Youth policy is a national, and in some cases regional, competence, but with worrying levels of youth unemployment, migration and radicalisation, cooperation at the European level needs to be stepped up. This was the main message from Csaba Borboly, President of Harghita County Council (Romania), when he presented his draft opinion to the Commission for Social Policy, Education, Employment, Research and Culture in the Committee of the Regions today.
"Having worked in various youth organizations, I consider this assignment to be a true challenge, but also a great opportunity to present the interests of young people at EU level" Borboly explained. "While drafting the document we organized wide range of consultations both at regional and international level. In order to improve the communication between politicians and the youth, there is still a high need to strengthen EU strategies regarding actual problems of the youth.”
Youth post-Paris attacks
With reference to the unprecedented terrorist threat facing Europe today, the CoR opinion calls on the European Commission, the Council and the Member States to take all possible measures to increase young people's safety, as a matter of urgency and in cooperation with the local and regional authorities. Within this context, the rapporteur envisages providing protection for educational establishments, tightening security in places frequented by young people and providing them with training so that they know what to do in an emergency.
Migration and youth
According to the opinion, migration must be addressed through various EU policies, but youth should be a key pillar. The rapporteur proposes that this should be done by looking into partnerships between regions of origin and host regions to address integration as well as returns and assisted returns. He argues that directly accessible financial resources should be made immediately available to local and regional authorities for this purpose, as well as to enable them to fulfil their obligations concerning integration in the field of migration from outside the EU.
