Changes from plenary report to adopted text

L. whereas the persistent disparities between and within Member States, particularly between urban centres and rural areas, as well as between continental European Member States and their outermost territories, limit young people’s access to quality education, employment, youth work, cultural engagement and basic infrastructure; whereas these imbalances can contribute to youth outmigration and brain drain from less developed regions;

M. whereas youth organisations play an essential role in supporting youth civic and political participation and providing non-formal education opportunities across Member States, despite facing persistent challenges such as a lack of stable and predictable funding;

N. whereas social isolation, discrimination, online extremist content, exposure to misinformation and disinformation, and declining trust in democratic institutions can increase young people’s vulnerability to radicalisation; whereas these challenges can be addressed through formal and non-formal education, media literacy, volunteering, intercultural dialogue and youth participation;

O. whereas digital media and online platforms have become a central space for young people to access and share information and engage in public debate; whereas the spread and amplification of harmful and polarising content in the digital information space contribute to societal polarisation, weaken democratic resilience and may adversely affect young people’s mental health, particularly by exposing them to cyberbullying, online hate speech, disinformation and harmful content; whereas strengthening media literacy, critical thinking and responsible online engagement, as well as responsible business practices of online platforms, is essential to safeguard informed participation and reinforce trust in democratic processes;

P. whereas young people with fewer opportunities are those who, for economic, social, cultural, geographical or health reasons, due to their migrant background, or for reasons such as disability or educational difficulties, or for any other reason, including reasons that could give rise to discrimination under Article 21 of the Charter, face obstacles that prevent them from having effective access to opportunities under European programmes;

Q. whereas young people with fewer opportunities remain under-represented in European programmes and continue to face fewer job opportunities, weaker infrastructure and poorer access to quality education, social services, healthcare, sport, cultural and leisure activities; whereas progress in participation and inclusion targets should be complemented by a stronger focus on the quality of inclusion, so that some of the most vulnerable young people, including those from Roma communities, can be reached through tailored outreach, trusted intermediaries and accessible, community-based entry points;

R. whereas decision-making on youth policies should include a gender perspective that takes into account the specific challenges and circumstances faced by young women and girls;

S. whereas the Youth Employment Initiative and the reinforced Youth Guarantee play an important role in addressing the complex barriers faced by young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) particularly those facing coverage gaps; whereas the implementation of the Youth Guarantee has been met with persistent challenges in Member States, such as outreach to young people, in particular those who are hard to reach, face social exclusion or are long-term unemployed;

T. whereas sustained efforts and stronger synergies between the EUYS, Erasmus+, ESF+ and the reinforced Youth Guarantee are needed to increase the active participation of young people in society, particularly NEETs and those at risk of social exclusion;

U. whereas youth policy should be recognised not only as a social priority but as a strategic investment in the EU’s human capital, competitiveness and long-term economic resilience, leading to enhanced social cohesion, improved living conditions and intergenerational solidarity in the EU; whereas Europe’s long-term competitiveness also depends on equipping young people with entrepreneurial skills, in line with the priorities identified in the Draghi report;

V. whereas an intergenerational approach to youth participation and inclusion is essential for fostering cooperation, solidarity and dialogue between older and younger people and promoting intergenerational fairness in policymaking;

W. whereas the absence of a clear definition of ‘traineeship’ in certain Member States may lead to legal uncertainty and uneven standards across the EU; whereas greater clarity and convergence are needed to ensure quality traineeships that provide meaningful learning experiences, adequate compensation and fair conditions for young people;

X. whereas vocational education and training (VET) provided through diverse education models and institutions is essential for preparing young people for labour market opportunities; whereas dual education systems combining classroom learning with practical workplace experience are particularly effective in facilitating smooth transitions into stable quality employment;

Y. whereas children, adolescents and young adults are increasingly being exposed to pressure and high expectations from society and are impacted by anxiety stemming from global threats, such as pandemics, the climate crisis, conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, uncertainty over the cost of living and the lack of affordable housing, and other factors that contribute to nearly half of young people in the EU reporting emotional or psychosocial problems, further exacerbated by growing socio-economic inequalities and disparities between countries, urban and rural areas and socio-economic groups, underscoring the importance of targeted interventions for vulnerable groups, including low-income youth, migrants and rural populations; whereas many young people continue to experience medium- and long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic;

Z. whereas mental health and well-being ranked among young people’s key priorities under the European Youth Goals (EYGs), but have not been directly addressed as a dedicated priority in any Council Trio Presidency cycle, revealing a need for stronger cross-sectoral mainstreaming at EU level to address current institutional gaps, including through the nomination of a dedicated youth correspondent within the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety;

AA. whereas families, schools, youth organisations, sports clubs, cultural organisations and public institutions play an important role in supporting young people’s mental health, their social inclusion and the development of children and young people;

AB. whereas bullying and cyberbullying can have severe long-term consequences for the mental health and well-being of young people, underscoring the need for preventive measures and accessible psychosocial support in line with EYG 5;

