The impact of youth ideas

The Conference on the Future of Europe has come to an end and the proposals from citizens are out. Many of the ideas submitted by young people are now part of the final report of the Conference, which is already in the hands of European institutions. Do you want to know if your idea is among those selected? How did young people contribute? What are the next steps? Keep reading to learn more!

The Conference on the Future of Europe was a citizen-led series of debates and discussions that ran from April 2021 to May 2022 and gave the opportunity to thousands of people from across Europe to share their ideas and help shape our common European future.

More than 2.000 proposals from young citizens around the European Union were collected in collaboration with pan-European youth organisations. In addition, several sessions were organised focusing on the topics of the Conference during the European Youth Event (EYE2021) in Strasbourg, but also online, ahead of the event.

After EYE2021, the 20 most prominent youth ideas were collected in the Youth Ideas report for the Conference on the Future of Europe published in 23 languages.

On Europe Day, last 9 of May, the Presidents of the European Parliament, Commission and Council received the final report of the Conference. It includes 49 proposals to reform the European Union, among which many are from the Youth Ideas report.

In the report you will find recommendations like introducing EU wide packaging deposit return scheme; improving understanding of mental health issues or ensuring access to formal and non-formal digital literacy. And there is much more! Read the list of youth ideas included in the final report at the end of this article.

What’s next?

The European Parliament supports the citizens' recommendations but in order to put them into practice it is necessary to reform the Treaties, which are, in short, agreements between the different Member States. The good news is that the reforms are now being discussed between the European Parliament, the Commission and the Council. The next step is to examine how to follow up effectively on these proposals in order to make them happen.

In autumn 2022, the institutions will update citizens about the conclusions of this process and what's coming next. Follow this blog for more insights! Also, join together.eu to be informed about trainings, events and opportunities for young people.

Which youth ideas were included in the report?

Here is the full list of the youth ideas that were included in the final report:

Climate

1. Introduce EU wide packaging deposit return scheme and advanced standards for containers
2. Transparent labelling system for all products sold on the EU market regarding their sustainability/environmental footprint.
3. Phase-out non-sustainable form of packaging
4. Redirect subsidies and strengthen incentives towards organic farming and sustainable agriculture
5. Accomplish and whenever possible speed up the green transition
6. Fossil fuels should no longer be subsidised 

Health

1. Support information campaigns on eco-awareness, including a long-term EU campaign for sustainable consumption and lifestyle
2. Educating people about healthy habits from an early age, and encouraging them to make safe and healthy choices
3. Improve understanding of mental health issues and ways of addressing them
4. Raise awareness about health benefits of sport and physical activity
5. Polluter pays principle

Economy

1. Prepare young people for entering working life, give high school the opportunity to have high quality observatory visits in profit and non-profit organisations
2. Ensuring that statutory minimum wages guarantee that each worker can earn a decent and similar quality of living across all Member States
3. Harmonising and coordinating tax policies within the Member States

Digital

1. Citizens’ media literacy and awareness about disinformation
2. Ensuring access to formal and non-formal digital literacy and skills training and education, including in school curricula

Values and rights

1. Systematically uphold the rule of law across all Member States
2. Ensuring that the values and principles enshrined in the EU Treaties and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights are non-negotiable
3. Effectively applying and evaluating the scope of the ‘Conditionality Regulation’ and other rule of law instruments, and considering extensions to new areas regardless of their relevance for the EU budget.

Migration

1. Increasing EU financial, logistical and operational support, also for local authorities, regional governments and civil society organisations, for the management of the first reception which would lead to a possible integration of refugees and regular migrants in the EU or repatriation of irregular migrants
2. Adopting EU common rules concerning procedures for the examination of claims for international protection in Member States, applied uniformly to all asylum seekers.

Education

1. Provide educational courses and teaching materials for all, in order to increase climate and sustainability literacy and to enable lifelong learning on environmental topics
2. Develop at EU level a standard educational programme on healthy lifestyles, covering also sexual education
3. Develop future-proof education and life-long learning in Europe -in accordance with the right to free training in the workplace for all

EU in the world

1. Restrictions on the import and sale of products from countries that allow forced and child labour.
2. Collective political and economic weight, speaking with one voice and acting in a unified way, without individual Member States dividing the Union through inappropriate bilateral responses.

EU democracy

1. Moving towards voting for Union-wide lists, or ‘transnational lists’, with candidates from multiple Member States.

Other

1. Promote multilingualism as a bridge to other cultures from an early age
2. Promote European exchanges in different fields, both physically and digitally, including educational exchanges, twinning, travel and professional mobility (including for teachers and local elected politicians
3. Strengthening links with citizens and local institutions to improve transparency, reach the citizens and communicate and consult better with them