Meeting with the new EU Youth Co-ordinator, Marta Markowska, in Brussels

Brussels, 23 June 2026. The Working Group on European Youth Policy and the Working Group on International Youth Policy of the Bundesjugendring are holding a joint meeting in Brussels from 22 to 25 June 2026. The meeting will focus on current developments in European and international youth policy, as well as direct dialogue with representatives of the European institutions.

An important part of the joint meeting will be discussions with representatives of the European Commission, in particular from the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. During these discussions, participants will contribute their experiences from youth organisations, as well as the perspectives and demands of young people, to current European debates.

On 23 June, the working groups met Marta Markowska, who was appointed as the new EU Youth Coordinator at the beginning of June 2026. She succeeded Biliana Sirakova, who held the post from 2021 to November 2025. One of the EU Youth Co-ordinator’s tasks is to strengthen cooperation and the exchange of knowledge on youth policy issues between the various departments of the European Commission.

Just a few weeks after Markowska took office, the meeting gave the working groups of the Bundesjugendring the opportunity to engage with the new coordinator at an early stage on key youth policy challenges and future cooperation.

The focus was on the future direction of the EU Youth Strategy beyond 2027. The strategy provides an important framework for cooperation on youth policy within the European Union. Discussions centred on how the interests and lived experiences of young people can be given greater consideration within the strategy, and how youth organisations can be meaningfully involved in its development and implementation.

The participants made it clear that young people must not be consulted only at the end of political processes. Their perspectives must be incorporated into European decision-making at an early stage and in a transparent manner. Youth organisations play a key role in this: they bring together the experiences of young people, create spaces for democratic engagement and enable ongoing participation beyond individual consultations.

Another key focus was the future of Erasmus+. The programme enables young people to take part in European exchanges, cross-border learning and voluntary work. For youth organisations, it is crucial that, alongside formal education, non-formal education programmes and European youth work remain financially secure and accessible in the long term.

In addition, the participants discussed the European Union’s existing participation formats. Particular attention was paid to the EU Youth Dialogue, through which young people and youth organisations can contribute their demands and recommendations to European policy. Together, they discussed how its findings could be taken up more effectively and translated more visibly into political decisions.

The discussion with Marta Markowska highlighted the importance of ongoing dialogue between the European Commission and organised youth civil society. The working groups will continue to monitor the further development of the EU Youth Strategy, European funding programmes and participation instruments in a critical yet constructive manner.