Europe Has a Plan for Young People. But Do Young People Know About It?

There is a document sitting somewhere in the offices of the European Commission that is supposed to change your life. It is called the European Youth Strategy, it covers the period from 2019 to 2027, and there is a reasonable chance you have never heard of it. That is not entirely your fault. EU policy documents are not exactly designed to go viral.

But here is the thing: if you are between 15 and 29, this strategy is – at least on paper – about you. It shapes how EU money gets spent on youth programs, how member states are encouraged to think about young people, and what goals European institutions set for the next decade when it comes to employment, inclusion, volunteering, and civic participation. So it might be worth knowing what it actually says.

What Is the European Youth Strategy, Really?

The European Youth Strategy is the EU’s framework for youth policy. Think of it as a political agreement between EU institutions and member states about what matters for young people and what should be done about it. It does not have the power of law – it cannot force governments to do anything – but it sets priorities, allocates funding, and creates expectations.

The current strategy, which runs until 2027, is built around three main objectives: Engage, Connect, and Empower. These are deliberately broad terms, but behind them are concrete areas of focus: youth participation in democratic life, volunteering and solidarity, access to quality employment, mental health and wellbeing, social inclusion, and the green and digital transitions.

The strategy also introduced something called the EU Youth Dialogue – a structured process through which young people across Europe are consulted on policy priorities. Every 18 months, a new cycle of dialogue begins, with thousands of young people participating through surveys, events, and national working groups. The results are supposed to feed into actual policy decisions.

Why It Matters More Than It Sounds?

When politicians talk about “youth policy,” it is easy to switch off. The language tends to be vague, the promises ambitious, and the outcomes hard to measure. The European Youth Strategy is not immune to this problem. But it matters for a few concrete reasons.

First, it drives funding. The Erasmus+ program – which most young people have at least heard of – is directly linked to the priorities of the Youth Strategy. So are the European Solidarity Corps, which funds volunteering placements across Europe, and various grants available to youth organisations. When the strategy says mental health is a priority, that signal eventually translates into which projects get funded and which do not.

Second, it shapes national conversations. EU member states are expected to align their youth policies with the European framework. This does not mean they all do it well, but it creates a reference point. When a youth organisation in Serbia, North Macedonia, or Montenegro pushes for better youth policies at home, the European Youth Strategy gives them an external standard to point to – even for countries that are not yet EU members but aspire to be.

Third, it recognises problems that often get ignored. The strategy explicitly mentions young people who are NEET – not in education, employment, or training. It talks about discrimination, mental health, rural youth who have fewer opportunities than their urban counterparts, and the specific challenges facing young people with fewer opportunities. These are not just talking points; they determine what kinds of projects get prioritised for funding across the continent.

The Gap Between Paper and Reality

Here is where honesty is required. The European Youth Strategy is a genuinely well-intentioned document that describes a Europe most young people do not fully live in.

Youth unemployment across the EU remains significantly higher than overall unemployment rates, particularly in Southern and Eastern Europe. Mental health among young people deteriorated sharply during the pandemic and has not fully recovered. Affordable housing is a crisis in virtually every major European city. Climate anxiety is real and widespread. And while the EU Youth Dialogue exists, most young people – including many who are politically engaged – have never participated in it or even know it exists.

There is also a structural problem. The young people who tend to engage with EU youth policy processes are already the most resourced and connected: those with university education, language skills, access to information, and time to volunteer. The young person working two jobs to pay rent, or living in a rural area with no youth centre and no Erasmus opportunity, is largely absent from these conversations. The strategy acknowledges this gap. Closing it is another matter.

What Young People Actually Want?

The EU Youth Dialogue has produced some consistent findings over the years. Young people across Europe express strong interest in climate action and want to see it treated as an emergency, not a talking point. They want decent work – not just any job, but work that is stable, fairly paid, and meaningful. They want mental health support that is accessible and affordable, not locked behind long waiting lists or high costs. They want to feel that their participation in political life actually changes something, rather than being consulted and then ignored.

These are not radical demands. They are, in fact, broadly aligned with what the European Youth Strategy itself says it wants to achieve. The frustration many young people feel is not that Europe has the wrong goals – it is that the distance between the stated goals and daily reality remains enormous.

What You Can Actually Do?

If you are a young person reading this, there are entry points that are more accessible than they appear. Erasmus+ funds not just student exchanges but also youth worker training, youth exchanges, and projects run by informal groups – you do not need to be a registered NGO or a university student to benefit. The European Solidarity Corps offers funded volunteering placements of two weeks to twelve months across Europe, with travel, accommodation, and a small allowance covered.

The EU Youth Dialogue runs in cycles – the current one has specific themes, and you can participate through national agencies in your country. It will not instantly change policy, but the input does get collected, analysed, and presented to European institutions.

And perhaps most importantly: youth organisations at local and national level are the ones that actually implement what the strategy promises. Joining, supporting, or simply showing up to one of these organisations is where the strategy meets the street.

The Bottom Line

The European Youth Strategy is not a magic solution, and it does not pretend to be. It is a political framework – imperfect, sometimes frustratingly vague, and dependent on political will at national level to mean anything in practice. But it exists, it has teeth in the form of funding, and it is built on the premise that young people deserve a say in the decisions that shape their lives.

Whether that premise is actually honoured depends largely on whether young people decide to hold it to account.