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Brussels, 25th June2012
Towards a brave new deal for and with Youth
To: To: President of the European People’s Party Wilfried Martens Distinguished President of the European People’s Party Wilfried Martens The European Youth Forum, the platform of youth organisations in Europe, would like to address you on behalf of the 96 million young people living in the Union, regarding the crucial forthcoming European Council th on 28 June and in particular the EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 negotiations. Europe is at a crucial juncture with the current financial and monetary crises and the decisions you are going to take during this Summit will no doubt have a strong impact on the hopes and destinies of many citizens and residents of Europe. However, the vision of a sustainable and prosperous Europe cannot become a reality without the work and vision of young Europeans. We therefore appeal to you for a visible, strong, and comprehensive investment in young people as a key priority for growth, stability, and wellbeing of society as a whole: a brave new deal for youth! We take note of your discussions on youth employment during your meeting in February and the reference to our previous correspondence by the President of the European Council. However, we must go beyond reactive measures and start to develop longer-term plans. This is true both for the general political framework of the Union and its political future. Young people understand that a credible way out from the crisis requires more European leadership, not less. Youth must be mainstreamed in all the resources that the Union has at its disposal. Spiralling levels of youth unemployment and the associated increasing levels of poverty and social exclusion are not only the results of the economic crisis, but also those of a lack of real financial investment in young people and their social support structures. Youth organisations assist in the integration of young people to society over many years and represent an effective way to participate in society. This requires long-term sustainable investment. Only by creating incentives for youth participation and by improving the measures for more decent and fair conditions for youth employment will Europe find a way out of this crisis. 1
Not investing in Youth is costly. According to Eurofound , lack of participation in the labour market of young people not in employment, education or training experience in 21 EU Member States considered costs 100 billion euro per year to their citizens, the equivalent of 1% to their aggregated GDP. These figures represent only some of many of the costs that the Union and its Member States incur by not adequately investing in youth. Taking into consideration the overall economic and political impact of lower rates of active citizenship, early school leaving, and poor access to social services, the cost of the social exclusion of young people could soon become insurmountable. Investing in Youth is cost-efficient. In times of crisis, it is paramount to ensure cost-efficiency. The current ‘Youth in Action’ programme costs less than 28 cents per year for each European citizen. Investing in youth and in youth organisations is an effective way to comprehensively reach and multiply the objectives of job creation and innovation, social inclusion, sustainable growth and democracy. Simply put, youth organisations work towards both the economic and democratic sustainability of Europe. In the current budget of the Union, youth is definitely not a priority. Currently, only 0.1% of the EU Budget is used to provide funding to youth programmes. This becomes even more apparent when 1
Eurofound, Young people and NEETs in Europe: First findings, 20 December, 2011.
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