Youth Policies within and beyond the AER

The participation of young people is important in all political life precisely because young people are affected by the decisions made by governments, whether at a regional or national level. Policy areas such as housing, the environment, transport and education, to name but a few, have a direct impact on the lives of young people just as much as those of adults.

The world of today is just as much the concern of young people as the world of tomorrow. To deny the young people of today an opportunity to participate in the governance of society is to deny them the right to effect that which happens around them. 

Towards the association of young people in public affairs

While the voice of young people has been ignored in the past, perhaps due to the fact that they can not directly effect the outcome of elections, there is a growing recognition of the role that young people have to play in the functioning of democracy. The AER’s moves towards the inclusion of young people in its work comes at a time when governments, both national and supranational, are attempting to include young people in their policy-making process. It seems that governments have realised that young people do have a not insignificant role to play. Not only do they have first hand experience of the way policy works on the ground but they also often have many innovative solutions to the problems that society faces, if only they were listened to.

Bringing together young people in the enlargement process

The AER is a unique platform for young people from the East and from the West to confront and exchange their views and to widen their horizons. They are thus contributing to breaking down barriers and struggling against intolerance, ignorance and mistrust even before they develop and become ingrained in adulthood. One of the first opportunities for them to meet has been the AER Youth Summer School organised since 2001.