Gatherings are crucial for an international group like ours. Not only are they the best way to connect with each other, they also provide the best opportunity to learn new skills together.
At our latest meeting in North Macedonia, we spent some time formulating our position on EU-wide policy. We selected three policy areas that we believe are the most relevant to us and to young people all over Europe, and we applied the European Youth Forum’s Youth Test methodology to them. Read this blog to find out what that means and what we discovered.
What is the Youth Test?
It is an impact assessment tool that ensures young people are considered when the EU decides on new policies and laws.
On 10 January 2024, the European Commission promised to implement a “Youth Check”. This is intended to ensure that, when designing new policies, the EU considers how they will affect young people. You can find out more about the Youth Checks and Tests here. If you are interested in how EU legislation works in general, check out our crash course on “How EU policy is made”.
What did we do?
After holding a series of online webinars ahead of the meeting, we ran an in-depth workshop on how to conduct a Youth Test. We then applied what we had learnt to assess three policy areas: housing, traineeships, and the EU Omnibus process/deregulation. Please find a short summary of the groups findings below.
Housing
We all know that a home is more than just an asset. It means shelter and independence and it’s getting more and more hard to secure, especially for young people who are just starting their independent life.
As for the policy itself: in general, it is great that the legislation is available but it could be made more straight forward and accessible, and should involve all 34 candidate countries. Wider access to student housing would also be a significant step forward in helping those with the fewest resources to have a home.
EU rules on traineeships
At the start of their careers, everyone faces the classic Catch-22 situation of not being able to find a job without experience, but not being able to gain experience without a job. This is what makes traineeships so essential for young people.
The group working on the proposed directive on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees found: all Member States set their own legal frameworks, and 16 countries lack a legal definition of a traineeship. Existing EU guidance is neither binding nor does it clearly distinguish traineeships from ordinary work or address payment. A common EU framework could significantly improve protection and working conditions.
The group also recommended closer scrutiny of who was heard, how the proposal may affect the most vulnerable, and how to prevent young people from being excluded from its protections.
Youth participation in the CSDDD and Omnibus process
CSDDD stands for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. It is an EU-wide legislation that aims to define and regulate the environmental and social responsibilities of EU companies. The Omnibus processes are a current wave of deregulation, through which the European Commission is delaying and cancelling environmental regulation in order to cater to the needs of industry rather than the people. You can learn more about our position on the Omnibus processes and deregulation here, or get involved in our related work by joining our thematic working group.
This group called for youth checks to apply to Omnibus proposals and to policy beyond areas formally labelled “youth policy.” The Omnibus process began in 2024, before the first youth check was applied in 2025. The group’s concern was that young people were therefore not included through this process, even though later Omnibus proposals will also affect their future. They call for youth checks to be expanded and applied to the Omnibus process.
If you are interested in our work on any of these topics, make sure to check out our working groups and how you can join us. We are always happy for the newcomers.
