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European Youth Forum

YFJ

The European Youth Forum is the primary platform representing over 100 youth organizations in Europe.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Gordan Bosanac (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

29 Jan 2026 · Position of youth employment and the new Youth Guarantee in the new MFF

Meeting with Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and CONSEIL EUROPEEN DES JEUNES AGRICULTEURS and

14 Jan 2026 · Stakeholder dialogue on establishing the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2028-2034

Meeting with Dan Jørgensen (Commissioner) and

28 Nov 2025 · Affordable housing

Response to EU’s next long-term budget (MFF) – EU funding for cross-border education, training and solidarity, youth, media, culture, and creative sectors, values, and civil society

25 Nov 2025

The European Youth Forum (YFJ), a platform for over 100 youth organizations and the collective voice of 40 million young Europeans, strongly advocates for a more ambitious, inclusive, and properly funded Erasmus+ programme. Representing the direct beneficiaries of this vital EU initiative, the YFJ urges the European Commission to integrate the following recommendations and priorities into the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). (1) A significant increase in the budget for the Erasmus+ programme, reaching EUR 130 billion. This substantial increase is necessary to ensure the programme is accessible to every young person in Europe, guaranteeing equal opportunities and specifically addressing the needs of marginalised young people and those at risk of exclusion. (2)Retain the dedicated Youth Chapter in the Erasmus+ Programme regulation with a minimum 15% budget earmarking. The current 10.3% allocation supports youth organizations and non-formal education. Eliminating this Chapter and its minimum funding is highly damaging, particularly for young people at risk of exclusion, as youth initiatives will struggle to compete with well-resourced institutions. The Youth Chapter is proven most inclusive, engaging 35% of participants with fewer opportunities, versus 15% in the wider Programme.(3) We propose defining 'youth organisation' to clearly identify the programme's target beneficiary. We also recommend reinstating other definitions from the current regulation that are absent in the proposal. (4) Erasmus+ should not solely prioritize employability or upskilling, as it is not a labour market tool. While it boosts youth employment, its core focus must remain on inclusion, collaboration, and lifelong learning. Overemphasizing employability risks undermining its inclusive learning spirit and restricting access for local youth organisations. (5) We oppose merging the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) into Erasmus+. This risks diluting the ESC's focus on solidarity, social inclusion, and democratic participation by overemphasizing labour market skills. Without separate funding and structure, smaller youth and grassroots organizations will struggle to compete with larger educational institutions for vital resources.(6) We oppose replacing the three current Key Actions with two new pillars. The current Key Actions offer a clear structure that helps diverse actors (e.g., youth groups, universities) find relevant funding; removing this clarity will increase confusion and administrative burden. Furthermore, eliminating Action 3, which funds youth participation and democratic engagement, is particularly concerning for the youth sector as it removes a dedicated stream for civic participation. (7) We urge the Commission to establish a robust monitoring of the programme, incorporating a participatory governance structure , and ensuring effective oversight by Member States. (8)We advocate for the full association of third countries with the Erasmus+ programme. This approach will expand opportunities for young people and prevent selective participation that could undermine the youth sector. (9) We urge the Commission to clarify the proposal to establish inclusion as a central priority. The current lack of dedicated inclusion funding and a clear mechanism prevents young people with fewer opportunities from benefiting. The complex, resource-intensive Erasmus+ programme continues to create access barriers for youth organizations working with marginalized communities, and the new proposal does not adequately address these challenges. Without structural support and adequate financial resources, the inclusion priority risks remaining rhetoric, not reality.
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Meeting with Wopke Hoekstra (Commissioner) and

18 Nov 2025 · COP30 ambitions

Meeting with Sabrina Repp (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and European Union of Jewish Students and Deutscher Bundesjugendring

11 Nov 2025 · EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027

Youth groups demand binding EU resource use targets to protect planetary boundaries

5 Nov 2025
Topic — EU Circular Economy Act to enhance competitiveness and promote sustainable production models.
Message — The organizations demand the Circular Economy Act adopt a dual legal basis including environmental objectives, establish binding EU-wide material footprint reduction targets of 5-8 tonnes per capita by 2050, and prioritize absolute reduction of overall resource use through demand-side measures focusing on food, mobility, housing and energy systems.123
Why — This would align EU policy with their advocacy for intergenerational equity and planetary health protection.45
Impact — Resource-intensive industries lose flexibility as binding caps would limit material extraction and product imports.6
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Meeting with Li Andersson (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

8 Oct 2025 · Unpaid internships

Meeting with Li Andersson (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

25 Sept 2025 · Social and economic inclusion

Meeting with Michael Teutsch (Acting Director Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)

4 Sept 2025 · Exchange on the Commission proposal of Erasmus+ (2028-2034).

Meeting with Thomas Bajada (Member of the European Parliament)

1 Sept 2025 · Empowering youth through EU funds

Meeting with Marcos Ros Sempere (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Jul 2025 · Meeting with European Youth Forum

