The ninth biennial European Youth Week will take place this week from 29 April to 5 May, with the theme “Democracy and Me”.
European Youth Week 2019 will be celebrated with activities in countries which participate in the EU’s Erasmus+ international student exchange programme: all EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey. In light of the approaching EU elections, due to take place between 23 and 26 May this year, Youth Week activities are focused around themes of promoting young people’s engagement in politics and society. Tibor Navracsics, the EU’s Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, will today host a Citizens’ Dialogue with young voters; to be followed by a debate at the European Parliament, where more than 800 young delegates will discuss the importance of democratic participation.
Commissioner Navracsics said: “I applaud this generation of young Europeans who are active, committed and ready to support others. Almost 125,000 young people have now registered for the European Solidarity Corps, clearly indicating young people’s will to engage in society. Our latest Eurobarometer survey on youth reveals that three out of four young people say they have been active in some form of civic activity, be it voting, joining a movement, signing a petition online or volunteering. I am proud and encourage young people to mobilise their peers to vote in the upcoming European Parliament elections, so they have a voice in shaping their future.”
The European Commission intends to mark European Youth Week 2019 by releasing updated figures on uptake rates for its Youth Guarantee and its supporting resource, the Youth Employment Initiative. The Youth Guarantee, implemented in 2014, is a commitment by Member States to provide the facility for education, employment, in-work training or apprenticeship opportunities to young people under 25 within four months of their becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. It serves the needs of more than five million young people across the EU every year.
