Opinion on the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027

6.5.2026

Ms Nela Riehl

Chair

Committee on Culture and Education

BRUSSELS

Subject: Opinion on the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027 (2025/2115(INI))

Dear Madam Chair,

Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Public Health has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee. At its meeting of 25 June 2025, the SANT Coordinators decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter. Therefore, as SANT Chair, allow me to provide you with SANT’s contribution, which was adopted by SANT at its meeting of 6 May 2026 and which I kindly request will be taken into account by your committee:

Citations

- Having regard to its resolution of 12 December 2023 on mental health (2023/2074(INI),

- Having regard to the Council Recommendation on vaccine-preventable cancers of 5 June 2024.

- Having regard to the conclusions of the Council and of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of 30 November 2023 on a comprehensive approach to the mental health of young people in the European Union,

- Having regard to the Communication from the Commission of 7 June 2023 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a comprehensive approach to mental health,

- Having regard to the Communication from the Commission of 3 February 2021 to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

Recitals

K. whereas mental health and wellbeing is ranked by young people as the most important priority among the European Youth Goals and that some Presidencies called for action, it has not been per se directly addressed in any cycle of the Council Trio Presidency, representing a critical gap in health policy mainstreaming, given the alarming reality that nearly half of young people in the EU report emotional or psychosocial problems requiring sustainable public health interventions, including those addressing social and environmental determinants of health, unhealthy lifestyles and inequalities in access to care;

K a (new) whereas the health of children and youth starts in the prenatal period; whereas being well supported is vital to ensure young people’s mental and financial well-being; whereas such support depends on many influences, such as access to healthcare, employment opportunities, education, family and social environment;

K b (new) whereas children, adolescents and young adults are increasingly exposed to pressure and high expectations from society and are impacted by anxiety stemming from global threats, such as the pandemics, the climate crisis, conflicts, including the war in Ukraine, uncertainty over the cost of living and the lack of affordable housing, and other factors that contribute to nearly half of young people in the EU reporting emotional or psychosocial problems, further exacerbated by growing socio-economic inequalities and disparities between countries, urban vs rural areas, and socio-economic groups, underscoring the importance of targeted interventions for vulnerable groups, including low-income youth, migrants, and rural population;

K c (new) whereas there is a strong link between poor mental health and bullying, including cyberbullying, with harmful additional consequences, resulting in higher stress, anxiety and other negative mental health symptoms in children, adolescents and young people, with damaging consequences in adulthood, underscoring the urgent need for comprehensive, cross-sectoral preventative measures and accessible psychosocial support in line with European Youth Goal 5;

K d (new) whereas environmental and pollution-related risks, including poor air quality, climate change, noise, and limited access to green spaces, have a measurable negative impact on children’s, adolescents’ and young adults’ physical and mental health, highlighting the importance of cross-sectoral EU action to reduce exposure to environmental hazards and promote healthy living environments;

K e (new) whereas cancer remains one of the leading causes of death among children and adolescents in the Union; whereas paediatric cancers differ significantly from adult cancers in their biology, prevalence and treatment, requiring specific research and tailored therapeutic approaches;

K f (new) whereas rare diseases affect millions of people across the Union, and a significant proportion of them are children, given that many rare diseases are of genetic origin and manifest in early life; whereas disparities in diagnosis, treatment and access to innovative therapies persist across Member States;

K g (new) whereas the use of digital technology such as mobile applications and social media networks, especially in excess, often driven by their special vulnerability to addictive designs and dark patterns, negatively impacts the mental health of children and adolescents; whereas social media use is reshaping young people’s brains; whereas compulsive and extensive use of social media mimics addiction, triggering dopamine responses and weakening self-control; whereas in younger children, excessive screen time delays emotional and language development; whereas the use of social media and digital networks and exposure to cyberbullying, pornography, sexualised and violent imagery and gaming, anonymous trolling, content featuring diet restrictions and unattainable/unhealthy beauty standards can have negative mental health consequences, especially in children, adolescents and young people, underscoring the need for age-appropriate awareness campaigns on online addiction and robust protections like the Better Internet for Kids (BIK+) strategy; whereas cyberbullying victims are at higher risk of depression and suicidal ideation, requiring comprehensive EU-wide action plans against cyberbullying and sustainable psychosocial support; whereas new technological developments such as AI have an impact on mental health of children; whereas young people are vulnerable to creating relationships with AI companions that negatively affect their wellbeing;

K h (new) whereas in 2024, 16.3% of people aged 16-29 years reported that they suffered from a long-standing health problem due to chronic illness;

K i (new) whereas there is a growing epidemic of young people initiating nicotine use through novel tobacco and nicotine products, which often leads to subsequent use of traditional tobacco products; whereas poor diet, low levels of physical activity, excessive screen time, and early initiation of use of alcohol, tobacco, vaping constitute major health risks for children and adolescents, with long-term consequences for both mental and physical health, highlighting the need for targeted preventive measures, including healthy school meals, mandatory physical activity in schools, health literacy campaigns, regulation of junk food marketing targeting youth, and access to affordable, youth-friendly services;

