The European Youth Pact

The European Youth Pact was adopted by the European Council in March 2005 as one of the instruments for achieving the revised Lisbon objectives, promoting growth and more and better jobs.

The Pact has three strands:

• Employment and social integration;
• Education, training and mobility;
• Reconciling work and family life.

Its aim is to improve education, training, mobility, employment and social inclusion of young people, whilst helping to achieve a work-life balance. Initiatives in these areas must be coherent and promote a sustained mobilisation on behalf of young people.

The European Council emphasised that the success of the Pact will depend on the active participation of all those involved, particularly youth organisations. The Commission consults young people on the Pact within the structured dialogue.

The Commission is responsible for

• monitoring the Pact for youth in the national reform programmes, and in the annual Community report associated with the Lisbon reform process
• preparing the contribution that the Ministers for Youth send to the spring European Council
• consulting young people on the Pact within the structured dialogue

Documents for download:

Communication from the Commission to the Council, COM(2005)206 - 30.05.2005

Adressing the concerns of young people in Europe - implementing the European Youth Pact and promoting active citizenship.

Addressing the concerns of young people in Europe: the Commission adopts a communication on youth policies

The European Commission adopted 30. May a Communication on "European policies concerning youth". This text is a follow-up to the adoption of the European Youth Pact by the European Council in March 2005, which made young people a key part of the renewed Lisbon partnership for growth and jobs and which proposed taking action for young people in the fields of employment, integration and social advancement, education and training, mobility, and reconciling family and work life.
>> Press release
>> Communication

The Council calls for the establishment of a European Youth Pact

On 21 February the Youth Ministers of the Member States of the European Union adopted conclusions concerning placing youth within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy. These conclusions call in particular for the establishment of a European Youth pact, and take note of the intention of the Commission to present a communication on this initiative.
The Lisbon Strategy (which aims at making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010) is relevant for young people since it addresses issues which affect them directly, such as education, employment and social inclusion. This initiative will mean a more unified and coherent approach, via the existing mechanisms.
These conclusions will be sent to the Heads of State and Government meeting in the European Council of 22 and 23 March, who will be asked to support this initiative for youth within the Lisbon Strategy. This is the first time that Youth policy has featured so visibly at EU level.

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