C Explanatory memorandum by Ms Yevheniia
Kravchuk, rapporteur for opinion
1 Crisis of representation
equals youth paying the highest price for current and future crises
1. The report by the Committee
on Political Affairs and Democracy rightly underscores that youth
inclusion and representation in political life are crucial to building
stable societies and democratic institutions that reflect the needs
of the younger generation. It points to recent statistics showing
that young people are not adequately represented in local, regional
and national elections on candidate lists and that there are significant
differences from country to country. Also, the gap between the average
age of parliamentarians and the average age of the voting population
is often very large.
Note
2. Political systems should mirror society and represent the
best interests of all citizens. Parliaments must be exemplary in
this regard and promote age diversity and intergenerational leadership.
3. Young people have been among the hardest hit by the economic
consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rising cost of living
due to war, energy crisis and inflation throughout Europe is exacerbating the
pressure on youth. They are the first ones to pay when new reforms
and budgetary cuts are implemented at all levels. The climate emergency
has increased levels of uncertainty – often leading to fully-fledged
anxiety and other mental disorders – about their future.
4. Feelings of uncertainty, vulnerability, frustration, anger,
disempowerment, and intergenerational rivalry may partly explain
the disengagement with politics and the lack of trust in politicians
and in the political system. This does not necessarily signify political
apathy as social media gains importance as a means of political activism
which is diverse and often incompatible with traditional forms of
engagement.
NoteResolution 2498 (2023) “Youth and the media” pointed to a substantial disconnect
between institutional politics and the daily lives of young people,
who do not feel listened to or represented in institutional politics.
Youth’s unprecedented mobilisation, around the world, both online
and on the streets, on issues such as climate change shows the power
they can have to hold policy makers accountable.
Note
5. Young people are better educated and more connected than ever.
However, if existing democratic processes continue to fail them,
young people may reject the core values of democratic governance,
such as consensus, dialogue, accountability, and inclusion. Populist
authoritarian leaders will amplify this dissatisfaction to their
own selfish advantage.
Note
6. At a hearing organised by the Sub-Committee on Education,
Youth and Sport on 12 October 2021, in Lisbon, on “Youth and post-pandemic
recovery and resilience”, some youth representatives called for
policies that promoted radical youth imagination, re-thinking capitalism,
individualism, and competitive societies. The real challenge in
a democracy is about young people not turning their back on representative
democracy, and finding ways for democratic institutions, including
international organisations, to engage with youth’s aspirations.
This requires their active involvement in shaping institutions and
policies which reflect these aspirations.
7. Young people must be given the capacity to participate in
the political process in a meaningful way and at all levels, from
city council level to the level of national and international organisations.
This would increase the political engagement of young people and
their legislative representation (amendment A).
2 PACE-Youth Participation
Mechanism
8. I fully support the establishment
of a PACE-Youth Participation Mechanism relying on the participation of
members of the Assembly and young Europeans, as well as the appointment
of Youth Rapporteurs in the Assembly’s general committees, giving
due regard to the age of the candidates to ensure an appropriate representation
of young members.
9. However, this may prove to be a difficult task for the committees.
As of September 2023, the presence of parliamentarians aged 40 or
under in the Assembly is limited to 1 or 2 members in 25 (out of
46) national delegations,
Note 3
members in five delegations (Bulgaria, France, Montenegro, Morocco,
United Kingdom), 4 members in six delegations (Belgium, North Macedonia,
Norway, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Spain), 5 members in two delegations
(Armenia, Poland), 6 members in two delegations (Romania and Türkiye), 7 members
in the Swedish delegation, 8 members in the German delegation and
11 members in the Ukrainian delegation.
10. National delegations must do more to ensure and increase the
presence of young members in their delegation and to make sure that
they are equally distributed among committees so that Young Rapporteurs can
be easily appointed, and that a youth perspective and active participation
is present in each policy area. Young Rapporteurs should also be
invited to attend the strategic exchange of views of the Bureau
with the Joint Bureaux of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) and
the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) (amendment B).
11. The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media, in
particular via its Sub-Committee on Youth, Education and Sport,
regularly consults with the CCJ, the non-governmental partner in
the co-management structure. This has proven particularly valuable
not only in the preparation of youth-related reports but also during
the discussions on the committee’s work programme, priorities and
future work. This practice could be extended to all committees,
when discussing their priorities, usually at the beginning of the
year (amendment C).
