What happened at the Conference?
 

Ministers responsible for youth assessed developments since the last conference in view of the Reykjavík Declaration and agreed the main orientations for European youth policy in the years to come. This Conference presented a key opportunity to renew commitments, exchange best practices, and advance concrete actions to strengthen the resilience of our democracies through enhanced youth participation – in particular by including young people’s perspectives in policymaking.

Furthermore, it provided a unique platform to assess developments in the youth field and provide orientation for European youth policy and the Council of Europe’s youth sector. To achieve this, the Conference brought young people and policymakers together, to foster meaningful dialogue and decisions that will lead to effective results.

 What were the objectives of the Conference?

• Emphasise the Council of Europe's key role as a youth policy actor within the architecture of international organisations and European institutions.
• Provide a strategic vision for the future work of the Council of Europe youth sector building on the Reykjavík Declaration.
• Strengthen youth perspectives in policy development to ensure that young people and their organisations and networks can be agents in shaping their futures at all levels in Europe and promote innovative approaches to youth participation in democratic and civic spaces, based on the Reykjavík Principles for Democracy and the New Democratic Pact for Europe.
• Support policymakers with the tools to develop inclusive, youth-centred policies and youth work strategies at local, regional, national, European, and global levels, including through intergovernmental cooperation within the Council of Europe.
• Reaffirm the Council of Europe’s support for Ukraine in the field of youth as a priority for the Organisation, through specific intergovernmental activities and cooperation with non-governmental youth organisations and networks fostering young people’s participation in democratic life and the recovery of Ukraine, including through youth policy and youth work development.

 Outcomes

The 10^th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers responsible for Youth was expected:

• to adopt a final declaration “Young People for Democracy: Youth Perspectives in Action”
• to commit to the Council of Europe Reference Framework on a Youth Perspective as a guiding document for policy advancement within the Council of Europe and its member States
• to endorse the conclusions of the 4^th European Youth Work Convention, held in Valletta, Malta on 27-29 May 2025
• to welcome progress in the process towards the adoption of the Charter on the participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life