year of Intercultural Dialogue.
The debate will focus on the following questions suggested by the Presidency:
1. Considering the growing diversity of cultural backgrounds of the people living in EU Member States, youth policy strategies and measures can play a crucial role at both national and local
levels as an early investment in the ability of societies to promote the cultural heritage of certain groups, namely through the promotion of individual skills, knowledge and cultural
autonomy, while fostering intercultural respect and solidarity.
Is there a specific project in your Member State that addresses these questions and that could
contribute to peer-learning activities among Member States?
2. How do you regard the issue of intercultural dialogue relevant in the context of future perspectives of the European cooperation in the field of youth policy, namely bearing in mind
the aim of achieving sustainability of the strategies developed during and after the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue?
3. How could the issue of intercultural dialogue be better included in the structured dialogue with young people and youth organisations? Which tools and mechanisms would you recommend at
a) national and
b) European level?
What could be the role of young people and youth organisations in deepening intercultural
dialogue?

The views expressed in the debate could also provide the contribution of the youth field to the Council conclusions on "Intercultural competences" which are planned to be adopted in the field of culture at the Education, Youth and Culture Council session in May.

European year of Intercultural dialogue 2008 is expected to:
• promote intercultural dialogue as an instrument to assist European citizens, and all living in the EU, in acquiring the knowledge and aptitudes to enable them to deal with a more open
and more complex environment;
• and raise awareness of European citizens, and those living in the EU, of the importance of developing active European citizenship which is open to the world, respectful of cultural
diversity and based on common values. Young people will be the main target group of the activities organised in its framework.

Πηγή: Council of the European Union