The Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) is composed of 30 representatives from international non-governmental youth organisations, national youth councils, and youth networks in Europe. It serves as the non-governmental partner in the Council of Europe’s co-management system for youth policy, working together with the governmental partner, the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ). Together, these two bodies form the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ), which takes decisions on the priorities and work of the Council of Europe’s youth sector. The CCJ’s first official meeting will be at the European Youth Centre Budapest from 23 to 25 March 2026.

Meeting each other in person for the first time, the Advisory Council on Youth worked on common and emerging themes and priorities relevant to young people across Europe, as well as on how to contribute to introduce a youth perspective into the work of the Council of Europe.

Curious about how the EYF grants will look in 2026? Interested in getting support for international youth co-operation and other youth initiatives? he EYF published a guide to its grants for youth organisations. Anyone interested in the EYF grants can learn more about funding priorities, types of grants, deadlines, applying, implementing and reporting on EYF grants.

With the new operational regulations now in place, the EYF is changing the way it communicates about its grants, starting with a revision of its website.

Check the “apply for a grant” page to discover the Guide to the grants of the European Youth Foundation to find all you need to know about our grants in one place. This guide will be revised so don’t hesitate to regularly check for the most up-to-date version.

New calls for proposals will be communicated on its dedicated page and announced later in spring 2026 when the new online granting system will be launched. Stay tuned for good news!

The Youth Department organised a consultative meeting on Strength and Resilience of International Youth Organisations that took place in Budapest between 21-23 January 2026. The activity brought together 30 participants, representatives of international youth organisations, representatives of the European Youth Forum, researchers and experts, as well as representatives of the Advisory Council on Youth.

The meeting is part of the New Democratic Pact for Europe and contributes to the implementation of the Reykjavik Declaration in respect to civil society’s role in strengthening democracy.

A roundtable was organised in Chisinau on 14 Januray 2026 within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy and Human Rights in the Republic of Moldova," part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for the Republic of Moldova 2025-2028. The project is implemented in co-operation with the Ministry of Education and Research, the National Youth Agency, and the National Youth Council of Moldova.

The event brought together youth stakeholders, notably the National Youth Agency, the National Youth Council of Moldova, and youth civil society organisations. Participants had the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of the Human Rights Education Forum held from 9 to 11 December in Budapest within the Moldovan presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, as well as the Council of Europe co-management system with representative of the Advisory Council on Youth.

Between 20-22 January 2026, a Quality Label exploratory visit took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The purpose of the visit, which included meetings with high level governmental representatives and non-governmental actors in the youth field, was to introduce the Council of Europe quality label standards for youth centres from an operational perspective, and to gain a deeper insight into the aspiring youth centres’ missions, strategic priorities and educational philosophies, as well as receiving guidance for their future work with respect to the fulfilment of the 15 quality criteria of the quality label.

The visit was carried out by an expert team consisting of Georges Metz, Director General of the National Youth Service of Luxembourg and Gordana Berjan, member of the Council of Europe secretariat. The visit was prompted by prior exchanges with Bosnia and Herzegovina stakeholders, and participation of representatives of these centres in QL activities in the last years.

Acknowledging the need to document experiences and personal contributions, the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV”, in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and those working with young people, created a Second collection of youth work experience that is based on the approaches and standards of the Council of Europe in the context of the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine.

During a series of workshops in the summer of 2025, people who work with young people in Ukraine got together to discuss their experiences, create their own stories and rethink their personal contributions to youth work. Each meeting had its own question, which was reflected in the stories.

The result was this collection of 23 personal stories of acquaintance with the Council of Europe and its standards, professional development and contribution to youth work in the context of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.