Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-25-Speech-3-121"
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"en.20040225.9.3-121"2
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"Mr President, we have indeed got through the agenda rather faster than usual, but youth has, I think, caught up with us. Our future lies in young people and one can see how much a society values them by how many possibilities it offers them and how closely it involves them in plans for the future. A dynamic society must offer its new generation prospects and security, both in terms of material things and social acceptance and in terms of a sense of cohesion.
I am glad to see that the Commissioner, too, took a different estimate of the time. The White Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth saw the light of day in November 2001 after much consultation with all concerned and two long years in which to mature; we do now need to think about how we can keep it alive. I think that the Commission, the Council and Parliament are all on the right path here. We need to integrate the 75 million young people between 15 and 25 in a European Union that will soon include 25 Member States, by bringing young people and youth organisations into the political arena. As rapporteur for the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport and through my work in connection with this White Paper, I have followed the discussions that have taken place over the last couple of years and listened closely to what young Europeans have had to tell us. My conclusion is that young people want to be taken seriously, and we should not disappoint them by failing to do this.
We have succeeded in boosting youth policy among young people, youth organisations, non-governmental organisations, political representatives in the EU and the Member States. If we see the White Paper as being about open coordination and mainstreaming, then the Commission’s communication on the follow-up is more about participation and information. Young people must be integrated more, and at an earlier stage, so that they can participate in representative democracy at the regional, national and European level.
We particularly need to show our interest in integrating young people now as we approach the European elections, but unfortunately we are discussing this important matter at a late hour in a House that is almost empty. Young people communicate on the Internet and the Commission has therefore opened a youth portal but this falls far short of what is needed, which is information that is local and has been specifically developed for them. They need to experience equal opportunities and non-discrimination, for example in youth councils made up of equal numbers of young men and young women. Where no such councils exist, we need to set them up. Formal and informal education have to be networked with youth work to a greater degree. Youth programmes are already allowing hundreds of thousands of young people to meet and these, together with the thousands of voluntary work projects, lead towards social skills and a European outlook. If we want to make Europe the most competitive, knowledge-based economic area in the world, we must make every effort to ensure that no young people are excluded. Those who are considered to be disadvantaged – female immigrants, girls, and young men – and on the fringes of the European Union and of society, are the ones whom we most need to integrate.
Regional cooperation, culture and sport all serve as a bridge to help overcome prejudices and solve the problems of tomorrow. In November 2003, the Council stipulated some common objectives. The first evaluation of the new action lines’ implementation will be carried out at the end of 2005 and the Commission will then draw up a progress report on the basis of the reports submitted by Member States.
The first European Youth Week took place last year and was widely supported. Under the motto ‘overcoming exclusion’ we are now starting to work on the ‘Youth’ action programme and in other new areas and are trying to ensure that they are equipped with sufficient financial resources both to meet the growing demands of globalisation and to create spaces in which young people can concern themselves with future European policy. With the broad synergy that we have achieved between the Commission, Parliament, the political groups and even Member States, we should succeed not only in speaking to young people but also in integrating them. It is our goal to keep the momentum going, to support young people and strengthen youth policy in Europe."@en1
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