The second review of the implementation of the Enter! Recommendation is now available. The review takes stock of progress made since the Recommendation was adopted in 2015 and highlights the increasing relevance of young people’s access to social rights.
Adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2015, Recommendation CM/Rec(2015)3 on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights, commonly known as the Enter! Recommendation, is an important European youth policy standard promoting social inclusion and equal access to social rights.
The Recommendation recognises that young people living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods can face multiple and interconnected barriers to accessing their social rights and participating fully in society. It calls for policies and measures that address these barriers and place young people at the centre of efforts to promote social inclusion.
Ten years on: what has changed?
The second review of the implementation of the Enter! Recommendation, covering the period 2019–2025, takes stock of developments since the first review and explores the extent to which the Recommendation continues to respond to the realities facing young people today.
The review focuses in particular on three areas identified as priorities for further implementation: housing, mental health and youth participation. It combines evidence from public authorities and civil society organisations with desk research, expert consultations and discussions with young people and other stakeholders.
The findings show progress alongside persistent and significant challenges.
Housing emerges as the most severe and structurally entrenched implementation gap. Rising housing costs, shortages of affordable housing and the wider cost-of-living crisis have made access to independent and adequate housing increasingly difficult for many young people, particularly those facing multiple disadvantages.
Mental health has gained greater visibility in youth policy and public debate, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. However, access to appropriate and affordable support remains uneven. The review highlights the important role of youth work and civil society in prevention, awareness-raising and peer support, while pointing to the need for stronger links between youth services and health systems.
In the area of youth participation, participation opportunities and structures have expanded in many contexts. Yet the review also points to a persistent gap between being consulted and having genuine influence over decisions. Meaningful participation requires trust, sustained engagement and opportunities for young people to exercise real influence and, where appropriate, share decision-making power.
Across these three areas, the review identifies several cross-cutting challenges. The Enter! Recommendation remains insufficiently known among many of the actors who could use it. Responsibilities and services are often fragmented across policy sectors and levels of governance. Short-term and project-based funding can limit sustained action, while monitoring and the availability of sufficiently disaggregated data remain weak.
At the same time, the review documents promising practices from across Europe showing that change is possible. These include approaches that strengthen access to housing and prevention of homelessness, bring mental health support closer to young people, and create opportunities for young people to participate meaningfully in decisions affecting their lives.
The challenge ahead is therefore not simply to develop new solutions, but to strengthen, connect and scale approaches that already work, while creating the conditions for their sustained implementation.
From European standards to lived realities
The second review comes at a time when young people's access to social rights is increasingly affected by interconnected challenges, including housing insecurity, economic uncertainty, mental health concerns and social exclusion.
It also raises a broader question: what does it take to move from social rights as formal commitments to social rights as lived realities for young people?
The Enter! Recommendation provides a framework for addressing this question. Its implementation requires action at different levels – from European standards and national policies to local services, youth work and meaningful youth participation.
The review therefore looks not only at what has been achieved, but also at what different actors can do to strengthen implementation in the years ahead.
As a direct follow-up to the review findings, the Council of Europe, among other actions currently being prepared, will organise ACCESS! – Training Course for Local Action on Young People’s Social Rights in 2026. The training course will serve as a capacity-building and policy-support initiative aimed at strengthening the local implementation of the Recommendation through multi-stakeholder cooperation.
Launch at the Research Symposium on the Social Rights of Young People
The second review was officially presented and launched on 16 September 2026 during a dedicated panel discussion as part of the Research Symposium on the Social Rights of Young People, organised by the Council of Europe and the EU–Council of Europe Youth Partnership.
The panel brought together different perspectives on the relevance and implementation of the Recommendation, including through the participation of representatives of the European social rights Committee, youth organisations, research and public authorities.
The discussion explored why social rights protection matters for young people, what the second review tells us about implementation, how young people experience current social rights challenges, and what it means for public authorities to act as duty bearers for young people's social rights.
The panel also provided an opportunity to reflect on the findings of the review and to discuss the tensions and dilemmas that emerge when European commitments meet the realities of young people's lives.
The second review is now available in English and French.
Consult the 