Response to Quality Jobs Roadmap

17 Jul 2025

The European Youth Forum is the biggest platform of youth organisations in Europe, representing over 100 youth organisations, which bring together tens of millions of young people from all over Europe. We welcome the proposal for a Quality Jobs Roadmap and urge the European Commission to seize this opportunity to address the widespread precarity and unpredictability that characterise young peoples experience in the labour market. At the same time, it is essential to adopt a forward-looking perspective by addressing contemporary challenges, including the right to disconnect, the use of AI in the workplace, the growing demand for greater working-time autonomy, and the need for improved consideration of psychosocial risks at work. Here attached, please find a summary of our proposals when it comes to the content of the Quality Jobs Roadmap.
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Meeting with Matthew Baldwin (Deputy Director-General Energy)

16 Jul 2025 · They presented their policy paper ‘More than a roof’

Meeting with Agnese Papadia (Cabinet of Commissioner Dan Jørgensen)

16 Jul 2025 · Affordable housing

Meeting with Erik Marquardt (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Jul 2025 · General exchange

Meeting with Sunčana Glavak (Member of the European Parliament)

25 Jun 2025 · European Solidarity Corps

Meeting with Yannis Maniatis (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Jun 2025 · Introductory Meeting

Meeting with Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

3 Jun 2025 · Youth Perspectives in EU Housing Report

Meeting with Marcos Ros Sempere (Member of the European Parliament)

14 May 2025 · Meeting with European Youth Forum

Response to European Affordable Housing Plan

13 May 2025

Young people are among the groups most severely affected by Europe's housing crisis. The European Affordable Housing Plan presents a vital opportunity to tackle the housing crisis directly and ensure that young people have access to affordable, decent, and high-quality housing in Europe. We urge the European Commission to incorporate the following key measures: First, constraints on public investment in social and affordable housing must be lifted. Investments in housing should be properly recognised under the European Commissions evaluations of national medium-term fiscal structural plans, in line with the reformed Stability and Growth Pact. Second, the EU must act decisively to curb the financialisation of housing, which is driving up rents and diminishing affordability for young people. Measures should limit speculative investment, incentivise the development of social and affordable housing, expand public housing stock, and prevent large-scale investment funds from acquiring properties solely for profit. Regular monitoring by European statistical offices should assess the impact of speculative activities on housing affordability, quality and security. Third, the European Commission should introduce a binding public investment target for social and affordable housing at the national level, integrated into the European Semester process. Clear investment objectives are essential to meeting the housing needs of low- and middle-income households, particularly young people. Fourth, we call for a revision of EU state aid rules on Services of General Economic Interest (SGEI) to allow broader access to social housing. Current limitations restrict support to narrowly defined disadvantaged groups; expanding eligibility would ensure that young people and lower-middle-income groups - often underserved by the private market - can also benefit. Moreover, the Commission should conduct a comprehensive assessment of the impact of short-term rentals on housing affordability, availability, and local communities, and act on findings with appropriate regulation to protect residential housing stock. We stress the importance of earmarking EU Cohesion Policy funds explicitly for social and affordable housing construction and renovation. Member States should allocate funding based on regional housing needs assessments, prioritising young people and vulnerable groups. Strict criteria must ensure these funds genuinely improve affordability and prevent speculative misuse. Additionally, all housing projects supported by the ESF+ and ERDF should earmark at least 50% of their budget for social and affordable housing targeting low- and middle-income households. This would ensure EU funding directly benefits those most in need. The European Youth Forum also highlights the urgent need to combat youth homelessness. We call for the adoption of an operational budget and a work programme for the European Platform on Combating Homelessness (2025-2030), with specific actions addressing youth homelessness. Scaling up Housing First initiatives, earmarking EU funds, and issuing a new Council Recommendation on Ending Homelessness are important steps. To ensure effective monitoring, the Commission should introduce a single EU definition of homelessness, enabling consistent tracking across Member States, with regular reporting through Eurostat. Finally, we also propose that the European Commission, alongside the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, organise an annual EU Summit on Social and Affordable Housing. This summit would provide a crucial forum to coordinate actions, exchange best practices, and maintain political momentum, with a particular focus on young people's needs.
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Meeting with Hristo Petrov (Member of the European Parliament)

12 May 2025 · Introductory Meeting

Meeting with Benedetta Scuderi (Member of the European Parliament) and Young European Federalists and Generation Climate Europe AISBL

29 Apr 2025 · Youth policy dialogue discussion

Meeting with Sirpa Pietikäinen (Member of the European Parliament) and Seas At Risk and

23 Apr 2025 · Environmental action

Meeting with Manuela Ripa (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Feb 2025 · European Capital of Youth

Meeting with Victor Negrescu (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Feb 2025 · European youth policies

Meeting with Sabrina Repp (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Jan 2025 · EU youth policy

