Event report

There are various opportunities for young people to participate in the European Union, such as the EU Youth Dialogue or the Conference on the Future of Europe. However, it is not always clear how young people participate. How effective participation can be achieved was discussed during the dialogue event. MEP Tiemo Wölken (Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats) and Christian Beck (Office Director of Daniel Freund, Group of the Greens in the European Parliament) were invited to participate in the discussion. DBJR Vice-Chair Marius Schlageter looked critically at the Conference on the Future of Europe. It is intended to give people in Europe the opportunity to make their ideas and demands publicly heard and to pass them on to political leaders. However, it offers little room for genuine participation of young people. In the plenary session of the EU Future Conference, there is only one place occupied by the President of the European Youth Forum. However, this is far from sufficient, especially because other interest groups are sometimes represented on several occasions. However, the structured involvement of young democratic and organised civil society is essential for the effective participation of young people. MEP Tiemo Wölken attested construction defects at the conference. The timing of a pandemic is unfavourable. Furthermore, the future conference would be supported from the outset by the European Parliament and the European Commission. However, the difficulty lies in the Member States, where the conference initially did not receive broad support. The structurally inadequate participation of young people was also regrettable. If the future conference were to be extended, young people would have to be taken much better. With regard to the criteria for effective participation, Christian Beck highlighted another difficulty of the conference: It is unclear what happens with the ideas that have been introduced. Participants also discussed the role of the European Parliament. Tiemo Wölken said it was difficult to implement concrete measures at European level, which are adopted equally in all Member States. Parliament could, however, support through framework programmes, the creation of infrastructure and the provision of funds to design youth structures on the ground in such a way that young people can participate. Marius Schlageter stressed that there was no need for new structures. Rather, the existing structures need to be strengthened. The parties agreed that one thing for real participation is central: Participation in elections. The reduction of the voting age in the European elections must finally be implemented. As an example of an effective participation instrument, the EU Youth Dialogue was presented. EU youth representative Annalena di Carlo reported on her volunteer work and showed the many opportunities for participation in the youth dialogue. The success can be measured here: Results from the EU Youth Conferences and the further participation processes of the 8th The cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue has been incorporated into documents of the Council of the EU. The dialogue event was organised jointly by the Working Group of Evangelical Youth in Germany (aej), the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ) and the DBJR.