Recommendations and conclusions

Seminar: Youth under pressure – Safeguarding youth civil society

4 July 2023, Brussels

On Tuesday 4 July, the Civil Society Organisations' Group of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Young European Federalists (JEF Europe) organised a youth seminar. Moderated by Albert Fransesc Maizer Cardell from JEF Europe, the seminar addressed the tendencies and specific violations of youth civic spaces across Europe in an exchange between youth and institutional representatives.

Introductory speeches were given by Pietro Vittorio Barbieri, one of the vice-presidents of the Civil Society Organisations' Group, and Christelle Savall, Vice-President of JEF Europe. Mr Barbieri highlighted the EESC's work towards youth inclusion and the crucial role of youth organisations in upholding democratic values. He emphasised the need for sustainable funding for youth organisations and called for a cultural adjustment that values and meaningfully engages with youth organisations for the benefit of healthy democracies and inter-generational cooperation. Ms Savall elaborated on the JEF's work towards protecting democracies, starting in 2006 with the Free Belarus Action Campaign, later renamed Democracy Under Pressure. She discussed the ongoing threats to democracy within the European continent, emphasising the need to protect youth civic space and stressing that youth participation cannot and should not be taken for granted, stating that youth civic spaces are the most difficult civic spaces to see flourish, so if youth civic spaces are endangered, so is our democracy.

Several representatives from (youth) organisations, including but not limited to the European Youth Forum, the Belarusian National Youth Council, the Vesna Youth Democratic Movement, the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions and Civil Society Europe, took the floor and expressed the following concerns and recommendations:

• that coordinated civic dialogue at both national and European levels was needed;
• a call for increased funding to support the activities of youth organisations;
• the need to ensure that all youth can be included in the civic dialogue, including marginalised youth and young refugees;
• the need to establish mechanisms to protect young activists;
• a call advocating for greater youth involvement in EU elections and increased transparency from EU institutions;
• meaningful follow-up to youth dialogues;
• concerns about the growing restrictions imposed on civil society organisations working on topics such as racism and climate justice in European countries that are not typically seen as undemocratic.

In the third section of the seminar, three distinguished speakers shared their insights on the role of civil society in democracy. Dr Sergey Lagodinsky, Member of Parliament (Greens/EFA), emphasised the indispensable nature of civil society for the proper functioning of a democratic system. He advocated for a protective agenda that safeguards NGOs and civil society, proposing that the EU grant civil society a formal status, despite potential bureaucratic challenges. Alessia Valentino, Legal Officer at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (DG JUST), emphasised the significance of monitoring the rule of law and issuing recommendations to support civil society. She acknowledged the concerning trend of shrinking civic spaces in some Member States, and called for stronger action to address the issue. Ms Valentino also spoke of existing mechanisms, such as Article 7 and the infringement procedure that can hold Member States accountable. Christian Moos, Member of the EESC's Civil Society Organisations' Group and rapporteur for the EESC's upcoming opinion on the Defence of Democracy package, highlighted the crucial nature of involving young people and diverse youth organisations in civil society. He argued that their passion and innovative ideas are essential for a thriving civil society, highlighting the need to sustain their enthusiasm and willingness to participate.

The participants expressed comments and concerns regarding the following:

• the involvement of youth organisations in the climate movement;
• the right for young people to participate in their own EU language;
• best practices on youth involvement in different Member States;
• a call for young people to engage even more with policy-making and democratic systems;
• concerns about increasing intimidation tactics and police violence in some Member States, which go against democratic values.

In conclusion, the seminar highlighted the urgent need for coordinated civic dialogue, increased funding for youth organisations, inclusive participation of all youth, mechanisms to protect activists, meaningful follow-up to youth dialogues, and the need to address growing restrictions on civil society organisations. As stated by one of the youth representatives, if our democracies suffer, all of us suffer. Despite the differing perspectives and the acknowledgement that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for addressing concerns across Member States, all speakers and participants collectively agreed on the imperative need to protect and empower youth civil society for the continued vitality of democracies.