Meeting with Svenja Hahn (Member of the European Parliament) and European Policy Centre and

15 Jan 2025 · Host for an Event on AI on Inclusive Futures: Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on equal access and fair chances in European Education

Meeting with Sabine Verheyen (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Jan 2025 · Youth Policy

Meeting with Aura Salla (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Jan 2025 · Introductory meeting with European Youth Forum representatives

Meeting with Dan Barna (Member of the European Parliament) and European Policy Centre and

15 Jan 2025 · Event on AI on Inclusive Futures: Exploring the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on equal access and fair chances in European Education

Meeting with David Ciliberti (Cabinet of Commissioner Glenn Micallef)

10 Jan 2025 · The Youth Policy Dialogues, the setting up of the Youth Advisory Board, MFF and funding and Intergenerational Fairness

Meeting with Benedetta Scuderi (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

3 Dec 2024 · Traineeships

Meeting with Thomas Geisel (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Nov 2024 · Discussing Civil Society’s Taxation Proposals

Meeting with Nicola Zingaretti (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2024 · Youth Policies

Meeting with Per Clausen (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Nov 2024 · Priorities for the mandate

Meeting with Nicola Zingaretti (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Nov 2024 · Youth Policies

Meeting with Jana Toom (Member of the European Parliament) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and

3 Oct 2024 · Social and Inclusive Growth

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

30 Sept 2024 · Traineeships Directive

Meeting with Marc Angel (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Sept 2024 · Youth policies

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Sept 2024 · Prioridades en materia de juventud 2024/29

Meeting with Sandro Ruotolo (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Sept 2024 · 2024-2029 Youth priorities

Meeting with Lena Schilling (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Jul 2024 · Youth Policy

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

22 May 2024 · Meeting on traineeships, precarious work and mental health

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič) and European Environmental Bureau and

9 Apr 2024 · European Green Deal and sustainable resource management

Response to Interim evaluation of the EU4Health Programme 2021-2027

9 Jan 2024

Mental health is of central concern to Europes youth. - The OECD Health at a Glance Europe 2022 report found that COVID had a disproportionate effect on young peoples mental health - deepening Europes pre-existing youth mental health crisis. - Studies have observed sharp increases in the rates of depression, tension and anxiety among young people during COVID, and their mental health was disproportionately affected versus other age groups. - This picture improved slightly in 2022, but symptoms of anxiety and depression are still double pre-pandemic levels in some countries and suicide is now the second leading cause of death for young people in the EU. - Commission research has also identified a worrying trend where the prevalence of loneliness among young people has skyrocketed since COVID and is now higher than that of any other age group for the first time. - There is also significant unmet demand for mental health care. Almost one in two young people across the EU reported unmet needs for mental health care in spring of 2022. - As the leading platform of youth organisations, the European Youth Forum suggests the following areas to be focused on during the current and next EU4Health programme: Youth as a specific category/call and conditions for youth organisations to apply to the call: - In the current programme - there has been no specific call to support youth mental health - young people were just classified as one of six groups that could have been the focus of the 2021 action grants call (EU4H-2021-PJ-07) and 10 groups that could have been the focus of the 2023 call for proposals (EU4H-2023-PJ-03). - The next programme should ensure that there is a specific call that focuses on young people with call conditions that allow youth organisations to apply for funding. - The recently adopted Council Conclusions on a comprehensive approach to the mental health of young people in the EU point out the important role for youth work in contributing to positive mental health outcomes. - The Youth Progress Indexs report on mental health shows a positive correlation between community safety nets and depression rates, highlighting the importance of having a support system during times of need. This suggests that when young individuals have a strong network of support to lean on, it assists in their overall mental wellbeing. - Youth organisations enable young people to participate in activities in the presence of other young people and youth workers - providing them with a network of peers outside home and educational setting and access to a trusted adult who is not a parent or teacher. - These organisations should be supported via EU4Health to bring their expertise of successful interventions to an EU level together. Increase in budgetary commitment for youth mental health: - We welcome that mental health is included as one of the specific objectives of the health promotion and disease prevention section of the programme. - The 2021 mental health-focused action grants and 2023 call for proposals that could have included a focus on young people were allocated 750,000 and 2.36 million respectively. These are small allocations compared to over 5 billion in total programme budget. - A higher budget should therefore be allocated to youth mental health both during the current programming period and future iterations of the programme under the next MFF. EU4Health should be subject to a Youth Test: - A Youth Test should be applied to any revised programme framework to ensure the needs and expectations of young people are met in the design of the next programme. - This should include an analysis by DG SANTE of the situation of young peoples health - including mental health and drawing on the available age-disaggregated data of reported mental health rates for young people - consultation with youth experts and the resulting construction of a programme that considers these findings, expertise and recommendations.
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Meeting with Vlad-Marius Botoş (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Nov 2023 · EUROPEAN YOUTH CAPITAL 2026 JURY MEETING

Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Aug 2023 · European Youth Test – Better Regulation

Meeting with Věra Jourová (Vice-President) and

6 Jul 2023 · Defence of Democracy

Meeting with Michaela Šojdrová (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Secretariat of COMECE (Commission of the Episcopates of the European Union) and

23 May 2023 · European Solidarity Corps

Response to Boosting European learning mobility for all

2 May 2023

The European Youth Forum carried out a consultation with its Member Organisations to discuss the input to be provided to the public consultation on learning mobility launched by the European Commission. The attached document summarises the input of the Member Organisations and aims to provide feedback to public consultation on learning opportunities (learning mobility) abroad in Europe for everyone.
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Meeting with Alin Mituța (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

27 Apr 2023 · Parliamentarism, European citizenship and democracy

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

24 Apr 2023 · Quality Traineeships in the EU (APA level)

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

13 Apr 2023 · Quality Traineeships in the EU

Meeting with Brando Benifei (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Mar 2023 · CoFoE

Meeting with Alexandra Geese (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and European Digital Rights and

27 Mar 2023 · Political advertising

Meeting with Věra Jourová (Vice-President) and Transparency International Liaison Office to the European Union and

17 Mar 2023 · Defence of democracy package

European Youth Forum urges transition to wellbeing-focused economy

9 Mar 2023
Topic — The 2023 Strategic Foresight Report examines how the EU can achieve sustainability by 2050.
Message — The group recommends ending the focus on constant growth and setting legal limits on material use. They also propose replacing existing debt rules with a pact centered on social wellbeing.1234
Why — Young people would gain long-term environmental security and economies that prioritize their social wellbeing.5
Impact — Resource-intensive industries would face significant costs from binding targets to reduce material consumption.6
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Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for opinion) and European University Association and British Council

9 Mar 2023 · Shadows’ meeting with stakeholders "Implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement: Implications for the education and youth sectors"

Meeting with Ilan De Basso (Member of the European Parliament) and Eurodiaconia

8 Mar 2023 · Möte om minimiinkomst

Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

2 Mar 2023 · EU Universities Alliances, 1M Deep Tech Talent Initiative & EIT Campus

Meeting with Ilan De Basso (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for opinion) and Anti-Slavery International and

28 Feb 2023 · Möte

Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

6 Feb 2023 · EU Electoral law

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

2 Feb 2023 · Quality Traineeships in the EU

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

23 Jan 2023 · NEETs (Neither in Employment nor in Education or Training), traineeship, youth policies

Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament) and European Disability Forum

9 Nov 2022 · Rémunération des stages en Europe

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

9 Nov 2022 · International Interns Day

Response to Interim evaluation of EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027

20 Oct 2022

The European Youth Forum considers the interim evaluation of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 a great opportunity to revisit the fundamental aspects set out by it, such as the strengthened participation, the increased inclusion and the cross-cutting approach to mainstream youth in all policy areas. The EU Youth Strategy established several tools that enables stakeholders to achieve this, such as the Future National Activities Planner, the EU Youth Strategy Platform, the evidence based policy making or the better coordinated and targeted funding opportunities. These tools are pivotal for the successful implementation of the Strategy. We are attaching a file that details the approach we suggest.
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Meeting with Leila Chaibi (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

19 Oct 2022 · Fair working conditions for platform workers

Meeting with Sabine Verheyen (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

11 Oct 2022 · Jugendpartizipation

Meeting with Joost Korte (Director-General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)

19 Sept 2022 · Quality of traineeships

Response to Erasmus+ 2021-2027 interim evaluation and Erasmus+ 2014-2020 final evaluation

