Program of Slovenian presidency in the field of European Youth policy

Presentation

Meetings and Events related to Youth Sector

Youth is a demographic segment with a great economic and social potential; therefore the European youth policy will play an important role during our Presidency. The inherited agenda will include ongoing issues directly linked to youth, such as the integration of young people into society, autonomy of youth, non-formal learning or lifelong learning, and active citizenship Our priorities and objectives for the six-month presidency period have been based on the common program of the Trio Presidency of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia focusing on social and professional integration of young people.

Our first priority in this area will be to strengthen the youth dimension in the Lisbon Strategy. During the revision of the integrated guidelines, the Slovenian Presidency intends to prepare an agreement on key messages to the spring European Council and to draw attention particularly to the improvement of measures for social and professional integration of young people and to the visibility of youth issues in national reform programmes.

The European Year of Intercultural Dialogue will greatly target youth. Intercultural dialogue, which is understood as a process that comprises an open and respectful exchange of views between individuals and groups with different ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds and heritage, helps in understanding the complexity of the world as we see it today. This makes it particularly important to encourage young people to study other cultures both at home and around the world, which can make a significant contribution to greater tolerance and understanding. Ministers will discuss this at the February Council, and we will listen to the opinion of young people on intercultural dialogue at the international youth event taking place in Slovenia in April.

Adoption of a Council resolution on participation of disadvantaged youth in society will be Slovenia's contribution to the new framework for European youth policy. Encouraging the participation and active citizenship of all young people has been an important task of youth policy ever since the adoption of the White Paper. However, to provide equal opportunities to all young people, it is important to prepare additional measures which will enable development of the individual potential of disadvantaged young people and contribute to overcoming the prejudice and stereotypes in society that cause social exclusion of individuals.

The programme of the Slovenian Presidency also includes the final evaluation of the YOUTH Programme, which is an important instrument of the EU for encouraging mobility and cooperation of young people. Adoption of the final evaluation report and the discussion to follow it can make an important contribution to the development or more effective implementation of the Youth in Action Programme.

Slovenia also wants to deepen the debate on the future of European youth policy that was initiated by the European Commission during the Austrian Presidency and continued during the Finnish Presidency. One of the objectives of the current Presidency Trio is to determine how to strengthen the existing framework for European collaboration in the area of youth policy, especially with regard to issues connected with the European Youth Pact and the extension of youth policy to all areas concerning young people.

During its Presidency, Slovenia will organise two events. The youth event is a meeting of 150 young people from all European Union and EFTA Member States, three EU candidate countries and the Western Balkan countries. This is an opportunity to cooperate with youth organizations and young people in finding ways to achieve their more active participation in debates and decision-making processes. Special emphasis will be given to the importance of additionally encouraging the participation of disadvantaged young people in society, as well as the importance of encouraging intercultural dialogue and intercultural learning, promoting values such as mutual respect, diversity, equality, human dignity, and solidarity.

Additionally, the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth is also preparing a meeting of directors general responsible for the implementation of youth policy in Member States. The meeting is intended for a debate on the medium- and long-term future of youth policy and the exchange of good practices among states. The parallel timing of the events is not a coincidence, because we also want to encourage structured dialogue between youth and national authorities.

There will be two additional events organised by National Youth Council and MAMA, Network of youth centres which will enable more young people to participate in the presidency program. The first event organised by NYC and MAMA will be a March conference »Lets create our opportunities« where participation of young people with less opportunities and intercultural dialogue will be main themes. MAMA will additionally organise a set of regional workshops (project: Lets work locally!) which aim at encouraging dialogue between young people and local authorities.