AC. whereas excessive use of social media, as well as certain online design features, such as addictive design, dark patterns, harmful online content and emerging AI-related risks, can negatively affect young people’s mental health and development, underlining the need for age-appropriate safeguards, digital health literacy and awareness-raising;

AD. whereas low levels of physical activity, along with tobacco use, vaping, alcohol, drugs and the recreational use of nitrous oxide, can have long-term consequences for young people’s physical and mental health and require targeted preventive measures;

AE. whereas discrimination, racism, gender-based violence and socio-economic inequalities can negatively affect the mental health and well-being of young people;

AF. whereas access to health education, including age-appropriate sexual education, can contribute to the well-being and autonomy of young people, while fully respecting national competences;

AG. whereas participation in the EU Youth Dialogue (EUYD) has grown substantially, from 10 733 participants in the 8th cycle to 38 042 in the 11th cycle; whereas the structured implementation of the EYGs and consistent support from the Council Trio Presidencies have contributed to the success of the EUYD in promoting meaningful youth participation and inclusion;

AH whereas education is a fundamental right enshrined in the Charter; whereas education plays an important role in equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to become committed citizens;

AI. whereas equal access to quality education and training is essential for equipping young people with the knowledge, skills and competences needed to shape their future, such as critical thinking and digital literacy; whereas financial and geographical barriers continue to exclude many young people from education and training across the EU; whereas bullying and cyberbullying also constitute significant barriers to learning, well-being and educational attainment;

AJ. whereas the growing shortage of qualified teachers and educational staff in many Member States undermines the quality, accessibility and inclusiveness of education systems; whereas stronger support for teachers, trainers and youth workers is essential for the early identification of learners at risk of disengagement or early school leaving, and for expanding access to mobility and non-formal learning opportunities; whereas strengthening the teaching profession requires adequate recognition, decent pay and better working conditions, while fully respecting national competences;

AK. whereas the EU has consistently recognised the interlinkages between digital competence and media literacy, as reflected in the digital education action plan, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive and the Digital Services Act; whereas adequate investment in education infrastructure, staffing, professional development, and innovative teaching and learning methods is essential for ensuring high-quality, inclusive and resilient education systems; whereas the use of AI tools has reshaped education, work and social interactions among young people;

AL. whereas the designation of a year of digital citizenship education by the Council of Europe highlights its crucial role in fostering democratic participation, media literacy, online safety and respect for human rights in the digital environment, particularly among children and young people;

AM. whereas citizenship education contributes to young people’s understanding of democratic institutions, fundamental rights and responsibilities, and fosters critical thinking, civic engagement and media literacy; whereas it should also strengthen knowledge of the history, language and cultural heritage of the Member States, as elements of social cohesion and the responsible participation of young people in democratic life;

AN. whereas non-formal and informal education, including volunteering, youth work, civic engagement and grassroots initiatives, are a key instrument for young people; whereas volunteering, youth work and other forms of non-formal education are valuable components of lifelong learning, contributing to employability, civic engagement and personal development;

AO. whereas strengthening participation in science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education is essential for addressing skills shortages and fostering innovation; whereas encouraging greater participation of young women in this context is crucial for fully harnessing Europe’s talent potential and improving gender equality;

AP. whereas youth work and the education of youth workers are not formally recognised in all Member States, which results in discrepancies in EU youth programmes; whereas recognising youth work and the education of youth workers, including those with disabilities, would ensure comparable levels of experience and opportunities across the EU, strengthen the quality, inclusiveness and sustainability of projects carried out under Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) programmes, promote professionalisation and capacity-building among youth workers, and enhance cross-border cooperation, mutual learning and the recognition of competences acquired through non-formal and informal learning;

Implementation and policy coherence of the EUYS

1. Welcomes the achievements of the 2019-2027 EUYS in providing a coherent framework for youth policy cooperation and ensuring the visibility of youth priorities across political cycles; stresses the need to maintain a high-level, adaptable framework built around the core EUYS areas (Engage, Connect, Empower) post-2027, that enhances the capacity of young people to navigate the digital environment safely, critically and responsibly, and gives a more prominent role to inclusion, volunteering and youth work;

2. Encourages the creation of a unified architecture in which the EYGs define the cross-sectoral priorities for the EUYS, the EUYD brings in young people’s experiences, Erasmus+ and other EU-funded programmes provide resources to act, and youth work translates European priorities into local realities, while ensuring concrete links between the EUYS/EYGs and national youth strategies and implementation plans;

3. Highlights that the development of the 11 EYGs through the EUYD has been an important milestone in youth policy; believes, however, that the EYGs must be re-evaluated and updated regularly, through an open, transparent and inclusive process, ensuring the broadest possible participation of young people and regular updates aligned with the cycle of the EUYS;

4. Calls for this process to embed new societal realities and cross-cutting issues affecting young people in order to reflect economic, technological and security challenges, including disinformation, mental health and media literacy, as well as climate change, social inequalities and civic participation;

5. Invites the Commission to organise this review in co-creation with youth and civil society organisations, young people with fewer opportunities, non-organised youth, children and adolescents, as well as researchers and academics, to ensure that long-term trends and foresight findings are considered;

