Issue 107
June 2022
ISSN 2315-0017
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Spotlight on European youth
For any society, investing in its youth means investing in its future. The EU has designated 2022 the European Year of Youth, putting young people’s current and future contributions to our society in the spotlight.
The European Year of Youth is aligned with the objectives of the 2019–2027 European Union youth strategy. Throughout 2022, the Commission is coordinating a range of activities in close contact with the European Parliament, the Member States, regional and local authorities, youth organisations and young people themselves. These activities provide young Europeans with many opportunities to gain knowledge, skills and competences for their professional development, and to exercise their civic engagement to shape Europe’s future – a future that will be greener, more inclusive and digital. Speaking of the future, in the recently concluded conference on the future of Europe, young people played a pivotal role, as one third of each of the European citizens’ panels was made up of young people aged 16–25 years old.
The European Year of Youth also goes hand in hand with NextGenerationEU, which offers new perspectives for young people on the way towards recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which was particularly difficult for them. These perspectives include quality jobs, education and training opportunities, along with support for their active participation in society.
This edition of our newsletter contains a selection of EU publications related to European youth, along with publications on several other interesting topics, from values in external policies to mineral exploration.
Youth PDF
Through its youth policies and programmes, the EU aims to make sure that young people can participate fully in society and to give them more opportunities in education and the job market. Find out more in this factsheet.
Available in all official languages of the EU
Desk research, European youth in 2021 PDF
This report aims to make a portrait of European youth today, and of its beliefs on key issues such as the state of the economy, priorities, main problems, the European Union and the values that should be defended by the institutions. To do so, it employs data collected between November 2019 and June 2021 through surveying young people aged 16–30 years old.
Available in English
Youth and democracy in the European Year of Youth PDF
Report
Similarly to the previous publication, this report examines the attitude of young Europeans, but with a particular focus on the European Year of Youth. What are their expectations about this initiative? What are the activities they would like to participate in and people they would like to interact with in the context of the European Year of Youth? How do they think they can make their voice heard? And more.
Available in English
Impact of COVID-19 on young people in the EU PDF/Paper
The European Year of Youth is, among other things, a recognition by the EU institutions that Europe’s youth have suffered greatly during the pandemic. Following a long recovery from the economic crisis (2007–2013), young people proved to be more vulnerable to the effects of the restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report explores the effects of the pandemic on young people, particularly in terms of their employment, well-being and trust in institutions, and assesses the various policy measures introduced to alleviate these effects.
Available in English
Erasmus+ 2021-2027 PDF
Enriching lives, opening minds through the EU programme for education, training, youth and sport
Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. It plays a vital role in the implementation of the 2019–2027 EU youth strategy and places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life. Find out more about Erasmus+ in this factsheet.
Available in all official languages of the EU except Irish
Influencing and understanding political participation patterns of young people PDF
The European perspective
Political participation is at the heart of every functioning democracy, as it means active involvement of engaged citizens in the formulation, passage and implementation of public policies. However, we are dealing with a gradual decrease in voting turnout, particularly evident among younger generations. Due to this, many people are concerned about the shape of democracies worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to help us better understand and address this phenomenon.
Available in English
Research and innovation
CORDIS results pack on mineral exploration PDF/Paper
The European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first carbon neutral continent by 2050. Sustainable access to resources is one of the most strategic security questions surrounding the delivery of such an unprecedented achievement. The results pack highlights eight cutting-edge EU projects that are helping to bring about this transition.
Available in English (Individual article also available in English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish on the CORDIS website)
Also out recently
REPowerEU Actions PDF
On 18 May 2022, the European Commission presented the REPowerEU plan to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The end objective is to become a truly independent energy union, while also tackling the climate crisis. Read about it in this factsheet.
Available in all official languages of the EU
Fundamental rights report 2022 PDF
The report reviews the challenges and developments for fundamental rights protection in the EU in the previous year, across multiple areas. It reviews major developments in the field, identifying both achievements and areas of concern. It also presents the opinion of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights on these developments, including a synopsis of the supporting evidence.
Available in English
Values on the retreat? PDF
The role of values in the EU’s external policies
There is a perception in western countries that the role of values as a foreign policy driver may currently be on the decline. This study seeks to contribute to the debate by investigating what is meant by ‘values’, whether their importance is declining and, if so, how this manifests itself. Moreover, it compares the EU’s values with those of four reference countries: China, Russia, Turkey and the United States.
Available in English
Stats in a Wrap PODCAST
The new podcast series Stats in a Wrap by Eurostat looks at the world through the eyes of statistics. Its aim is to pick the most delicious morsels and striking flavours to provide insights into the unexpected, the quirky and downright peculiar perspectives that only numbers can reveal. Here you will find the first three episodes:
- How do we travel in a world changed by COVID-19?
- How do we manage waste in the EU?
- The pandemic and its effect on youth employment.
Available in English
You may also like
Living and working in Europe 2021 PDF/Paper
This publication provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe in 2021. It also summarises findings on other challenging aspects of social and economic life. These include gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages and may have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.
Available in English
After the new normal PDF
Scenarios for Europe in the post Covid-19 world
This study attempts to chart changes that the COVID-19 pandemic may bring to the future. Five scenarios were conceived and examined: The long recession; Back to ‘normal’; Big tech shapes Europe; Circular trails and real-life errors; and Green Utopia – New Hope. They include the numerous disruptions to our daily lives from the COVID-19 lockdowns up to 2040 and describe the extent to which the pandemic may raise new requirements for the EU.
Available in English
Europe better together! PDF
Let’s build the European Union together! How can we live together? What’s our shared history? How do the European Union institutions work? Find out about all of these topics and more with the help of the three illustrated brochures, quizzes, games and map of Europe in this pack.
Available in all official languages of the EU
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