European Championships 2024: These are the parties’ (few) measures for young people — in eight points
From the Erasmus+ program to the Youth Guarantee, the European Union has played an important role in promoting strategies aimed at younger generations. Soon, the European Parliament will renew its composition and, in the midst of so much change, what can young people expect from Europe? A willingness to vote among young people is the second highest among the 27 member statesbut there are few proposals from national parties aimed at young people.
Habitação
The Socialist Party (PS) defends the creation of a “European Plan for Affordable Housing” which, although not included in the traditional competences of the European Parliament, “realizes the right to housing in dignified conditions and at affordable prices, integrating ecological concerns”, which, they argue, would allow young people to gain autonomy and develop their life plans. It also highlights the importance of a permanent public housing investment instrument, as recommended to the European Council.
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On the other hand, Chega is committed to promoting “investment and access to housing, especially by young people†.
The last party to present a proposal on youth housing is the PAN, which defends the implementation of policies to ensure “dignified, accessible and sustainable housing for all , especially for young people who face increased difficulties in the transition to adult life.”
Educação
Regarding this area, only three of the parties with parliamentary seats present proposals. The PS wants to strengthen, expand and improve the accessibility of the Erasmus+ program, as well as ensuring the recognition of degrees and diplomas obtained through this initiative. While the Democratic Alliance (AD) wants to strengthen Erasmus+, so that it continues to encourage academic mobility, youth and sport in the EU.
Livre also wants to increase the financing of this project, to ensure greater access, as well as adapting Erasmus+ to people with disabilities or chronic illnesses, expanding the partnership network even to countries outside the EU. They understand that Erasmus should support “new political and civic training programs, which encourage younger people to become interested in international activism to share knowledge based on mobility†.
At Universidade Nova de Lisboa, there are already 11 students returning early from mobility programs in Italy
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The poppy party will also propose the creation of a European Teaching Corps, as a way of supporting recent graduates to begin their journey in teaching and “providing new opportunities for young people to become teachers and travel across the continent†, in addition to contributing to multilingual teaching in primary and secondary education.
Finally, Livre defends more scholarships for artists and a new fund dedicated to the artistic training of young people. It also intends to promote healthy eating in schools, through a program with “a budget allocation that allows Member States to provide daily river of fruit and vegetable products, the weekly inclusion of legumes and the implementation of an annual action related to agriculture and healthy eating”.
Health
The Liberal Initiative (IL) is committed to health development, with a special focus on mental health and giving priority to young people. An idea shared by the PS, which wants to guarantee access to mental health care across Europe.
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Mental health is also the focus of Livre, which encourages “the carrying out of more studies, at European level, on the prevalence and risk factors for eco-anxiety in adolescents and young adults†, as well such as “the creation of mechanisms to control access, on social networks, to content that is potentially harmful to young people’s mental health†.
Job
Retaining young people in the country is one of the aspects that Chega wants to take to the European Parliament. The party wants to “restore dignity and qualifications to work†to put a brake on emigration and intends to “promote active longevity, in order to facilitate the transmission of knowledge to young people of strategic industrial knowledge†.
AD considers it essential to motivate young people to pursue agriculture and fishing. It proposes the creation of “attractive conditions to begin their activities†in these sectors and to ensure that a “path to greater food self-sufficiency†is created and that “guarantees remuneration fair to farmers†. Livre also advocates that there be “financing measures for agricultural projects for young people†.
José Caria
Livre also wants to improve the Youth Guarantee, a program that helps young people acquire skills through professional internships or professional guidance in order to enter the job market. More investment, wider access, guaranteeing decent work, allocating more resources to Member States with the highest rates of youth unemployment and partnering with youth organizations are the measures the party would like to see were included.
In addition to this improvement, Livre wants to create a “European Learning Contract that provides greater mobility to young workers in search of opportunities outside their country of origin†, such as the possibility of carrying out an internship in another EU country. They also defend the end of unpaid internships or those paid below the minimum wage.
