It is less than a month now until we all have the chance to make a choice. The European Parliament elections at the end of May are a unique opportunity for us to have a say on Europe’s future, on how we should tackle big issues facing us today, such as the changing nature of work, threats to our democracies or climate change. I hope that many young people use this opportunity to make their voice heard – they have a central role to play in building that future.
This goes beyond voting and elections.
And I am proud that, over the past few years, we have been creating many opportunities at European level for young people to get engaged, to shape their own lives and those of others. I want a Europe that invests in young people, in their talents, in their empathy, in their aspirations. This is a matter of fairness. It is also essential to build strong, resilient societies and eco-nomies for the future.
That is why we have launched the European Solidarity Corps, our initiative that empowers young people to support communities and individuals in need. Mostly as volunteers, they get the chance to make a difference to the lives of others while gaining an invaluable learning and personal experience.
More than 124,000 young people have signed up to the Solidarity Corps and over 14,000 have already been active on the ground – for example helping people rebuild their towns and their lives in the aftermath of natural disasters, supporting the reconstruction of cultural heritage, working with refugees or homeless people and joining efforts to protect the environment.
DiscoverEU is a new initiative for youth. By enabling 18-year-olds to travel across Europe, we are creating opportunities for them to learn about the cultural heritage and values that underpin our Union – and to build a sense of belonging on these roots.
Young people care about their communities and their future
In all, 30,000 young people were able to discover Europe in this way in 2018, starting to form a true community, and in early May we are launching the next round of applications, allowing 20,000 additional young people to participate in the programme and another 20,000 later in the year.
And, of course, we have opened up many more opportunities through Erasmus+.
More than any other EU programme, Erasmus embodies the European idea – bringing people from different cultures and backgrounds together, enabling them to learn and to experience what it feels like to be European. In 2017 alone, Erasmus supported almost 800,000 people in studying, training and volunteering abroad, a record annual figure.
We want to offer these kinds of opportunities to many more young Europeans. That is why the European Commission has proposed to significantly boost investment in youth in the EU’s next long-term budget 2021-2027.
We want to double funding for Erasmus to €30 billion over seven years and make the programme more accessible and inclusive, for example by stepping up the use of new flexible formats such as virtual exchanges and mobility of school pupils. And we want to expand and strengthen the European Solidarity Corps. I count on member states and the European Parliament to support these crucial investments in young people.
However, our ambition does not stop there. Over the past year, we have been laying the building blocks of a true European Education Area that we want to build with member states by 2025. A space where young people can move freely to develop their competences, a space based on excellence and inclusion, where every young person has the chance to make the most of his/her life and build strong communities sharing a sense of what it means to be European.
To start making this reality, we have agreed with member states on a number of important steps: to foster the mutual recognition of diplomas, to reinforce key competences such as entrepreneurial or digital skills and to strengthen inclusive education, the promotion of our shared values and the European dimension of teaching.
We have started the process of building true European universities, which will offer young people fresh opportunities to learn abroad, taking integrated courses at higher education institutions and benefiting from automatic recognition of qualifications gained in another member state.
And further commitments – to boost language learning and to promote high-quality early childhood education and care – are set to follow very soon.
Young people care about their communities and their future. We see it when they march to demand action against climate change and when they tell us they want political decision-makers to tackle issues such as youth unemployment, mental health and the isolation experienced by some youth in rural areas. They deserve our intention – and resources.
Investing in young people, equipping them with the skills and attitudes they need to adapt, find fulfilling work and become independent, caring citizens, is a big task.
It goes well beyond an election. It means empowering young people for the long term and staying the course.
Young people are showing us time and time again that they care, that they are ready to take responsibility. It is up to us to ensure they have the means and the opportunity to do so.
Tibor Navracsics is European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.
This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece