690th meeting - 1 December 1999
Item 8.1
"EUROPE 2000 - YOUTH PARTICIPATION:
THE ROLE OF YOUNG PEOPLE AS CITIZENS"
CLRAE Recommendation 59 (1999)
(CM/Inf(99)44, CM/Del/Dec(99)678/12.1)
Decision
The Deputies adopted the following reply to CLRAE Recommendation 59 (1999) on "Europe 2000 - Youth participation: the role of young people as citizens":
"The Committee of Ministers has considered with interest CLRAE Recommendation 59 (1999) on "Europe 2000 - Youth participation: the role of young people as citizens". It fully shares the opinion of the Congress that training and education of young people in citizenship are essential and that participation of young people in political life is important for the development of society. Indeed, citizenship is a broad concept including political, cultural, social and economic dimensions. Thus, citizenship education should make use of the wide variety of activities and structures of the Organisation.
In this connection the Committee of Ministers recalls that it has adopted a Declaration and a Programme on "Education for Democratic Citizenship based on the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizens" (Budapest, 104th Session, 7th May 1999). This is in compliance with the desire expressed by the Heads of state and government at their Second Summit (Strasbourg, 10-11 October 1997) "to develop education for democratic citizenship based on the rights and responsibilities of citizens, and the participation of young people in civil society". The Programme, by providing a European framework for the strengthening of education for democratic citizenship at all levels, is aimed at supporting various youth networks, partnerships, model initiatives, etc. to encourage young people to participate in civil society.
These issues were also addressed at the 19th Session of the Standing Conference of the European Ministers of Education which took place in Kristiansand, Norway, on 22-24 June 1997. Resolution No. 2 focuses on "Fundamental values, aims and the future role of educational co-operation in the Council of Europe". In addition, the Conference of European Youth Ministers in Bucharest on 27-29 April 1998 made a number of proposals that are relevant to the role of young people as citizens.
It should also be mentioned that a project "Education for Democratic Citizenship" has been carried out successfully since 1997 and will be continued in 2000. The project has a multidisciplinary approach as it touches upon the political, legal, social and cultural dimensions of democratic citizenship. A large number of partners is involved in it: member states, European Union, UNESCO, NGOs, etc., including various Council of Europe sectors. The project, both exploratory and practical, aims at defining the concept of citizenship and at developing the necessary skills to exercise it.
The Council of Europe's Youth Sector's entire programme is devoted to promote "youth participation", "the role of young people as active citizens" and "active involvement of young people in social and cultural life".
The educational programme of the two European Youth Centres, in Strasbourg and in Budapest, including a partnership programme with the European Commission, the function of the European Youth Foundation, the Intergovernmental Co-operation and the unique co-managed decison-making structures of the Youth Sector are all aimed at "fostering civic education among young people" through young people's own initiative and involvement.
The study sessions and training courses (nearly fifty) which the Council of Europe's Youth Sector carries out yearly are based on initiatives of young people themselves, their organisations and networks. A partnership programme with the European Commission, mentioned above, aims at developing "European citizenship" through training and information exchange. The European Youth Foundation has funded more than 550 Youth NGOs, 3000 projects with more than 200 000 participants all over Europe. The European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) has for a number of years had as its main priority to increase youth participation and the development of non-formal education as an instrument of social integration. A working group under the CDEJ deals exclusively with issues of participation. Finally, the co-managed structures of the Youth Sector provide European young people a possibility to be active citizens at the very heart of the Council's own structures.
The Council of Europe Youth Sector has been working in close co-operation with the CLRAE, for instance in organising a round table on youth participation (in the year 2000) and promoting the establishment, and later financing, of Youth Planet - a European network of regional and local youth councils and parliaments in Europe (in 1999).
The Council of Europe's Youth Sector intends to use its own new interdisciplinary instrument "the Secretary General's Youth Co-ordination Group" to promote on-going co-operation in the field of citizenship education."