Unleashing the potential of Europe’s youth

Open letter to Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat

The European Union is at a crossroads. We, the National Youth Council of Malta, and the European Youth Forum, believe that the only direction to take is the one where young people are included in its decisions and are at the centre of its policies.

In the wake of the vote by the British people to leave the European Union against the will of most young British people, you and your fellow leaders of the European Council have initiated a vital reflection process in order to put Europe on the right track for the future.

In one way, we share the conclusions you reached in Bratislava on 16th September: citizens lack control over their common future. We welcome your commitment to “create a promising future for all, safeguard our way of life and provide better opportunities for youth”.

As laid down in the Bratislava Roadmap, at the European Council meeting on 15th December, you will take “decisions on EU support for member states in fighting youth unemployment and on enhancing EU programmes dedicated to youth”.

When it comes to young people, we are now excluded from the decisions that concern us. Yet, we believe in a united and common Europe and this is why we call on you to ensure that these decisions allow Europe to unleash the potential of young people.

Europe is suffering both economically and socially from persistently high levels of youth unemployment and low quality jobs. The European Youth Forum fully believes in the potential of the Youth Guarantee in being one key step to addressing the problem – if implemented well, and accompanied by investment in quality job creation. Further initiatives at member states’ level also need to be developed.

We call on the European Union and its member states to:

• Invest in creation of quality jobs and quality education in all its forms, including non-formal education

• Support young entrepreneurs by reducing administrative, financial and social barriers when setting up a business

• Ensure continued and sustainable funding for the Youth Employment Initiative, making it a long term, sustainable and preventative measure for youth unemployment.

Beyond the need for quality jobs for young people, our union needs enhanced programmes for youth. These greatly contribute to bringing us together and developing a common sense of belonging. Youth programmes also support youth organisations that create space for young people to learn and organise. Engaged young people are less inclined to move towards populist, anti-democratic and xenophobic movements as well as, in exceptional cases, violent extremism.

We call on the European Union and its member states to:

• Ensure sustainable and increased investment in education, training and youth programmes, most specifically the Erasmus+ programme

• Give the appropriate legal base and funding to the European Solidarity Corps, ensuring its proper implementation while not undermining other initiatives for young people by taking funding away from those

• Involve youth organisations in the development and implementation of the education, training and youth programmes, such as the Erasmus+ programme

Youth is not just an agenda item. Young people are not a problem: nothing about us without us. The only way to regain the trust of young people is by involving us in all the discussions and decisions that affect us. Therefore, we call on the European Union and its members states to make policy-making more inclusive and participatory at all levels. By creating policies with citizens, we can contribute together for a real societal change.

These demands are the bottomline on how Europe should move forward if it wants to get young people on its side. Now more than ever, we need to be involved in the decisions that will affect us.

We, the National Youth Council of Malta, together with the European Youth Forum, of which we are a member, are ready to contribute and to work with you to deliver a sustainable, social, prosperous and democratic Europe for its citizens.

“The Future of Europe: unleashing the potential of young people”

Hon. Joseph Muscat, only by empowering youth and working together can we build a united Europe that will benefit all its citizens, including young people. Therefore, we are keen to meet and engage with you on these issues in order to jointly achieve the progress and opportunities young people and future generations deserve.

We are ready to work with you and we hope you are, too. Michael Piccinino President Maltese National Youth Council Johanna Nyman President European Youth Forum