On 5 and 6 June 2023, the CDEJ and CCJ Bureaux held their joint meeting in the European Youth Centre in Budapest. Their deliberations centred around three important issues for the youth sector in the upcoming months, indeed years: the conclusions of the 4th Summit; the programme, budget and terms of reference for 2024-27; and the renewal of the Advisory Council on Youth.

Regarding the 4th Summit (Reykjavik 16-17 May 2023) and the Heads of State and Government’s commitment to “include a youth perspective in the Organisation’s intergovernmental and other deliberations”, the Bureaux welcomed the recognition that “youth participation in decision-making processes improves the effectiveness of public policies and strengthens democratic institutions”. They discussed the implications for the youth sector of this commitment and decided to set up a small group to prepare proposals, to be presented to the 49th CMJ meeting in October 2023.

The Bureaux reviewed the proposed deliverables for the next budgetary period of the youth sector’s statutory committees to ensure they reflected the priorities, and were updated on ongoing discussions about the programme and budget which would reflect the contents of the Summit Declaration.

Following the election, by the European Youth Forum, of 20 of the new Advisory Council members, and the open call for 10 candidates to be designated by the Secretary General, the Bureaux were informed that the Secretary General would present her proposals to the Committee of Ministers for designation after the summer.

The Bureaux also approved the draft agenda of the 49th meeting of the Joint Council on Youth, which would include a thematic debate on the review process of Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)7 on access to rights.