Wednesday, 20^th October 2010

Youth on the Move: pros and cons

What is Youth on the move and why has it been such a hotly debated issue, especially among youth organisations? I will try to look at the pros and cons of this so-called flagship initiative of the Commission within the EU2020 strategy and what is left for us to do.

In his September 2009 Political Guidelines President Barroso announced the expansion of existing instruments like Erasmus into a new EU youth and mobility initiative. The reaction by civil society organisations and especially youth organisations was reserved, even critical, as fears arose of a possible unification of the current life-long-learning programmes and mobility programmes (e.g. Erasmus, Leonardo Da Vinci, Comenius with Youth in Action etc). Brining these programmes within the Education and Training field under one common initiative could mean less funding available – a legitimate fear in times of severe austerity measures due to the economic and financial crisis. In the end we received guarantees that the Youth on the Move initiative would remain just that – an initiative and not a new programme. Namely, a political initiative bringing youth to the forefront and making it a cross-sectorial issue within the Commission.

The Youth on the Move flagship initiative includes reference to actions under DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal opportunities' responsibility (i.e. Youth employment framework). There are also links to other DGs activities, such as DG Research (European Research Area), DG Internal Market and services (recognition of professional qualifications, Services Directive), DG External relations (mobility programmes outside the EU), DG Enterprise (Erasmus for entrepreneurs).

On 15^th September 2010 Commissioner Vassiliou launched the Youth on the Move flagship initiative as part of the EU2020 strategy to achieve smart growth; the package proposes measures aimed at:

• improving the job prospects of young people
• making education and training more relevant to their needs
• raising awareness of EU mobility grants to study, train or do a voluntary service in another country
  

The measures of YoM include a clear framework for Youth Employment and proposes a “Youth Guarantee” to ensure that all young people are in a job, further education or vocational training within four months of leaving school. This, together with the development of a European Quality Framework for Internships and the implementation of adequate social safety nets for young people, are crucial aspects of the improvement of youth access to the labour market.

Finally young people are put at the centre of the EU agenda and as such we should welcome this initiative.

But there is also a flip side to the story. First and foremost young people are not just the future but the present and the fact that this has not been truly recognised yet is reflected in the fact that youth participation is a concept alien to the YoM initiative. If the most visible and politically important initiative of the EU aimed at young people talks only about formal education and training and mobility aimed at increasing the employability of young people many important aspects of youth work, especially the questions of non-formal education (NFE) and volunteering are being left out or at least sidelined.

Moreover, given that the Commission is currently evaluating its Youth in Action programme and preparing a new version of it, the fact that political impetus is pushing (only) towards employability might hinder the discussion on the importance of NFE and endanger getting a youth programme that will continue focusing on active citizenship and participation of young people in society.

Back in September 2009 President Barroso said: "Youth on the Move" initiative would be a decisive contribution to the promotion of cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and multilingual learning. Yet the YoM initiative as presented a year later does far less for cultural diversity, intercultural dialogue and multilingual learning than the Youth in Action programme, where these themes are considered as the cornerstone of all activities and touch upon and promote European values such as democracy, tolerance, human rights etc.

Tackling youth unemployment is an important task and the fact the Commission is taking on the challenge in a cross-sectorial manner and bringing youth to the forefront of its EU2020 strategy is a fact to be appreciated and welcomed. But at the same time we need to continue the fight for getting a new youth programme that will address the entire spectrum of needs of young people and youth organisations as providers of activities in which young people develop the same soft skills that are nowadays identified as contributing to a (young) persons employability (language skills, team-building, intercultural sensibility, management and leadership skills, etc.).