The Socialist Party (PS) also wants to strengthen the Youth Guarantee, end unpaid internships and create European mechanisms to “combat brain drain†. It also proposes the launch of a “European agenda for decent work, which guarantees greater job security, combats precariousness, especially among younger people, and promotes quality and adequately paid jobs, and ensures conciliation § between professional, personal and family life”.
The PAN will fight in the EP to “create conditions that allow young Europeans to prosper, from quality education to access to decent and stable employment opportunities†. While IL advocates that the first job be promoted through the private sector and highlights the importance of labor mobility programs, as if it were an “Erasmus 1st job†.
Literacy
Investing in financial literacy is one of AD’s proposals, especially for young people and younger generations. A measure that aims to improve the Portuguese reality, after the country was considered the second worst member state in this area. The objective is to “train you in managing your personal finances and promote greater financial freedom†.
PAN also intends to promote a different type of literacy: ecological. The party wants to implement an environmental education strategy, which would be transversal across all educational institutions, to “raise children’s awareness of the challenges of environmental protection and adaptation †.
Social
The only proposal from Bloco de Esquerda (BE) directly aimed at younger generations focuses on combating sexual violence against children spread online. To achieve this objective, it suggests “safeguarding fundamental rights against illegal content on private platforms†.
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Improving public services related to children and the family is an objective for which the AD is committed to fighting in Parliament. In this sense, access to daycare centers, schools and child health services is included as a means of promoting the “well-being of children from an early age†.
The Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) also defends the “promotion of the universality of public services for children and their rights, including play and participation. †. It also aims to safeguard children’s rights through “better regulation and labor protection, regulation and reduction of working hours without loss of salary , extension of maternity and paternity leaves, payment of 100% of the reference salary, protection and promotion of breastfeeding and breastfeeding”.
On the other hand, Livre intends to establish a “Child Poverty Eradication Plan that mobilizes more resources from the European Social Fund to guarantee access to healthcare, housing, nutrition and education. §tion for all children†. This proposal aims to reduce child poverty, which would be monitored biannually in each Member State to assess progress.
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The PS presents a similar approach, with the reinforcement of mechanisms to combat child poverty, through the European Child Guarantee, which establishes goals and instruments to ensure that children at risk of poverty are able to access to essential services.
Finally, the PAN proposes the reinforcement of “ecological values and respect for others in the youngest sections of society†. The party also recalls that it is necessary to improve asylum processes and guarantee safe passages to respect the protection of children. Still on this topic, it wants to revoke a measure included in the Migration and Asylum Pact: “the possibility of children being sent to detention centers after their illegal entry into the Union space , while waiting for the conclusion of the asylum process.”
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Chega, on the other hand, defends that demographic financing, “currently more focused on migration policies†, be directed to support young couples who decide to start a family.
Mobility
For PAN, it is important to promote “education for smooth and sustainable mobility†. While Livre intends to create a “European Ticketing System for public transport, in order to facilitate and speed up the purchase of international tickets and passes between the various Member States†. This mechanism provides that younger people are entitled to reduced fares, as well as the elderly and people with disabilities.
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On the other hand, the PS defends a different type of mobility: “freedom of circulation of knowledge and innovation, making the EU a privileged space for creativity, science and culture†.
Chega intends to invest in the “centralization in a single portal of all opportunities, exchange programs, mobility, employment and scientific training promoted by the EU†.
Democratic participation
The PAN also wants to increase youth participation through the promotion and rooting of “democratic principles in the youngest groups, with support and incentives for the creation of an organization young people, from civil or political movements”.
The Socialist Party states that more initiatives should be created such as ‘Conference on the Future of Europe’ to have a space where young people’s opinions are heard and their interests are taken into account in the elaboration of European policies.
Strengthen youth participation in the European Union through initiatives in educational institutions and a closer connection between schools and the European Parliament with invitations to visit the institution These are two of Livre’s proposals. They also want to increase young people’s participation in initiatives such as the Charlemagne European Youth Prize, which supports inspiring projects created by young people and that have a European dimension, or the European Solidarity Corps, which allows young people between 18 and 30 years old to participate in activities such as volunteering. The party also wants a “quota of youth representatives at all levels of European governance†.