K j (new) whereas families, education systems, peer networks and public institutions play a decisive role in providing emotional stability, socialisation, solidarity between generations and an environment of care and protection for children and adolescents; whereas strong and stable domestic environments are important factors for the mental well-being of young people and can contribute significantly to reducing loneliness, anxiety and other mental health difficulties; whereas Member States should therefore be able to develop and strengthen policies that broadly support young people;

K k (new) whereas youth loneliness has been an overlooked crisis with long term consequences for mental health and health in general but also with a big impact on education, employment and their future;

K l (new) whereas mental health is also a reflection of the external environment and systematic inequalities create psychological burdens that need specific approaches and tools to dismantle the root of those inequalities, namely racism, gender bias, classism, taking into account that a true well-being can only be achieved within a framework of protection and respect of the right to choose, right to identity and to live free from any form of violence or discrimination;

K m (new) whereas body autonomy, access to contraception and to sexual education and fundamental rights are essential and the denial of these as well as the denial of scientifically accurate and non-judgemental information about contraception and consent are also a source of trauma and anxiety;

Paragraphs

22. Observes with concern the growing difficulties and challenging environment that children, adolescents and young adults face because of the COVID-19 pandemic, excessive use of social media, the energy crisis, war and conflict, economic instability and competitiveness on the labour market, environmental hazards including air pollution and climate change, difficulty accessing affordable housing, which 38% of surveyed youth identify as the top sector requiring EU investment; stresses, in this regard, the importance of taking account of the exposome and of the cumulative impact of social various determinants of health, on young people’s health and mental wellbeing; is alarmed by the high number of young Europeans aged 10-19 diagnosed with a mental health condition and by the fact that suicide rates in this group are particularly high, especially among male adolescents; acknowledges the growing risk to leave a lasting impact on the younger generation’s mental health and their societal expectations, highlighting the need for future EU youth strategies and sustainable public health interventions to directly address these emerging cross-cutting issues; highlights the impact of unhealthy lifestyles, including poor diet, low physical activity, substance use and excessive screen time, which disproportionately affect vulnerable groups;

22 a (new) Recognises particularly the deep and lasting impact that the COVID-19 pandemic as well as of broader societal changes, including increased exposure to digital and social media environments, excessive screen time and related online pressures has had on mental health, worsening existing conditions and increasing their prevalence, with a disproportionate impact on children, adolescents and young adults, whose mental well-being significantly declined as the number of young people reporting bad or very bad health more than doubled between 2020 and 2022, underscoring the urgent need for sustainable public health interventions, preventive health measures, mandatory school-based physical activity, healthy school meals, cross-sectoral youth mental health mainstreaming, and targeted support for vulnerable groups;

22 b (new) Urges the Commission to shift the focus from before COVID-19 back to protecting (mental) health of youth online by addressing their special vulnerability to addictive designs and dark patterns in virtual environments, hate speech, fake news and fake information, namely related to practices that are harmful to their health and well-being, and reducing online addiction, cyber sickness, compulsive spending and screen-time related health risks and disturbances in sleep patterns; highlights the need to implement age-appropriate awareness campaigns on the effects of excessive social media use and digital health literacy initiatives across the EU that also target parents, caregivers and teachers;

22 c (new) Stresses the need for youth mental health support, including prevention mechanisms and early intervention for youth exposed to cyberbullying and harmful content online, such as school support systems alongside EU-funded awareness initiatives for parents, caregivers, and teachers and integration of social media literacy together with health, digital, media and AI literacy into school education systems, to reduce the risks of self-harm, counteract promotion of harmful substances and potential suicide attempts, efforts that should be closely aligned with the Commission's forthcoming action plan against cyberbullying and the planned EU-wide inquiry on social media's impact on youth mental wellbeing;

22 d (new) Stresses the importance of protecting children, adolescents and young adults’ mental health and the significance of early detection and intervention, as well the accessibility and affordability of children’ and young people’s mental health services, with particular attention to socio-economic and geographic inequalities, particularly in the school and family environment, as this largely determines personal development in adulthood, an objective that can be advanced by actively leveraging the Technical Support Instrument’s 2024 flagship initiative to improve psychosocial support and implementing the Commission's four dedicated flagship initiatives addressing children's and young people's mental health; calls on Member States and the EU to invest in training teachers and care givers in better detecting mental health condition among children and adolescents;

22 e (new) Highlights the importance of childhood support systems in schools and outside schools, including via cultural organisations, youth organisations and sports clubs, which create inclusive spaces for youth expression, provide access to trusted adults outside the family unit, and offer non-formal learning opportunities that equip young people with valuable soft skills and civic competencies often missing from formal education; reiterates the need to implement EU-wide psychosocial approach to mental health based on human rights and recovery, with a strong focus on young people;

22 f (new) Underlines in this regard the beneficial role of physical activity, movement, play, as well as artistic, performative and cultural activities in driving and raising awareness for positive mental and physical health, especially in children, adolescents and young adults, while also serving as a vital vehicle for inclusion, solidarity, and social cohesion, which requires Member States to adequately fund local sports and leisure activities as well as cultural and artistic activities, to ensure these developmental benefits reach young people with fewer opportunities;

22 g (new) Calls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise mental health and well-being among children and young people by recognising mental health, physical health, lifestyle-related risks, substance use, environmental exposure, and health inequalities as major concerns, and to adopt preventive, cross-sectoral measures integrating education, health, digital and environmental policies in order to promote sustainable youth health; recognises mental health conditions as one of the most significant health concerns for this demographic group, an urgency underscored by the 11th cycle of the EU Youth Dialogue where 73% of young participants ranked it as their most important issue, which necessitates stronger cross-sectoral mainstreaming to overcome current institutional gaps, such as the absence of a dedicated youth correspondent within the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety; calls also for targeted public health action to reduce inequalities and ensure that no young person is left behind;

22 h (new) Invites the Member States to facilitate young people’s access to mental health support such as psychosocial counselling and therapy without administrative burdens, ensuring that increased post-pandemic awareness translates into permanent structural reforms rather than temporary, ad hoc community projects; recommends that the Member States ensure that students have direct access to psychological help when they seek it, including through free or affordable psychotherapy and counselling services where needed, drawing on successful regional models such as the introduction of dedicated School Psychology Services alongside integrated health-prevention packages; acknowledges the potential additional mental health challenges that can occur for students while taking part in exchange programmes and calls on the EU and the Member States to provide adequate support, including in the Erasmus+ Programme;

22 i (new) Notes that public health has surged to become the joint-second highest priority for young Europeans in 2025, with 27% calling for targeted EU investment in health and healthcare access; urges the Commission and Member States, therefore, to adopt a comprehensive public health approach that complements psychosocial support with robust preventative measures addressing unhealthy diets, low physical activity, substance use, screen-time overuse, and environmental health risks;

22 j (new) Expresses concern about the increasing uptake of tobacco and novel nicotine products among young people, which risks reversing progress in tobacco control and creating new patterns of addiction; highlights the urgent need to prevent a new generation of nicotine-dependent children and adolescents, including through strengthened controls on youth-appealing product features and digital marketing practices, specifically by advancing youth-driven demands for stricter rules on tobacco while putting in place awareness campaigns on the health impacts of tobacco and novel tobacco and nicotine products, action to prevent alcohol consumption and other addictive behaviours among minors and youth, and measures focused on prevention, health literacy and awareness-raising, as well as diabetes and obesity prevention and targeted support for young patients under Europe's Beating Cancer Plan; stresses the need for future EU youth strategies and sustainable public health interventions addressing both mental and physical health , as well as preventive measures integrated across sectors - “Health in All Policies”;

22 k (new) Underlines that, despite the objective of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan to vaccinate at least 90% of the EU target population of girls (by the age of 15) and to significantly increase HPV vaccination among boys by 2030, disparities in vaccination coverage between Member States persist, with some areas reporting full vaccination rates below 50%;

22 l (new) Highlights in particular the need to strengthen action on paediatric cancers, by improving early diagnosis, access to specialised cross-border care, and long-term follow-up for childhood cancer survivors; calls for increased research funding and enhanced, coordinated EU-wide data sharing on paediatric cancers, including on contributing factors such as environmental exposures; further urges the Commission and the Member States to step up efforts on rare diseases predominantly affecting children, by supporting early screening, accelerating access to innovative therapies, and reinforcing European Reference Networks to ensure equitable care across all Member States;

22 m (new) Stresses that youth health measures must pay particular attention to young people in vulnerable situations, including LGBTQI+ youth, young people with disabilities, young migrants and refugees, and those affected by poverty or discrimination, as they often face greater barriers to healthcare, prevention and psychosocial support; calls, therefore, for inclusive and targeted public health action to reduce inequalities and ensure that no young person is left behind including by ensuring universal access to high-quality healthcare for all young people;

22 n (new) Stresses the need to include on all the mental health policies the psychological impacts of gender based discrimination, systematic racism and social economic inequality;

23. deleted

Thank you very much for taking the SANT opinion into account.

Yours sincerely,

Adam Jarubas

ANNEX: DECLARATION OF INPUT

The Chair declares under his exclusive responsibility that he did not include in his opinion input from interest representatives falling within the scope of the Interinstitutional Agreement on a mandatory transparency register, or from representatives of public authorities of third countries, including their diplomatic missions and embassies, to be listed in this Annex pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure.