C Explanatory memorandum by Mr Volontè,
rapporteur for opinion
1 Bridging generations to assert youth rights: a
vital need for European society
1. The report by Mr Connarty on behalf of the Committee
on Culture, Science, Education and Media reviews progress in youth
policies of the Council of Europe and highlights the lack of success
of member States in proposing effective solutions to the multiple
problems young people are facing. The continuing economic and social
crisis has exacerbated hardship across European society, with a
disproportionate burden falling on the shoulders of the young generation.
Although the 9th Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth (24-25 September
2012, St Petersburg, Russia) was a valuable forum for dialogue between
the high officials of States and youth representatives, it was also
a missed opportunity to achieve a consensus on a full range of proposed actions
aimed at enhancing young people’s access to fundamental rights.
2. In January 2013, the two committees concerned (the Committee
on Culture, Science, Education and Media and the Committee on Social
Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development) held a joint meeting
to discuss problems faced by young people and their members expressed
a shared concern about the eroding social cohesion and justice in
society. This malaise reflects a widening gap between the younger
and older generations in terms of participation in economic and
political life, social dialogue, income and wealth disparities,
access to decision-making and human rights, as well as de facto unequal opportunities for
access to employment, education, training, housing, social services
and health care. Ignoring the plight of young people today is a
road to an uncertain future with a real risk of perpetuating the
intergenerational transmission of deprivation, whereas bridging
generations to better assert youth rights is a win-win solution
towards building a stronger, fairer, more inclusive and more prosperous
society.
3. Further to repeated calls by the Assembly asking the Committee
of Ministers to strengthen the legal framework for securing young
people’s access to fundamental rights,
Note I cannot but endorse the key proposal for
action in this respect as outlined in the draft recommendation put
forward by the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media.
I also note and appreciate a series of proposed measures aimed at
better using Council of Europe mechanisms towards redressing violations
of young people’s rights and employing innovative ways to empower
young people.
4. In the same vein, I think it is necessary to state more clearly,
in the draft recommendation, the Assembly’s holistic view of fundamental
rights, that are understood to include not only political and civil
rights but also social and economic rights, as stated throughout
Mr Connarty’s explanatory memorandum. Indeed, human dignity is inconceivable
without respect for everyone’s access to decent work, affordable
housing and basic social services. Yet given the unprecedented rates
of youth unemployment – which in most countries is much higher than
for the rest of the population –, it is clearly necessary to reverse
this unfortunate trend. Unemployment can lead to misery, exclusion
and even violence, so we need to help young people to help themselves
more resolutely.
5. Moreover, with a view to giving practical follow-up to key
proposals of this Assembly, youth organisations and participants
of the youth event held in St Petersburg before the Ministerial
Conference, I wish to highlight the need to make better use of “youth
guarantee” schemes that aim to ensure that no young person is left
out of employment, education or training for more than four months
against his or her will. This approach has been tested with success
in several European countries and is particularly pertinent as the
importance of “youth guarantee” schemes was recognised by the International
Labour Organization and at European Union level by the European
Commission in the Youth Employment Package presented in December
2012 and by the European Union Council (Ministers of Employment
and Social Affairs) in February 2013. Indeed, with 6 billion euros
earmarked by the European Union for the realisation of the initiative,
the Council of Europe could join forces for the youth cause on the
broadest possible geographical area via its partnership and joint
projects with the European Union.
6. As discussions in this committee have shown on a number of
occasions, local and regional authorities play a crucial role in
providing quality public services to communities and are often the
main architects in designing targeted, integrated solutions that
really work in response to the “needs on the ground”, including
for young people. They should receive full support – even in times
of austerity budgets – from national authorities and European institutions
so as to continue fostering inter-generational contacts, channelling
initiatives from the grass-root level upwards, promoting involvement
of local youth in the community’s solidarity action, building capacity
of youth associations and providing professional development opportunities
for young individuals. In this respect, the Council of Europe’s
Congress of Local and Regional Authorities could be instrumental
in reaching out to the young generation through policy makers across
Europe and neighbouring countries. It could also help associate
young people to a rights-based approach in decision-making at various
levels of governance – in line with the provisions of the revised
European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and
Regional Life.
2 Political action to involve and empower young
people
7. I think my colleagues in the committee and the Assembly
will agree on the need for politicians to acknowledge that the voice
and the immense potential young people carry have not been adequately,
or sufficiently, taken into account in the political, economic and
social debate in our countries. As we debate rights, we should remember
our responsibilities towards all generations: our round table may
look nice and solid, but if one of its legs is shorter than the
others, the overall balance will be upset sooner or later. Likewise,
we owe more attention and more action to involve and empower young
people as fully fledged citizens on a par with more “entrenched”
generations. To catch up with the changes transforming our society
and to draw lessons from too many missed opportunities, we ought
to give priority to better mainstreaming the needs of the young generation
in all fields through political action at local, regional, national
and European levels.
8. In this context, I welcome the launch, in February 2013, of
a campaign on “Nurturing human rights” by the Andorran Chairmanship
of the Council of Europe. This campaign seeks to enhance public
awareness, in particular among young people, of the rights and freedoms
guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).
I dare say, this Organisation should seize the opportunity to go
further, speak out louder also about social and economic rights
enshrined in the European Social Charter (revised) (ETS No. 163). These
rights, together with political rights, are the backbone of human
dignity. As this Assembly has stressed on a multitude of occasions,
we deem human rights indivisible, interdependent and complementary.
It is therefore high time to reassert these rights – with and for
young people – through good governance in our society.
9. To this end, parliamentarians can and should take the lead,
not least recalling the proposals listed in Assembly
Resolution 1824 (2011) and
Recommendation
1976 (2011) on the role of parliaments in the consolidation and
development of social rights in Europe, and
Resolution 1885 (2012) on the young generation sacrificed: social, economic
and political implications of the financial crisis. I thus propose,
via amendments, that this ambition be duly reflected in the draft
recommendation put forward by the Committee on Culture, Science,
Education and Media.
3 Concluding remarks
10. In conclusion, I consider that this committee should
support the report prepared by Mr Connarty in response to the joint
initiative of the chairpersons of the two committees concerned.
Both the Council of Europe and its member States should respond
more effectively to the plight of young people, who are bearing
the brunt of the financial crisis and austerity policies. There
is a crying need to improve intergenerational dialogue and to correct
asymmetries in the level playing field as regards access to fundamental
rights – including social, economic and political rights – by different
generations. This calls for stronger, affirmative action in favour
of the young generation so as to involve young people fully in political,
economic and social life and to enable them to both contribute to
and benefit from the solidarity mechanisms in the society they live
in.
11. With a view to strengthening the message of our Assembly,
I propose several amendments to the draft recommendation. These
amendments seek to highlight the untapped opportunities concerning
the Council of Europe campaign “Nurturing human rights”, youth-oriented
activities at local and regional level, intergenerational dialogue
and participation of youth organisations.
