Promoting the Active Citizenship of Young People in Peripheral Regions: Recommendations for EU Key Players

Abstract

In light of the growing political disengagement of youth, this chapter presents four recommendations on how the Commission and the European Parliament can improve EU youth policies to promote the active citizenship of young people in peripheral regions. Firstly, given the central role that information plays for active citizenship, EU actors need to better tailor knowledge transfer to the needs of young people. Secondly, they need to enhance citizenship competences and political efficacy through meaningful local participation projects that are linked to the EU-level. Thirdly, to guarantee the long-lasting effect of these projects, EU actors should make project funding more reliable, for instance by extending funding periods or lowering the hurdles for follow-up projects. Last but not least, the inclusiveness of bottom-up dialogue formats needs to be further improved to make sure that the EU youth policy goals are connected to the diverse living conditions and needs of young people across the Union.