12. National delegations have indeed a strategic role to play
to ensure and increase the presence of young parliamentarians in
their delegation (amendment D). This includes the measures suggested
in the draft resolution in particular by reserving a certain number
of seats for young parliamentarians (amendment E), which in my view
should not remain optional.
13. At the Assembly level, political groups are encouraged to
regularly invite youth representatives to participate in their meetings
but could also consider ways to support and facilitate their participation,
in particular when it comes to youth NGOs, students or individuals
with limited financial means (amendment F).
14. National political parties can also do more to make sure that
young people, particularly the 18-30 age group, are on candidate
lists, actively support them in running for elections, and work
with them to address youth issues. The Assembly’s political groups
could engage more actively with their corresponding national political
parties to undertake institutional reforms to increase youth representation,
in particular young women, including by devising new recruitment
strategies, allocating funding to young candidates and actively supporting
them in running for election, and empowering party youth groups
(amendment G).
15. It is essential to address the double discrimination young
women suffer on account of their age and gender and national parliaments
must take action to support the promotion of young women in parliament.
This could include the implementation of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union Plan of Action for Gender-sensitive Parliaments
Noteand other
outreach activities targeting young women candidates (amendments
H).
16. With a view to a possible introduction of youth quotas, political
parties could also consider carrying out a feasibility study (amendment
I).
17. Last but not least,
UN Security Council
Resolution 2250 specifically urged Member States to increase inclusive
representation of youth in decision making at all levels to prevent
and resolve conflicts. For its part, Assembly
Resolution 2378 (2021) “Strengthening the role of young people in the prevention
and resolution of conflicts” called upon the parliaments of the
Council of Europe member States to reinforce linkages with youth, in
particular by removing the barriers to youth participation in political
processes, lowering the voting and eligibility age, developing awareness
campaigns, designing new recruitment strategies, considering specific aims
or youth quotas for political parties to enhance the selection and
promotion of young candidates and learning from the experience gained
in advancing women’s political participation. It also called on
them to value young parliamentarians as mediators and promoters
of dialogue in divided societies.
18. The Assembly should acknowledge the challenge that young people
and young parliamentarians must face in countries where they suffer
from the devastating consequences of war and in frozen conflict
regions, recognise that they must be given a stronger role in promoting
dialogue and mutual understanding, and will thus seek to provide
all of the Assembly’s young parliamentarians with greater opportunities
to work together and to contribute to the Assembly’s efforts towards
conflict prevention and resolution. (amendment J).
3 Next steps: youth
and democracy, the wider picture
19. In May 2023, in view of the
findings of the report of the High-level reflection group of the
Council of Europe (October 2022) that recommended including a “youth
perspective” in the Organisation’s intergovernmental and other deliberations
by consulting European youth organisations when shaping public policies
in any given field, which was then reflected in the Reykjavík Declaration
of 16-17 May 2023, I along with other signatories tabled a motion
for resolution entitled “The role of youth in revitalising democracy”.
Note
20. As also discussed in the report by the Committee on Political
Affairs and Democracy, national parliaments have a significant role
to play in strengthening links with young people, in particular
by promoting youth participation in political processes, lowering
the voting and eligibility age, and considering youth quotas for
political parties to enhance the selection of young candidates.
The report is taking a first step as to how representation and relevance
can be strengthened within the Assembly.
21. At the same time, as pointed out in the motion for resolution
mentioned above, meaningful and impactful youth policies are not
only about promoting participation in electoral and decision-making
processes but also about creating democratic space for youth organisations,
especially in non-democratic environments, and about fostering access
to social, economic and cultural rights, which in turn have a strong
correlation with youth engagement and trust in democratic institutions.
22. The committee will continue analysing current trends and policy
responses to increasing difficulties, disenchantment and intergenerational
rivalry experienced by many young Europeans. Challenges such as political
polarisation, growing inequality, the pressing climate crisis and
war, require the sustained involvement of youth, not only to make
a real impact on policy making in areas important to them but also
to defend and re-imagine democracy itself.
