The newly launched Charter on Youth and Democracy
developed together with young people and youth
organisations presents 49 recommendations for European,
national and sub-national levels.
Stepping up citizenship education, lowering the
voting age and supporting young people to stand as
candidates in elections, establishing permanent
consultation mechanisms with youth, putting new
legislation to a youth test, reinforcing EU youth
programmes; these are some of the recommendations
in the
Charter on Youth and Democracy. Supported by the European Committee of the
Regions (CoR) and the European Youth Forum, the
Charter was co-created in a bottom-up process with
representatives from youth organisations and young
elected local and regional representatives across
the EU and signed at the CoR plenary session on 1
December during a debate on youth and the future of
Europe.
The Charter puts forward
49 recommendations
aimed at facilitating and enhancing the democratic
participation of young people at local, regional,
national and European levels. The aim is to build and
consolidate a youth friendly democratic space to ensure
that the voices of young people are formally,
continuously and permanently represented in the
European Union. The Charter was signed during the
debate marking the ending of the
European Year of Youth
2022, which included an exchange with Margaritis Schinas, Vice-President of
the European Commission for Promoting our European Way
of Life, representatives of youth sections of the
European political parties and members of the CoR
Young Elected Politicians
programme. It also featured success stories from the
European Youth Capitals
2023 and 2024, Lublin (Poland) and Ghent (Belgium),
while celebrating the 2025 title just awarded to Lviv
(Ukraine).
Vasco Alves Cordeiro, President of the European Committee of the Regions
and Member of the Azores Regional Parliament, said:
"The Charter on Youth and Democracy, formally
endorsed by the European Committee of the Regions
today, is the result of a co-creation process
bringing together young people, youth associations,
young local politicians as well as local and
regional representatives. This Charter is a guide
for us, but also for all public authorities at
local, regional, national and European levels, to
continue working with young people for more
participation, more empowerment and, most of all,
ensuring their political, social and economic
rights, for making our societies and territories
better for the future."
Silja Markkula, President of the European Youth Forum, said:
“The Charter on Youth and Democracy deepens the
cooperation between local and regional authorities
and the young people they represent. We need more
and better democratic spaces, where young people
feel safe to engage in community-building and in
democracy, both online and offline. I am proud of
the charter we are signing today, to which various
youth organisations contributed. This is a
blueprint not just for meaningful youth engagement
at a local, national and European level. It is also
an example of how young people and European
institutions can work together to elevate youth
representatives and their contributions."
Margaritis Schinas,
Vice-President of the European Commission, said:
"The European Year of Youth 2022 has led to key
achievements. The outreach via engagement and
awareness raising activities is currently more than
150 million Europeans, with more than 7700
activities mapped on the European Youth Portal. The
upcoming European Year of Skills will be able to
build on the successes of the 2022 European Year of
Youth, which sought to empower, honour, support and
engage with young people, including those with
fewer opportunities."
As part of the debate, the CoR members adopted their
recommendations for the Future of EU youth policy with
an
opinion
which calls for new and holistic reflection on youth
policy, mainstreaming of the youth perspective across
policy fields and an active participation of youth in
building the future of Europe. Rapporteur Tine Radinja (SI/Greens), Mayor of
Škofja Loka, said: "
The opinion on the Future of EU Youth Policy is the
CoR's contribution to the policy legacy of the
European Year of Youth. With the opinion we
advocate for a cross-cutting and comprehensive
approach to the youth field and address the
numerous policy fields important to young people,
from education and employment to housing and social
security as well as the green and digital
transitions. We call for including youth
perspectives across all policy fields, as a strong
legacy for the Year."
The co-creation process of the Charter on Youth and
Democracy was launched in March 2022 at the
9th Summit of Regions and Cities in Marseille
by the previous CoR President, current First
Vice-President Apostolos Tzitzikostas,
who said:
"In order to empower young people to resolve
current or future crisis, they must be involved as
soon as possible in the governance of a globalised
world. Youth involvement must be guaranteed through
concrete acts: the right to vote at the age of 16
in the European elections and to put forward
citizens' initiatives, as well as by promoting
referenda."
The drafting of the Charter also closely involved the
CoR's
SEDEC Commission
, chaired by Tanya Hristova (BG/EPP),
and
CIVEX Commission
, chaired by Enzo Bianco (IT/PES).
More information:
The
Charter on Youth and Democracy
puts forward recommendations to local, regional,
national and European levels, focusing on: education,
cooperation, and information; youth empowerment,
leadership, and democratic participation; the role of
new technologies and digitalisation; and youth
mainstreaming of policies and political representation.
The proposals were collected through a participatory
bottom-up process including in-physical presence and
online consultations, dedicated social media activities
and local events.
Recording of the debate will be available on
EBS
and on the
CoR website.
High-resolution photos
from the CoR plenary session are also available.
Contact:
Monica Tiberi
Spokesperson of President Cordeiro
Tel. +32 479 51 74 43
monica.tiberi@cor.europa.eu
Lauri Ouvinen
CoR press officer
Tel. +32 473 53 68 87
lauri.ouvinen@cor.europa.eu
Rafael Shilhav
European Youth Forum – Director of Communications and
External Relations
Tel. +32 490 11 36 76
rafael.shilhav@youthforum.org