The European Parliament: More must be done for young people

Source: Directorate-General for Education and Culture (EAC) i, published on Wednesday, June 23 2010.

The European Parliament urges the EU to do more for young people as a priority group in the EU's social vision.

In a resolution on the "EU Youth Strategy - Investing and Empowering" adopted on 18 May 2010 in Strasbourg, European parliamentarians call inter alia for a stronger recognition of non-formal education and stress the importance of learning mobility, volunteering and participation of young people. All these areas are also at the heart of the Youth in Action programme.

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    Non-formal education: European parliamentarians recognise the role which youth organisations and youth workers play in the non-formal learning; they call for a stronger mutual recognition of non-formal education.
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    Learning mobility: According to European parliamentarians, learning mobility is a key factor for gaining an adequate learning and working experience and, therefore, it should be open to all young people, with sufficient attention devoted to youth exchanges outside formal education.
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    European Voluntary Service: The European Parliament welcomes the decision to designate 2011 as the "European Year of Volunteering" and advocates extending the European Voluntary Service. It underlines that the voluntary activities should not replace paid job opportunities but add value to society.
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    Participation: European parliamentarians strongly encourage the participation of young people and youth organisations in the formulation of policies at local, national and international levels through an ongoing structured dialogue. The Member States should provide support for local youth parliaments and councils and launch corresponding programmes.
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    Better communication: The resolution stresses the need to better communicate the EU programmes, notably to young people who live in remote places and to those who are not organised in political, social or non-governmental organisations; the mass media should play an important role in popularising the programmes.

The "EU Youth Strategy - Investing and Empowering" was adopted by the European Commission on 27 April 2009 and endorsed by the Council Resolution on a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010-2018) on 27 November 2009.

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