12 Sept 2022

The European Youth Forum is the umbrella organisation for national youth councils and international youth organisations representing collectively millions of young people throughout the European Union and beyond. Our membership encompasses broadly diverse youth organisations led and driven by young people. Both our member organisations and the organisations represented by our members engage with and benefit from the Erasmus+ Programme. Therefore, we deem it highly relevant to bring our insights into the current call for evidence and overall in the mid-term evaluation of the Erasmus+ Programme. The present contribution is divided in three sections, firstly tackling the process to develop the mid-term evaluation, secondly its overall structure of the Erasmus+, and lastly overall general comments on the implementation of the Erasmus+ Programme so far. PROCESS The overall assessment of the Erasmus+ must be as unbiased and objective as possible. It is therefore essential to ensure that this mid-term evaluation is backed by additional evidence-based reports of relevant stakeholders, including (youth) civil society. In order to achieve this goal, the European Commission, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, the relevant Executive Agency and the Erasmus+ National Agencies need to commit to make raw data accessible and ensure a maximum level of transparency throughout the whole process, from inception to completion. This includes the public availability of datasets on budget breakdowns, statistical data and National Authority reports developed for the mid-term evaluation - and particularly their respective summaries. Regarding the latter, in the previous mid-term evaluation process, numerous EU member states did not make such documents available, which impedes transparency and subsequently accountability. STRUCTURE The last Erasmus+ mid-term evaluation did not comprehend chapter-specific reviews. Presenting the report in this way hampered the understanding of the actual impact of the programme on chapter-specific matters as well as the identification of issues relevant for each strand – including youth organisations and youth sector stakeholders. In order to produce a more comprehensible assessment on each of the domains covered by the Erasmus+ Programme, we recommend complementary chapter-specific analyses, including the Youth Chapter of the Erasmus+ Programme. CURRENT IMPLEMENTATION Although the scope of the current call for evidence is too limited to provide a comprehensive assessment, there are two issues that have considerably impacted the experience of our membership and youth organisations in general in the current Erasmus+ Programme: Centralised actions – the introduction of centralised grants serves tailored to the realities of European NGOs serves as a stepping stone in their acknowledgement as partners towards the achievement of the EU-Youth strategy. However, in the last three years international youth organisations’ applications are increasingly being rejected, including in the call for Operating Grants for in the field of youth. This is restricting the operational and structural capacities of youth organisations, after years of advocating for such grants. Delays in EU Youth Dialogue grants for National Working Groups – National Working Groups are experiencing regularly delays in the receipt of funding to implement their consultations. This is heavily delaying and impeding a meaningful consultation process in the member states, which is an essential part of the EU Youth Dialogue. Moreover, it burdens the National Youth Councils that are the beneficiaries of these grants in most of the cases. Find attached the Shadow Report to the mid-term evaluation commissioned by the European Youth Forum in the previous MFF
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Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

9 Sept 2022 · Meeting on youth policies.

Response to Enabling factors for digital education

11 Aug 2022

1. Access to ICT With more and more of young people’s lives shifting to the digital realm, access to ICT tools and high-speed internet is the first necessity for ensuring young people’s digital rights and participation. Some young people in Europe, particularly rural youth, youth with migration and other disadvantaged backgrounds, still do not have proper access to computing equipment or affordable and robust high-speed internet. * Governments at all levels should ensure that all young people, regardless of their background or place of residence, have full access to information and communications technologies, affordable high quality internet and should invest in digital infrastructure, such as optical fibre and mobile connection, to ensure their young people are not left behind. * Education providers must acknowledge varying levels of access to ICT hardware and software, and provide equipment to young people where needed to ensure their full participation. 2. Digital Skills With more and more jobs requiring digital aptitude, Europe’s education and training programmes need to equip young people with skills, knowledge and competences that will serve them throughout their lives. They also equip young people to be able to take part in the online civic space, which is becoming an ever-more important space for exercising political participation. With the fast-paced evolution of technology, neither educators nor pupils will be able to keep up with all new developments, which is why complex problem-solving skills should complement digital skills education. * National and local governments must commit to the proper provision and development of digital literacy and digital skills education in schools, including knowledge about individual, civil and political rights. * National and local governments must ensure that the curricula of schools, universities and training institutes across Europe include digital skills and competences from an early age, moving towards progressively advanced skills. * Schools, universities and training institutes should commit to imparting complex problem-solving skills, to help young people adapt to future technological advancements. They should also increase awareness of individual rights around personal data and safe use of the internet. * National and local governments should support youth organisations and other non-formal education providers in their work of carrying out activities that aim to improve the digital skills and competences of young people.
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Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament)

4 Aug 2022 · European Electoral Law Act

Meeting with Jutta Urpilainen (Commissioner) and Climate Action Network Europe and

5 Jul 2022 · xxx

Meeting with Dennis Radtke (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

18 May 2022 · Plattformarbeit

Meeting with Ana Carla Pereira (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

12 May 2022 · platform work and minimum income

Meeting with Eleonora Evi (Member of the European Parliament)

12 May 2022 · COFoE

Meeting with Andreas Schieder (Member of the European Parliament)

12 May 2022 · Future of Europe

Meeting with Iris Abraham (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)

4 May 2022 · Meeting with the YFJ to explore the potential for future collaboration in the context of the European Year of Youth

Meeting with Elisabetta Gualmini (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and HOTREC, Hotels, Restaurants & Cafés in Europe and

