Inaugural meeting of the EESC Youth Group marks a milestone in youth engagement

On 16 October, a fully-fledged EESC Youth Group held the first meeting, selecting its new President Katrīna Leitāne (GIII) as well as two Vice-Presidents Nicoletta Merlo (GII) and Mira-Maria Danisman (GI). The Mayor of Škofja Loka, Tine Radinja, joined the meeting on behalf of the Committee of the Regions.

EESC President Oliver Röpke said: "Placing young people at the heart of policy-making isn't a vision for tomorrow, but a demand of today. This is why championing youth is a cornerstone of my political priorities and I am determined to keep on my promises. The first meeting of the EESC Youth Group is a significant step forward towards inclusion of young peoples' perspective in the EESC's work at all times."

EESC Youth Group President Katrīna Leitāne said: “Internally, my main aim as the President is that everyone can express his or her opinion and that at the end common opinion is respected. Externally, I have an ambition that this Group is a success story on how young people can be meaningfully involved at EU level; and that whenever youth organisations come to Brussels, they would never walk by our institution unnoticed. Instead, I want them to find this institution as a safe place where they can meet, network, build alliances, debate and create.”

An important political priority of EESC President Röpke, the Youth Group was set up in July 2023 with a clear mandate of coordinating youth-centric initiatives and identifying avenues for young people to contribute to the EESC's work. In addition to developing methodology for the EU Youth Test, the Group was tasked with strengthening the cooperation with EU institutions and national youth bodies across the EU and its candidate countries.

In the context of the EU Youth Test, the members of the Group discussed today the pilot opinions identified by EESC Sections that will be subject to the Test. The opinions span across different policy fields including: the future of Common Agricultural Policy post-2007, defence of democracy, virtual worlds and the European Semester, among others. The full list of selected opinions is available below, reflecting the Group's commitment to a broad spectrum of issues relevant to the youth.

Looking ahead, the EESC Sections will identify youth representatives ideally suited to contribute to the drafting of specific pilot opinions. The objective is to adopt these pilot opinions during the EESC Plenary sessions by the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024.

The EESC initiatives on youth are in line with the recent report of the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs (AFCO), which underlined "the need to engage with young people in particular in a political debate on the future of Europe, as today's decisions will determine their future".

List of the EESC Opinions subject to EU Youth Test:

• REX/580 – EU-UK Youth Engagement 
• NAT/913 – Promoting autonomous and sustainable food production: strategies for the Common Agricultural Policy post-2027
• ECO/631 – Reform and investment proposals in the Member States (2023-2024 European Semester cycle) 
• SOC/773 – Defence of democracy package
• INT/1039 – Strategic foresight report 2023
• CCMI/216 – Initiative on virtual worlds