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Haubner on meeting of Youth Ministers: treat young people as social partners

"We must ensure what is happening in France does not happen again", Sigisbert Dolinschek, the State Secretary for Social Affairs, said on Tuesday in the run-up to the Youth Ministers Informal and in light of the continuing protests with which young people in France are resisting the planned labour market reform. The Minister, Ursula Haubner, spelt out what she thinks should be done: "We must treat young people as social partners".

Haubner said young people must be involved in the political process and the "stakeholders treated as partners" – the EU Youth Ministers Informal in Bad Ischl on Wednesday and Thursday intends to lead by example. Around 100 youth delegates from the EU countries will join the ministers in working groups to discuss the three priority themes of unemployment, informal learning and integration.

The "Bad Ischl conclusions" will be presented to the formal Council meeting in May, also as a "signal to young people that their voice is being heard and being taken seriously", Haubner said. She is thus picking up on a demand from the chair of the Austrian youth association, Anja Fellerer, who spoke out in favour of increased participation rights for the more than 75 million young people in the EU.

Also on the agenda are EU-wide comparability and greater recognition of informal learning and voluntary work. Comparability could be achieved by recording certain additional qualifications in the Europass, for example: anyone who acquires skills such as teamworking and leadership in future through activities with the scouts or voluntary fire service should be able to have this recorded in the Europass and thereby improve their prospects on the European labour market”, Haubner said. She does not consider it likely that there will still be time to implement this during the Austrian Presidency, however.

At a briefing session in Vienna, Haubner, a native of Upper Austria, also commented on the choice of venue for the ministerial meeting: with its mix of tradition and future, Bad Ischl was an interesting location. Her choice was also motivated by a desire to contribute to raising the profile of the rural community, where young people in particular often suffer from “sub-optimal mobility". A survey of young people in Bad Ischl had also shown that there was a need for more information work concerning the EU. Local youngsters would therefore also be involved in the meeting programme in the coming days, she said.