12 Apr 2022 · 2nd roundtable on platform work directive

Response to Recommendation on minimum income

30 Mar 2022

For the European Youth Forum, minimum income - and in a broader way, access to social protection - is a key issue for young people across Europe. Young people are among the most at risk of poverty in our societies and the Covid-19 pandemic has only worsened the situation to the point of a possible “pandemic scar”. Social protection provides vital support for people who lack adequate sources of income and financial security. However, age-based discrimination prevents young people from being fully supported by these systems. Young people are often not eligible for unemployment benefits because of their lack of previous employment. Hence, they should be eligible for minimum income schemes. However, in practice they are excluded from these schemes in countries where there are minimum age requirements, or they receive reduced support simply because of their age. As an example, in the Netherlands, young people can receive support from the State but the amount varies a lot depending on their age: in 2020, people over 21 years-old (without children) would receive 1052 euros, compared to 260 euros for young people under 21 years-old. In France, minimum income (RSA) is available to anyone over 25 years old - it is only accessible for people under 24 years old if they are parents or can attest they worked for at least 2 years (internships not included). Such age-based discrimination prevents many young people from accessing minimum income schemes and, therefore, decent living conditions. The European Youth Forum, representing more than 100 youth organisations and being the voice of young people in Europe, calls on the Commission and the Council to work together to ensure an ambitious Council Recommendation that respects young people’s fundamental rights, notably the right to adequate and enabling social protection, and the right to live free from discrimination, including ageism. Our main asks: - Tackle ageism and age-based discrimination by removing age barriers and ensuring equal access to minimum incomes schemes to everyone without discrimination; - Improve the outreach to all young people who could benefit from those schemes, especially those coming from marginalised backgrounds; - Ensure the adequacy of minimum income schemes by setting minimum income to at least the level of the national at-risk-of-poverty threshold; - Ensure the best possible use of minimum income schemes by people by: - Tackling the high non-take-up by granting minimum income benefits proactively, ideally automatically; - Not implementing sanctions that would lead to cuts in the minimum income support; - Guaranteeing a rapid system: minimum income schemes should react quickly to any change of the beneficiary’s situation that could impact them; - Allowing the possibility to combine the MI with other benefits, such as disability benefits for example. - Guarantee concrete follow-up of the MI schemes’ implementation by the Member States by setting up strong monitoring mechanisms; - Demand further action be taken, ideally a Directive on Adequate Minimum income, to set common standards across the European Union and as part of the recovery from the pandemic; - Include young people and youth organisations, as well as broader civil society, in all decision-making processes related to minimum income schemes, including regarding their implementation at national level.
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Meeting with Brando Benifei (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

23 Feb 2022 · Discussion on the AI Act

Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament)

20 Jan 2022 · Electoral law reform

Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament)

12 Jan 2022 · Electoral law reform

Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

10 Jan 2022 · Innovation and Youth

Meeting with Damian Boeselager (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Nov 2021 · Electoral law reform

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (Executive Vice-President)

11 Nov 2021 · debrief from the Executive Vice-President’s day at the COP, presentation of the young delegates’ positions

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (Executive Vice-President)

9 Nov 2021 · debrief from the Executive Vice-President’s day at the COP, presentation of the young delegates’ positions

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (Executive Vice-President)

8 Nov 2021 · debrief from the Executive Vice-President’s day at the COP, presentation of the young delegates’ positions and youngo youth manifesto

Response to European Year of Youth (2022)

4 Nov 2021

European Youth Forum - Return to the European Commission's Consultation on the European Year of Youth 2022 Proposal Overview The announcement of the European Year of Youth presents an important moment to make a genuine difference to the lives of young people across Europe. Already struggling to achieve parity of opportunity and quality of life as older generations, young people as a generation were further disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left their mental health, education and employment prospects at lasting risk. This Year is a chance to send a signal to Europe’s youth that the EU is committed to its young generation and will use the Year to address their challenges, tackle these intergenerational inequalities and develop meaningful policies that have a lasting impact on young Europeans. Involvement of Young People Given that youth is the focus of the Year, it is vital that young people and youth organisations can co-create and implement the Year, including through giving them a significant role in the formal governance structures that are being set up to guide and evaluate the Year at all levels of delivery. These organisations also have essential experience in engaging young people from diverse backgrounds and with fewer opportunities, which will be crucial in ensuring that the Year is genuinely inclusive and therefore the most impactful. To this end, we would also recommend the creation of an Inclusion Strategy for the Year to make sure that there is a sustained focus on quality outreach to young people hardest to reach, harnessing the expertise of youth organisations in this area. Meaningful Action The Year should also go beyond one off events and participatory activities. New policies, initiatives and funding streams focused on improving the realities of young people such as the banning of unpaid internships should be taken forward during the Year and lead to a meaningful, cross-sectoral focus on youth. We also recommend the creation of ‘E(youth)stat’: the new frontier of data on young people's progress in Europe that would ensure that Eurostat increases data collection on youth. This would provide a vital youth-focused lens for policy makers across the world and give prominence to the Youth Progress Index. Legacy The Year should also not be a standalone 12 months of action that fades once a new European Year is taken forward in 2023. There needs to be a clear commitment to the legacy of the year to ensure that young people continue to be prioritised and youth policy mainstreamed across all EU policy areas. Funding and the importance of a Cross-Sectoral Year There should be 2022 budget foreseen for youth organisations to engage during the year. In addition, there should be a substantial commitment from other EU programmes outside Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps to make sure that the Year is truly cross-sectoral and that the Year provides additional funding for young people throughout the year and beyond from other DGs/EU policy areas. This would represent an important, additional investment in youth during a Year that is designed to focus on and celebrate them. The European Youth Capital initiative should also be given prominence during the Year to raise the profile of the initiative, mobilise the network of previous title holders and promote a true local to European connection during the Year. At the European Youth Forum, we are looking forward to working closely with the European Commission, the European Parliament, Member States, our Members and young people across Europe to make the Year an impactful success.
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Meeting with Iratxe García Pérez (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Oct 2021 · Conference on the Future of Europe Plenary

