In the Partnership Agreement between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth policy, youth research and youth work, the European Commission is involved through the Youth Unit of the Directorate General of Education and Culture.

Youth Programme 2007-2013

Youth in Action

Aims to develop a sense of personal responsibility, initiative, concern for others, citizenship and active involvement at local, national and European level among young people. 

The programme will also help to improve support systems for youth activities. The proposed budget is € 915 million.

Decision No 1719/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing the Youth in Action programme for the period 2007 to 2013

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The proposed objectives of the new programme are the following:

• promoting young people’s active citizenship in general and their European citizenship in particular

• developing young people’s solidarity, in particular in order to reinforce social cohesion in the European Union

• fostering mutual understanding between peoples through young people

• contributing to developing the quality of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of civil society organisations in the youth field

• promoting European cooperation in youth policy.

These objectives are consistent with the cooperation priorities in the field of youth and with recent developments in the area of citizenship.

The proposed programme has five actions:

1. "Youth for Europe" is mainly geared to reinforcing the active commitment of young people by supporting exchanges, mobility and initiatives for young people and their projects for participating in democratic life.

2. The "European Voluntary Service" is geared to developing young people’s solidarity, active engagement and mutual understanding. It can take the form of either individual or collective projects to enable young people to express their personal commitments but also to involve them in the Union's solidarity actions. Furthermore, it also enables cooperation between voluntary civil services to be fostered.

3. "Youth of the world" contributes to developing young people’s mutual understanding and active engagement through an open-minded approach to the world. It opens up the programme to projects with the neighbouring countries of the enlarged Europe and to cooperation in the youth field with other third countries.

4. "Youth workers and support systems" aims to develop the quality of support structures for young people. This action helps to support youth organisations active at European level, in particular the European Youth Forum. It promotes the development of exchange, training and information schemes for youth workers, projects to stimulate innovation and quality, partnerships with regional or local entities and measures to enhance and support the programme's structures.

5. "Support for policy cooperation" is aimed at promoting cooperation on youth policy, supporting structured dialogue between young people and those responsible for youth policy, cooperation with international organisations and measures aimed at gaining better knowledge of youth.

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