Following the European Year of Youth 2022, the European Commission proposed the establishment of a Youth Stakeholders group composed of selected European youth organisations, national youth councils, Member States representatives, and other relevant stakeholders. ENGSO Youth was present in Brussels, from 27 to 28 of March during the first in-person meeting of the EU Youth Stakeholders. 

The meeting started by highlighting the main priority topics for young people:

– Cost of living and housing prices; 

– EU democracy and values under attack with war and disinformation ramping over Europe; 

– Mental health and wellbeing; 

– Investment in education and training. 

It followed with an overview of the European Commission initiatives for youth, such as:

– The EU Youth Dialogue;

– The Youth Policy Dialogues with Commissioners;

– Youth Check (a regulatory impact assessment tool to be applied to the initiatives within the EC work programme);

– The establishment of an Youth Advisory Board for the President of the European Commission;

– The multiannual financial framework post-2027 and the open public consultation for this matter;

– Work to strengthen the European Sport Model – Highlighting physical activity role in fostering health and wellbeing, including mental health and reduction of screen time.

 Members are invited to take a look at the national spending on sport in their particular country and evaluate if the spending falls behind EU average. If so, the data may be used to advocate for a higher spending in sport and recreation to meet the needs of the local sports sector.

The most practical workshops included dynamic exercises to collect inputs for the upcoming Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness and the successor of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027.  

Within both workshops, ENGSO Youth highlighted the empowering role of sports and physical activity in bringing communities of all ages together and promoting both physical and mental health.

Whilst the discussions for the next EU Youth Strategy are just beginning, ENGSO Youth will strive to include sport and physical activity within the text of the document, therefore providing a more favourable policy framework for sport organisations working on youth matters to be able to access important funding opportunities for young people in sports.