5th Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth (Bucharest, 27-29 April 1998)
[…] The Swiss representative expressed support for the idea of developing the network of decentralised centres as recommended by the Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth in Vienna in 1993. […]
FINAL DECLARATION
We, the European Ministers responsible for Youth, meeting here in Bucharest on 27, 28 and 29 April 1998, consider it urgently necessary to adapt the priorities and aims of youth policy to this new social and geopolitical context, and declare that the aims and objectives of the Council of Europe youth policy are:
- to encourage associative life, and all other forms of action which embody democracy and pluralism, and help all young people to participate more fully in the life of the community;
- to adapt current partnership patterns to social change and to other types of youth organisations and youth work which have so far been under-represented, and further develop the concept of active participation by young people;
- to take full advantage of the valuable contribution which young people can make as active, responsible citizens;
- to develop citizenship education projects which make it possible to involve young people more quickly and more effectively in the life of the community, while respecting differences;
- to implement, from local to European level, an intersectoral, integrated and coherent youth policy, based on the principles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the European Social Charter;
- to encourage the integration of young people into working life and develop their employability;
- to reinforce co-operation with the new Member States, particularly by adapting activities to the specific needs of the various regions of Europe;
- to strengthen regional co-operation in the youth field for the purpose of improving participation, intercultural learning, mobility and access to information for young people;
- to promote new forms of solidarity, in particular by encouraging inter-generational dialogue;
- to enhance the importance of the Council of Europe’s work with young people and their organisations in the fight against all forms of intolerance and racism;
- to seek answers to the anxieties and aspirations of young people, especially the under-privileged, to take the necessary and special measures to integrate those who are excluded, and to involve them to a greater extent in the Council of Europe’s work.
Recalling that youth policies are aimed at all young people we recommend that the Committee of Ministers:
[…] carry forward the recommendation made by the Conference of European Ministers responsible for Youth in Vienna (1993) on the setting-up of a European network of decentralised youth centres, the aim being to develop associative life within democratic, pluralistic and representative youth participation structures; […]
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