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DRAFT REPORT (2025/2115(INI)) 2026-02-02

On the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027

Committee on Culture and Education · Rapporteur: Sabrina Repp

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The draft report reviews how the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 has been implemented, focusing on 2022-2024 and the whole strategy period. It calls for a post-2027 youth strategy, updated European Youth Goals, stronger youth mainstreaming and a consistent 'youth check'. It asks for better youth participation and inclusion, especially for rural youth and those with fewer opportunities, and for a permanent EU Youth Dialogue secretariat with stronger feedback. It demands free, inclusive, high-quality education, action on teacher shortages, media literacy and citizenship education, and recognition of non-formal learning, volunteering and youth work. It calls for a legal framework banning unpaid internships, traineeships and apprenticeships, fair pay and social protection for young workers, and free mental healthcare for young people.

Committee position. The rapporteur proposes that Parliament welcome the achievements of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 but call for a post-2027 strategy with updated European Youth Goals, stronger youth mainstreaming, a consistent youth check, better youth participation and inclusion, and action on education, employment, mental health and volunteering.

Key points

  1. Welcomes the 2019-2027 EUYS as a coherent framework and stresses the need to keep a high-level, adaptable framework around Engage, Connect, Empower after 2027.
  2. Calls for a unified architecture linking the European Youth Goals, the EU Youth Dialogue, EU-funded programmes and youth work.
  3. Says the 11 European Youth Goals must be re-evaluated and updated, in co-creation with youth, civil society, researchers and academics.
  4. Calls on the Commission and Council presidencies to integrate emerging topics into the final EU Youth Dialogue cycles and to develop a monitoring and evaluation system for the post-2027 strategy.
  5. Urges the Commission to apply the 'youth check' transparently and consistently, appoint Youth Correspondents in every Directorate-General, and include it in the better regulation toolbox and communication.
  6. Calls for youth mainstreaming across all Parliament policy areas and committees, with input from young people in hearings, shadow meetings and missions.
  7. Calls on the Commission to systematically integrate Youth Policy Dialogues with Commissioners into policy actions rather than treat them as one-off events.
  8. Calls for specific measures to help rural youth overcome physical barriers and for equal living conditions for all young people across the Union.
  9. Calls on the Commission and Member States to propose a legal framework banning unpaid internships, traineeships and apprenticeships, and to ensure fair pay and social protection for young workers.
  10. Urges the Commission and Member States to guarantee free, timely and non-discriminatory mental healthcare for young people and youth-specific preparedness strategies for future crises.
  11. Calls on the Commission to align the post-2027 EUYS with new MFF programmes such as Erasmus+, AgoraEU, Horizon Europe and the European Social Fund Plus, and to ensure fair intergenerational budgeting for 2028-2034.
  12. Calls for free, inclusive, high-quality public education, more investment to address teacher shortages, stronger media literacy and citizenship education, and formal recognition of non-formal learning, volunteering and youth work.

Who is affected

  • Young people in the EU, especially rural youth, those with fewer opportunities and NEETs, who face barriers to participation, education and employment.
  • Member States, which are asked to improve education access, recognise youth work and volunteering, and address teacher shortages.
  • The European Commission, which is urged to implement the youth check consistently and align the post-2027 strategy with EU programmes.
  • Youth organisations and civil society, which are recognised as key actors but often under-resourced and facing unstable funding.
  • Young workers, who would be protected by a ban on unpaid internships, traineeships and apprenticeships.

Figures and deadlines

  • 73 million young EU citizens
  • 11 European Youth Goals
  • 92.1% of participants reported this was their first time engaging in EUYD
  • 28 Youth Policy Dialogues took place between 6 December 2024 and 10 March 2025
  • Youth Check applied to 12 initiatives from the 2025 Annual Work Programme
  • Cost of living (40%) and housing (23%) are top concerns among youth
  • Current ratio between spending for young people and old age is around 1:10

Legal basis: Articles 9, 165(4), 166(4) and 214(5) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

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