6. Calls on the Commission and upcoming Council presidencies to ensure that the final EUYD cycles address the most pressing challenges currently affecting young people, including socio-economic conditions, digital transformation, mental health and participation in democratic life, and to methodically integrate the reviewed and updated EYGs, so as to ensure coherence and preparedness in view of the post-2027 EUYS;

7. Calls on the Commission, other EU bodies and the Member States to improve communication, visibility and stakeholder awareness of the EUYS to promote equal access and participation; encourages the Member States to increase awareness among regional and local authorities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), non-organised youth and small local organisations, including through coordinated outreach and multilevel engagement, by reinforcing Eurodesk and other youth information services, in particular in rural and remote areas;

8. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to develop a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for the post-2027 EUYS, including disaggregated data and regular reporting, with indicators assessing the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities, such as rural youth, NEETs and young people with disabilities, and to strengthen the use of the Youth Progress Index to assess inequalities and inform policy interventions;

9. Calls on the Commission to update the EUYS work plans to improve accessibility and targeted outreach through clearer language, and results-oriented, user-friendly formats;

10. Calls on the Member States to ensure that national youth councils are equipped with adequate resources;

11. Calls on the Commission, other EU bodies and the Member States to strengthen the sharing of best practices in youth participation, inclusion and empowerment;

Youth mainstreaming across the Union and policy areas

12. Welcomes recent Commission efforts to develop youth mainstreaming, in particular the introduction of the EU Youth Coordinator, the ‘youth check’, policy dialogues with Commissioners, and internal and external Commission youth networks; calls on the Commission to systematically evaluate and improve their implementation and reporting, and to include a chapter on the ‘youth check’ in the post-2027 EUYS;

13. Urges the Commission to strengthen and expand the mandate of the EU Youth Coordinator to ensure influence across directorates-general and meaningful regulatory scrutiny of youth-relevant initiatives; calls on the Youth Coordinator to work closely with Commission services and other coordinators in the future EUYS;

14. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the meaningful consultation of young people throughout the entire policy cycle and to report on how their contributions are taken into account when consulted on concrete legislative, policy or programme actions;

15. Urges the Commission to implement the ‘youth check’ systematically in every directorate-general, with designated minimum standards and transparency throughout the policy cycle, designating concrete legislative files as youth-relevant in its annual work programme, conducting impact assessments with specific youth chapters on those files, and assessing the impacts on young people in its evaluations;

16. Calls on the Commission to publish its current methodology for identifying youth-relevant files, including the specific criteria and assessment results, to include a chapter on the ‘youth check’ in the forthcoming communication on better regulation, and to integrate the ‘youth check’ as a specific instrument in the better regulation toolbox;

17. Encourages the Commission to consult young people in order to identify youth-relevant files, to ensure regular reports and follow-up on these files, to integrate the youth dimension into decision-making processes and to communicate results publicly;

18. Calls for a coherent youth mainstreaming approach across all of Parliament’s committees, by closely following youth-relevant files designated by the Commission, designating additional youth-relevant files at the initiative of Parliament, providing concrete opportunities for young people to engage with Parliament’s work through public hearings, stakeholder consultations and committee missions, promoting active Members’ participation in the EUYD and European Youth Events, and ensuring that these practices are applied consistently and include young people with fewer opportunities;

19. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that close ties with European youth capitals are preserved and further developed within the framework of the new EUYS, facilitating the exchange of good practices, innovation in youth policy and meaningful youth participation across the EU;

20. Calls on the Commission to ensure accessibility, transparency and inclusiveness of the Youth Policy Dialogues with Commissioners and their systematic integration into policy actions, rather than being a one-off activity providing only temporary support for youth mainstreaming, and to prioritise key structural challenges affecting young people in these dialogues, including housing affordability, access to education, training and labour market opportunities, and disaster risk preparedness, with the aim of enforcing the concept of ‘freedom to stay’ and fostering European values, as enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union;

21. Welcomes the progress in traditionally youth-focused areas, but stresses the need to better integrate youth perspectives into other key sectors, based on current and emerging youth priorities, especially in digital and media policies, democratic engagement and civic empowerment, well-being and mental health, housing, arts and culture;

22. Invites the Commission, the Member States, national, regional and local authorities to focus on youth mainstreaming efforts on key priority policy areas, and to strengthen synergies between the EUYS and related EU instruments, including the Youth Guarantee, the basic skills action plan and the intergenerational fairness strategy;

Youth participation and inclusion

Youth participation and inclusion in society

23. Emphasises that young people should be recognised as important stakeholders in policymaking and that their perspectives can contribute to more effective, inclusive and forward-looking policies, and calls for their meaningful involvement across all policy areas, rather than treating them merely as beneficiaries or consultees;

24. Calls on the Member States to ensure that the principle of inclusion and equality is embedded within their national and regional youth strategies and underlying actions, while preparing for the EUYS post-2027;

25. Emphasises the importance of preventing youth radicalisation by addressing social exclusion and a lack of opportunities; calls for targeted support, such as accessible counselling services, strengthened community-based youth work and targeted inclusive measures for marginalised and under-represented young people;