Youth movements for democracy
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 1 October 2025
(33rd sitting) (see Doc. 16239,
report of the Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media,
rapporteur: Ms Yevheniia Kravchuk). Text
adopted by the Assembly on 1 October 2025 (33rd sitting). See
also Recommendation 2299
(2025).
1. Over recent years, youth-led movements
have emerged as vital forces in the defence and renewal of democratic
values, particularly in the face of rising authoritarianism, institutional
distrust, socio-economic exclusion, digital transformation and environmental
crisis, as well as shrinking civic space that undermines young people’s
ability to participate in democracy and advocate change.
2. Referring to its
Resolution 2553
(2024) “Strengthening the youth perspective in the work
of the Parliamentary Assembly” and its
Resolution 2610 (2025) “Social mobilisation,
social unrest and police reaction in Council of Europe member States:
is there a need for a new social contract?”, the Parliamentary Assembly:
2.1 affirms that young people across
Europe are among the most active defenders and imaginative builders
of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, advancing inclusive
visions of justice, rights and participation;
2.2 recognises the creativity, resilience and civic innovation
of youth organisations and youth movements, which are pioneering
new forms of political participation, from participatory budgeting
to open-data civic labs, and from environmental justice frameworks
to community-led democratic education, while also reshaping political
participation through non-institutionalised forms of direct action such
as protests, petitions, boycotts, occupations and online activism;
2.3 is deeply concerned by the growing repression faced by
young activists and youth organisations in some member States, including
politically motivated arrests, criminalisation of peaceful protests, harassment,
surveillance and stigmatisation;
2.4 stresses that governments and institutions must respond
to youth civic engagement not with repression or indifference, but
with recognition, protection, support and structural reform.
3. The Assembly welcomes the long-standing work of the Council
of Europe in supporting youth participation through its co-management
system, the European Youth Centres, the European Youth Foundation
and policy frameworks such as the Revised European Charter on the
Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.
4. In the light of recent developments, the Assembly urges Council
of Europe member States to:
4.1 protect
the human rights and fundamental freedoms of young people by:
4.1.1 guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and freedom
of peaceful assembly and association for young people, in accordance
with Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights
(ETS No. 5), and removing administrative and political obstacles
that disproportionately affect youth-led organisations and movements;
4.1.2 repealing or amending legislation that criminalises or
unjustly restricts peaceful protest, including vague provisions
on public order, national security or “extremism” that are often
used to silence youth dissent;
4.1.3 ending politically motivated arrests of young activists
and ensuring that any deprivation of liberty is strictly compliant
with legal standards, while strengthening access to legal aid and judicial
remedies for youth facing persecution for their civic engagement;
4.2 institutionalise youth participation in political processes
by:
4.2.1 ensuring meaningful youth representation in elected
bodies, such as national parliaments and local councils, by supporting
effective and inclusive structures and mechanisms to integrate young
people in policy and decision making;
4.2.2 considering lowering the voting age to 16 across all Council
of Europe member States to foster early civic responsibility and
inclusion;
4.2.3 introducing multi-age electoral lists and youth quotas
in political parties and public institutions to counter generational
imbalances and promote intergenerational solidarity in governance;
4.2.4 ensuring meaningful youth representation through independent
and representative youth councils which are empowered to provide
advice on any policy initiative or issue relevant to children and
young people, either on their own initiative or at the request of
the authorities;
4.3 support youth-led initiatives and civic infrastructure
by:
4.3.1 protecting young people’s human rights and freedoms
and guaranteeing the rights to freedom of expression and freedom
of peaceful assembly and association;
4.3.2 allocating dedicated public funding for youth civic infrastructure,
including safe and inclusive community centres, independent online
platforms, legal clinics and participatory spaces where young people
can organise and collaborate;
4.3.3 promoting youth-led media and embedding democratic civic
education in school curricula, in line with the Charter on Education
for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education and the Council
of Europe Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture,
to equip young people with the values, attitudes, skills and knowledge
needed to engage in democratic life and resist disinformation and
extremism;
4.3.4 encouraging the active involvement of young people and
youth-led organisations in post-war recovery and reconstruction
processes, recognising their potential to contribute using innovative
solutions, promote inclusive governance and strengthen democratic
resilience in societies emerging from conflict or facing complex
political transitions. Special attention should be paid to supporting
youth in countries at war or in fragile political situations, ensuring
that their voices are heard and that their initiatives are protected
and integrated into national and international recovery strategies;
4.4 tackle structural barriers to youth democratic participation
by:
4.4.1 addressing youth socio-economic precarity through
inclusive housing, employment and education policies that recognise
the link between economic marginalisation and democratic disengagement;
4.4.2 strengthening the provision of quality leisure activities
for children and young people in the fields of youth work, sports
and culture, as a means of fostering their personal development and
social inclusion;
4.4.3 promoting access to free, independent and pluralistic
media, including in digital format, to ensure that youth have access
to diverse sources of information and can freely express their views;
4.4.4 supporting international and European youth co-operation
and youth-to-youth exchanges, as a means of building democratic
cultures across borders, fostering solidarity and preventing conflict.
5. Furthermore, the Assembly calls for strengthened international
co-operation to safeguard youth civic space by:
5.1 promoting the Council of Europe’s
role as the main pan-European driving force for the development
of youth policy and standards in Europe, taking forward the outcomes
of the 10th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible
for Youth, held in Valletta, Malta, on 8 and 9 October 2025;
5.2 encouraging the European Union to integrate civic space
benchmarks into enlargement processes and funding frameworks, including
specific indicators on youth rights and participation;
5.3 co-ordinating with international organisations, such as
the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation
in Europe (OSCE), to improve access for young people to human rights, capacity
building, support to youth organisations and movements, and to complement
existing Council of Europe mechanisms to address shrinking civic
space;
5.4 engaging youth diaspora and refugee youth in democratic
participation strategies, recognising their unique experiences and
potential to contribute to democratic development both in their
countries of origin and in host societies.
6. The Assembly commits itself to:
6.1 strengthening the participation of young people in its
work, including through the activities of youth rapporteurs, regular
dialogue with youth-led organisations and structured input from
the Advisory Council on Youth;
6.2 mainstreaming youth perspectives in all committees and
reports, treating youth civic space as a matter of ongoing democratic
concern and monitoring restrictions on youth rights with the same
urgency as other human rights violations;
6.3 ensuring that the Assembly’s Bureau and part-sessions
provide platforms for youth perspectives, particularly from those
living in repressive contexts;
6.4 promoting exchanges between parliamentarians and youth
activists, organisations and youth movements, including by providing
sustainable, inclusive and effective mechanisms, together with funding,
as appropriate.
7. The Assembly encourages all relevant stakeholders, including
international organisations, civil society, academia and the private
sector, to work in partnership with youth organisations and youth
movements to co-design democratic initiatives, amplify youth voices
in decision making and invest in sustainable civic infrastructure.
8. Protecting youth freedoms, institutionalising participation
and dismantling structural barriers are democratic imperatives,
and youth movements must be recognised not as threats but as indispensable
actors in building democratic resilience in Europe.
