Report on the EU Youth Conference under the Cyprus Presidency
The conference focussed on Youth Goal 1 "Bringing young people together with the EU", with the guiding theme "Making the EU youth-friendly - ensuring youth-friendly policies at national and EU level". The youth representatives and ministerial delegates discussed how European policy can be better aligned with the realities of young people's lives and shaped together with them. A central point was the further development of the EU Youth Strategy and the design of the new generation of Erasmus+ programmes for the period 2028-2034.
The German delegation, consisting of the EU youth representatives Eva-Marie Deckers and Nevio Chodura as well as Melanie Schütz from the Federal Youth Council, Thomas Hoffmann as representative of the federal states and Ann-Kathrin Fischer from the Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMBFSFJ), actively participated in the discussions. Particular attention was paid to the future EU youth goals, for which two drafts were presented.
Despite positive aspects, such as the successful digital exchange and valuable discussions in exchange rooms, there were also critical assessments of the process for developing the next EU Youth Goals. Although discussions with representatives of the European Commission provided positive impetus, the German delegation criticised the limited opportunities for young people to participate compared to previous negotiations. These restrictions led to questions regarding the representativeness and legitimacy of the process.
The next EU Youth Conference will take place from 27 to 30 September 2026 as the first youth conference in the 12th cycle in Ireland. It will be dedicated to Youth Objective 4 "Information and constructive dialogue" and in particular to the further negotiation of the proposals for the next generation of EU Youth Objectives.
To the full report of the youth representatives