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Existing measures taken at your level:
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Has your local authority/ city/ region already taken (or is currently contemplating) any specific measures to address challenges in the field of the participation of young people in civic and political life?
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Participation is one of the spearheads of Flemish youth policy. Various measures are taken in order to put this into practice. For example, there is the obligation to set up a municipal, provincial and a Flemish youth council. There is the support for Karuur vzw, a non-profit organisation responsible for better and more active child and youth participation at local level.
There is also the introduction of the JOKER into Flemish policy, a compulsory child and youth impact assessment.
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Additional measures needed:
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Do you consider that there are other or additional lines of action that need to be taken with regard to the participation of young people in civic and political life, that have not been proposed by the Commission communication under consideration?
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It goes without saying that many measures are taken within the youth sector and affect those people who in any case are already sensitive to these challenges.
There are far fewer measures making other relevant stakeholders aware of the value of youth participation.
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F. Social Inclusion
The CoR encourages the development of schemes similar to the Youth Ambassadors nominated in the context of Youth Summer Schools, an initiative of the Assembly of European Regions. Young people should be made responsible for communicating the message to other young people on various topics, including active citizenship. The work on exploring the concept of citizenship in a multicultural Europe, and tackling issues such as multi-faith societies, multiculturalism in schools and the workplace and cultural responses to issues affecting young people should be given increased focus;
The CoR appreciates that particular attention should be given to young people from immigrant or underprivleged backgrounds in order to respond to their specific needs; if they are well integrated, they can bring cultural enrichment and solidarity to the community
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Challenges faced by local and regional authorities:
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What challenges do local and regional authorities in your country face with regard to the social inclusion of young people?
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It is becoming increasingly clear that Flanders still has a long way to go as far as the social inclusion of socially vulnerable children and young people is concerned. Research shows that certain groups rarely become involved in the current voluntary sector, if at all, and have to drop out of education. The extent to which parents (above all the mother) are competent in the language in which education is provided, turns out to be a very important factor here. Flanders undoubtedly has a long way to go as far as this is concerned and there is a need for further measures both within education and in social and cultural work. Research also shows how little knowledge there is locally about current views and ideas on social exclusion and inclusion, dealing with diversity, etc. There is a fundamental difficulty in getting such views across to those responsible at local level (administrators, officials, etc.)
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Competence in this field:
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Within which level of governance/ government does responsibility for social inclusion lie in your country?
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Naturalisation and integration come under Flemish authority.
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Responsibility regarding the actions contemplated:
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Please take a look at the specific actions contemplated by the European Commission within the "social inclusion" field of action (see section 4.2.3. of the communication). Taking into account the subsidiarity principle, what should be the role of the following tiers of authority in pursuing these actions?
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(a) Local and regional authorities:
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N/A
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(b) National authorities:
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Education reform is required.
As for social and cultural work, it is important that further measures are taken here as well in order to involve the socially vulnerable in the voluntary sector. However, in order to achieve this, it is important not to continually look to existing associations but rather to support the initiatives of young people who have yet to be reached. Local authorities also play an important role in developing a provision that appeals to target groups that are hard to reach – where there is a lack of volunteering initiative.
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(c) The EU:
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Idem
To promote participation of socially vulnerable groups in society and remove (financial) barriers to this participation on the basis of programmes such as Youth in Action.
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Existing measures taken at your level:
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Has your local authority/ city/ region already taken (or is currentlybegun contemplating) any specific measures to address challenges in the field of the social inclusion of young people?
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Using the budgets for the implementation of the decree on local youth policy (see above), some 40 local authorities in Flanders receive extra resources on the basis of a number of socio-economic indicators. In exchange for this, they develop measures to increase or promote accessibility of existing youth work and support or organise youth work geared towards specific target groups.
Other local authorities are also encouraged, on the basis of the decree, to make the provision of youth work more accessible.
Youth work organisations supported by Flanders also carry out work at local and regional level, just like a number of private initiatives.
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Additional measures needed:
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Do you consider that there are other or additional lines of action that need to be taken with regard to social inclusion of young people, that have not been proposed by the Commission communication under consideration?
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It seems to me that part of the inequality also stems from 'not knowing' the 'others'. Promoting international mobility of all young people appears to me to also be a necessary condition for creating a more tolerant society. Social inclusion of minorities would in this way become more a fact of life.
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G. Volunteering
The CoR expresses its appreciation for the European Voluntary Service (EVS) and hopes to see it further developed in the future so that as many young people as possible have the opportunity to engage in volunteering abroad.
The CoR notes that there are at present considerable differences between Member States regarding the way in which volunteering is organised and that there is a lack of statistical data and thorough research into volunteering.
The CoR Believes that volunteering constitutes a particularly valuable possibility of mobility for young people, and that disadvantaged young people require various forms of support, including the training and mobility of socio-educational instructors specialised in youth and youth leaders will be very useful in this context.
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Challenges faced by local and regional authorities:
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What challenges do local and regional authorities in your country face with regard to volunteering?
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The biggest challenge in relation to voluntary work in Flanders is getting rid of overregulation and better coordination of rules which interfere with voluntary work. It is equally important that local instruments which support voluntary work are adapted to the current and local context.
Another challenge is that even more young people need to be made aware and persuaded of the value of voluntary work. Promoting international experiences for young people is also a necessity. Still too few young people take advantage of existing opportunities and certain groups (young working people, for example) are scarcely reached, if at all.
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Competence in this field:
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Within which level of governance/ government does responsibility for volunteering lie in your country?
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The Flemish administrative level.
Although there are a lot of rules which have an indirect impact on voluntary work and the voluntary sector, they exist at the federal administrative level.