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament)

29 Sept 2021 · Mental Health & Youth Policy

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

27 Sept 2021 · Meeting on youth.

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

9 Jul 2021 · Meeting on youth.

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and Unilever and

21 May 2021 · Presentation on radical decarbonisation

Meeting with Camilla Bursi (Cabinet of Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius) and Unilever and

21 May 2021 · Presentation on radical decarbonisation

Response to Education for environmental sustainability

11 May 2021

Contribution of the European Youth Forum: The proposal should: Provide greater attention to non-formal education and learning. Ensuring that political and financial support is provided to youth organisations developing and implementing educational programmes. Non-formal education providers are an effective complementary educational stakeholder on this issue that need support and promotion from national education policies; Promote and support the access to extracurricular activities provided by Non-Formal Education players such as Youth Organisations that contribute to empower children and young people by implementing sustainable actions and solutions at community level and offer nature-based play activities; Underline youth and civil society organisations as relevant non-formal education providers and stakeholders in the discourse around education, from development and implementation of programmes to the recognition and validation of competences; Ensure to leave no-one behind through developing programmes on education and trainings that are accessible and inclusive. These programmes should consider the reality of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, including in the use of digital technologies. The educational programmes should adopt a systemic approach to environmental education teaching the roots of causes of the current crisis that include the current broken economic system that requires to propose alternatives to more democratic structures in which people have a stronger ownership of public goods, communities, and their working lives; Include education about our multiple environmental crises that views them as interdependent and rooted in our economic system and narratives about controlling nature Develop skills programmes aiming to identify and help resolve environmental challenges including critical thinking to tackle disinformation and citizenship education. This will support the development of a structural change towards a democracy where young people have a real say and youth activism and mobilisation is recognised as a legitimate form of political participation, not contested
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Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

30 Apr 2021 · Meeting on the Porto Social Summit.

Meeting with Tom Vandenkendelaere (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Apr 2021 · Legislative files related to youth

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

23 Apr 2021 · Meeting on the Porto Social Summit.

Meeting with Iratxe García Pérez (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Mar 2021 · Covid-19: Overcoming new Challenges to Gender Equality

Meeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)

23 Feb 2021 · Information exchange about current priorities.

Meeting with Margaritis Schinas (Vice-President) and

4 Feb 2021 · Youth and our European Way of Life

Meeting with Jutta Urpilainen (Commissioner) and Young European Leadership and

26 Jan 2021 · Launching of the youth advisory board

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

12 Nov 2020 · Meeting on quality standards.

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (Executive Vice-President) and Fridays for Future Germany and

10 Sept 2020 · Latest developments in EU climate policy and European Green Deal

Meeting with Anouk Faber (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

22 Jul 2020 · Meeting on reinforcement of the Youth Guarantee.

Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

7 May 2020 · Videoconference meeting on the effect of crisis on youth.

Meeting with Dubravka Šuica (Vice-President)

25 Feb 2020 · Youth Engagement, Conference on the Future of Europe

Meeting with Jutta Urpilainen (Commissioner) and CONCORD Europe and

20 Feb 2020 · Africa Strategy

Meeting with Diederik Samsom (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans) and Caritas Europa and

19 Feb 2020 · European Green Deal

Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

21 Jan 2020 · EU Youth Strategy, Digital Education Action Plan / Erasmus+

Meeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)