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Responsibility regarding the actions contemplated:
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Please have a look at the specific actions contemplated by the European Commission within the "volunteering" field of action (see section 4.2.3. of the communication). Taking into account the subsidiarity principle, what should be the role of the following tiers of authority in pursuing these actions?
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(a) Local and regional authorities:
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The Flemish authorities are responsible for creating clear, transparent and manageable rules. Flanders is also responsible for addressing problems at federal level.
Both the regional and the local level are responsible for encouraging young people to take up voluntary work. Although international experience is already strongly encouraged at the Flemish level, local authorities could play a bigger role. Flanders still has a long way to go in this area.
The Flemish level also has an important role to play in the area of monitoring and benchmarking.
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(b) National authorities:
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N/A
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(c) The EU:
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To remove barriers to voluntary work and raise awareness of it on the basis of programmes, such as Youth in Action.
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Existing measures taken at your level:
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Has your local authority/ city/ region already taken (or begun contemplating) any specific measures to address challenges in the field of volunteering?
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Through active support of youth work in Flanders (at all administrative levels), voluntary work is promoted and supported very strongly. Renewing, expanding and adapting support instruments is necessary.
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Additional measures needed:
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Do you consider that there are other or additional lines of action that need to be taken with regard to volunteering, that have not been proposed by the Commission communication under consideration?
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N/A
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H. Youth and the World
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Challenges faced by local and regional authorities:
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What challenges do local and regional authorities in your country face with regard to the international dimension of youth?
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Reaching a diverse group of young people on the basis of the existing provision remains a challenge. Certain groups of young people are scarcely reached, if at all.
In addition, enhancing the international orientation of youth organisations and local authorities remains a goal.
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Responsibility regarding the actions contemplated:
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Please take a look at the specific actions contemplated by the European Commission within the "youth and the world" field of action (see section 4.2.3. of the communication). Taking into account the subsidiarity principle, what should be the role of the following tiers of authority in pursuing these actions?
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(a) Local and regional authorities:
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Inform young people
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Subsidise projects
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Support organisations
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(b) National authorities:
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Inform young people
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Subsidise projects
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Support organisations
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(c) The EU:
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To boost the involvement of young people in the situation of their contemporaries within and outside Europe on the basis of programmes, such as Youth in Action. It goes without saying that for areas outside Europe, adequate resources must be available in order to achieve this.
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Existing measures taken at your level:
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Has your local authority/ city/ region already taken (or is currently contemplating) any specific action to promote the international dimension of youth?
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Support for JINT (whose task is to support organisations and local authorities in the area of international youth work). However, there must be efforts to ensure adequate cooperation between different organisations which have a role in supporting local authorities, associations and individual young people.
Subsidy line Global Youth Projects.
Subsidies for exchange organisations and for international projects of normal youth organisations.
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Additional measures needed:
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Do you consider that there are other or additional lines of action that need to be taken with regard to the international dimension of youth, that have not been proposed by the Commission communication under consideration?
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Removing visa obstacles.
Removing obstacles linked to (retention of) social rights in projects abroad.
Working on a vision of international participation of young people in the framework of the Millennium goals.
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I. Youth work
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Challenges faced by local and regional authorities:
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What challenges do local and regional authorities in your country face with regard to youth work?
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N/A
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Responsibility regarding the actions contemplated:
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Please take a look at the specific actions contemplated by the European Commission within "youth work" (see section 4.3. of the communication). Taking into account the subsidiarity principle, what should be the role of the following tiers of authority in pursuing these actions?
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(a) Local and regional authorities:
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N/A
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(b) National authorities:
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N/A
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(c) The EU:
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Encourage authorities to support youth work as effectively as possible
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Adopt measures (such as the Youth in Action programme) in order to enhance mobility of youth workers, on the basis of exchanges of experience and raising the quality of youth work in general
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Recognise the social value of youth work and the skills of youth workers
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Existing measures taken at your level:
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Has your local authority/ city/ region already taken (or is currently contemplating) any specific action to support, recognise the contribution of and professionalise youth work?
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N/A
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Additional measures needed:
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Do you consider that there are other or additional lines of action that need to be taken with regard to youth work, that have not been proposed by the Commission communication under consideration?
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Idem role EU
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J. Additional fields of action needed
1. What additional challenges do local and regional authorities in your country face regarding youth policies?
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N/A
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2.Should the communication have included additional field(s) of action to address the aforementioned additional challenges and, if so, what measures would you propose?
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N/A
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S ECTION II: Role of LRA within the Open Method of Coordination
In the communication "An EU Strategy for Youth", the European Commission has proposed a "new, stronger" Open Method of Coordination (OMC) as a means to implement this strategy. The OMC is an intergovernmental method defined as an instrument of the Lisbon Strategy. It provides a framework for cooperation between the Member States aiming to direct national policies towards certain common objectives (for example: establishment of common indicators, benchmarking, exchange of best practices, etc.). In the communication, the European Commission clearly refers to the involvement of local and regional authorities in the strategy's implementation.
Therefore, you are kindly invited to answer the related questions below.
Do you think the OMC is an appropriate mechanism to implement the EU youth strategy? Please explain your answer.
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To me, this seems in the meantime to be the most appropriate method. An active exchange is necessary so that different regions and countries can learn from each other's experiences and that a more coherent policy can be pursued in Europe. It is essential here that national authorities give adequate consideration to ensuring a high-quality interpretation of this method.
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Which OMC mechanisms could stimulate a more active involvement of local and regional authorities?
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N/A
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Could the Committee of the Regions contribute to safeguarding the interests of local and regional authorities by assuming a particular role within the OMC for the implementation of the EU youth strategy? What role should this be?
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N/A
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