8 Mar 2019 · Courtesy meeting with the new President

Response to Multiannual Financial Framework: Erasmus Programme 2021-2027

1 Oct 2018

The European Youth Forum welcomes the EU’s continuous commitment to the programme, the key programme for youth. This is a good start for the discussion as to how to make the programme more inclusive, more innovative and more adaptable to the needs of young people and youth organisations. The continuance of the Key Action structure is positive, with the Commission opting to fine tune aspects of the programme instead of changing it completely. This will make the transition from one programme to another far easier for organisations. Many of the suggestions made by the youth sector were taken into consideration in this proposal. We also welcome the doubling of the Erasmus and the continuation of the Youth Chapter as an essential part of the programme. However, we believe that we can even more ambitious regarding the budget of the programme since investing in Erasmus has an uncontested EU added value. Regarding the Youth Chapter, we welcome that the overall budget continues to be 10% of the overall budget. This is an essential component in supporting youth organisations daily work, particularly the support for Non-Formal and Informal Learning and the development of Youth Work. As with the overall budget, we would be happy to see the available budget for the youth chapter increase further, up to 15%. The interim evaluation of the current Erasmus+ programme showed that actions under the youth chapter have been the most successful at “reaching out to young people with fewer opportunities (31% of beneficiaries) by applying inclusive, non-formal learning approaches”. As reaching a wider group of young people is stated as one of the priority areas for the programme, this action in relation to the youth chapter will be crucial to achieve that aim and should thus have access to better funding. The inclusion of simpler and more accessible modalities in this version of the programme, aimed at bringing more grassroot and unorganised youth into the programme. The return of the youth initiatives (under the new name youth participation activities) is particularly positive, as it is a format that allows unorganised youth to take part in the programme. These activities were particularly successful under the Youth in Action programme. The current administrative requirements are quite burdensome for smaller organisations, putting many off applying for the programme. The Youth Forum would encourage the European Commission to explore ways to harmonise the implementation of the programme across Europe. Many organisations report that National Agencies have different practices when it comes to evaluation and reporting, making it harder for youth organisations to manage their projects due to differing requirements. The European Youth Forum has nonetheless some outstanding issues with the current proposal. On of such issues is the DiscoverEU action. We welcome this new initiative for youth but €700 million is a large amount of funding for a programme that, in its current form, will benefit just a select group that can afford to travel in the EU. The fact that the initiative covers only travel costs means that many disadvantaged young people will be left out. To make the initiative truly valuable and meaningful, as well as providing European added value, there needs to be an educational component to the programme that at the moment is missing. The role of youth organisations in the implementation of this action would also need to be clarified. We provide a more in-depth analysis of DiscoverEU in the policy paper attached. More details are also needed as to how the European Commission will manage the participation of EU-wide networks and European organisations in the next Erasmus programme. It is important that grant requests for any actions from European-wide networks be submitted to and managed by EACEA. This would ease their access to the programme and avoid many issues created under the current programme.
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Meeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)

18 Jul 2018 · Future cooperation

Meeting with Helena Braun (Cabinet of First Vice-President Frans Timmermans)

7 Jun 2018 · discussion on Youth Progress Index

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

28 May 2018 · youth agenda in the proposal for the future Multi-annual Financial Framework, new proposals for the successor programme to Erasmus+ Future of the European Solidarity Corps

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

10 Jul 2017 · EU Solidarity Corps & EU Youth Strategy post 2018

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner) and Assemblée des Régions d'Europe and

2 May 2017 · EU youth strategy post 2018

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner)

6 Mar 2017 · The role of young people in the discussions on the future of Europe, the future of Erasmus+, the post-2018 Youth Strategy and the European Solidarity Corps

Meeting with Vytenis Andriukaitis (Commissioner) and

2 Mar 2017 · Towards a renewed EU Alcohol and Health Forum

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner)

23 Nov 2016 · New Youth initiative - Bratislava process’ youth dimension

Meeting with Baudouin Baudru (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen), Julie Fionda (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen), Vasiliki Kokkori (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

7 Nov 2016 · Recent developments related to the Youth Guarantee

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (First Vice-President)

12 Oct 2016 · SDG's

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

15 Jul 2016 · Youth radicalisation - Erasmus+ - Brexit

Meeting with Aura Salla (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

14 Apr 2016 · Investment plan - youth unemployment and investment in education and review of the MFF/Europe 2020

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics), Szabolcs Horvath (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

12 Apr 2016 · Best practices on integrating young refugees in education and the labour market -

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

18 Mar 2016 · New Work Plan for Youth, Structured Dialogue with Youth

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner)

22 Sept 2015 · Structured Dialogue with youth, tackling radicalisation

Meeting with Marianne Thyssen (Commissioner)

14 Sept 2015 · Labour mobility

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

9 Jul 2015 · Structured Dialogue with Youth

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner) and European Students' Union and

23 Apr 2015 · Tackling the radicalisation of young people

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (First Vice-President) and

14 Apr 2015 · Annual Colloquium on the situation of fundamental rights in the EU

Meeting with Pauline Rouch (Cabinet of President Jean-Claude Juncker)

13 Apr 2015 · Digital Single Market

Meeting with Christine Mai (Cabinet of Commissioner Tibor Navracsics)

19 Mar 2015 · Youth policy, priorities for 2015

Meeting with Julie Fionda (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

17 Feb 2015 · Skills and Youth Employment

Meeting with Tibor Navracsics (Commissioner) and

27 Jan 2015 · Introductory meeting, exchange of views and priorities for youth policy 2015

Meeting with Věra Jourová (Commissioner) and Human Rights Watch and

9 Jan 2015 · Roundtable with NGOs on fundamental rights and non-discrimination

Meeting with Frans Timmermans (First Vice-President) and Amnesty International Limited and

9 Jan 2015 · Roundtable with NGO's on fundamental rights