Factsheets

The National Youth Strategy 2022-2029 (SKR) aims to “increase and improve opportunities, services and support for young people and in cooperation with young people in Albania.” The strategy has three main policy goals, which are then accompanied by more specific targets.

The National Plan for Andorran Youth (PNJA) was published in 2008, but it has not been renewed nor updated since. The status and term of the PNJA is unknown.

The Austrian Youth Strategy aims to strengthen and develop youth policy across sectors. In September 2020, the federal government renewed its commitment to the strategy in its Government Programme 2020-2024. The youth strategy is described not as a static document, but rather an ever-developing process that involves all federal ministries.

The Law on the Foundations of the State Youth Policy (2009) describes the actors, objectives and direction for youth policy, as well as how it should be implemented, regulated, and financed. The Strategy for the Development of the State Youth Policy until 2030 sets out the long-term national goals and priorities in the youth sector, which are structured within 12 strategic priority areas.

Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities (the Flemish Community, the French Community and the German-speaking Community) and three regions (the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region, and the Brussels Capital Region). There is no hierarchy between the federal, the community, and the regional levels, which is a unique characteristic of Belgian federalism.

Since youth policy falls under the responsibility of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH), the Republika Srpska (RS), and the District of Brčko (BD) separately, each entity has its own youth law: the FBiH Law About the Youth of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2010), the RS Law on Youth Organisation (2004), and the BD Law About the Young People of the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2017).

The Bulgarian Youth Law (2012) “defines the basic principles, management and financing of the activities carried out in pursuance of the state policy on youth.” Besides youth policy, it covers youth activities, youth organisations, youth work and volunteering. The law was last amended in February 2022.

The National Youth Programme for the Period from 2014 to 2017 is the most recent youth policy in Croatia. In 2017, a national working group was established to draft a new youth programme. However, after a public e-consultation held in January 2020, the draft programme was not adopted.

The Czech Republic currently has no national youth policy. However, in December 2022 the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports decided to develop a new strategy in the course of 2023 after pressure from the Czech Council of Children and Youth.

The Danish government does not have an overarching national youth policy in place. Instead, each sector has its own responsibilities regarding measures for youth and addresses these within its own relevant policies.

Estonia takes a comprehensive and integrated approach to youth policy. The Estonian youth policy is based on the Youth Work Act (2010), which has been revised eight times since its adoption, and the Youth Sector Development Plan 2021-2035

Finland’s national Youth Act (2017) sets the goal of promoting social inclusion of young people and providing them with opportunities to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to become active members of society. Its main purpose is to establish the responsibilities of central and local government and state funding.

France’s youth strategy is embodied in the cross-cutting Youth Policy Plan (2022). The plan has five main axes that promote: the personal development of young people; education, guidance and training; employment and professional integration; the fight against inequalities in the path to autonomy; improving living conditions.

Youth legislation is shaped by Germany’s Social Code - Book VIII, which deals specifically with child and youth welfare services, and more recently by the 2011 Youth Protection Act. In 2019, the Federal Cabinet adopted the Youth Strategy of Germany. The youth strategy contains 163 measures that relate to nine fields of action relevant to youth.

The Strategic Plan for Vocational Education, Training, Lifelong Learning and Youth 2022-2024, issued by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs (MoE) in January 2022, outlines the basic principles of the policy strategy for youth. It covers policies based on the current needs and interests of young people according to international and European standards and aims to “secure active participation of youth in policy making”.

The National Youth Strategy 2009-2024 provides long term direction for the improvement of living conditions for youth and helps stakeholders in the field plan, organise and implement measures related to youth.

Iceland does not have a national youth policy, leaving most responsibility to its municipalities. The Youth Act (2007) focuses mainly on youth participation in youth activities and in politics. According to the act, organised activities should consider social, preventive, pedagogic and educational values; foster initiative and active participation; and focus on young people’s well-being.

The latest youth policy in Ireland is the National Youth Strategy (2015-2020). The strategy is based on Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures - National Policy Framework for Children & Young People (2014-2020).

Youth policies in Italy are based on a bottom-up approach, a distinct feature of Italian youth legislation. Currently, 17 of the 20 Italian regions have adopted youth laws. In addition, the development of a national framework law on youth is under discussion.

The Strategy for Youth 2019-2023 is a comprehensive strategy of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) with three strategic objectives: mobilising youth for participation, representation, and active citizenship; providing skills and preparing youth for the labour market; a healthy and safe environment for young people.

The Youth Policy Implementation Plan 2021-2023 (draft) serves as a medium-term policy planning document for the implementation of the Youth Policy Guidelines 2021-2027 (draft) for the next three years. The aim of this plan is to ensure the coordination and development of youth work in Latvia with information, methodological and financial support in order to improve the life of young people and help them become independent, responsible members of society.

Youth policy falls under the responsibility of the Ministry of Society and Culture. The Children and Youth Service, situated within the ministry, promotes youth work, youth protection and the rights of children, among other tasks. It is part of the larger Office of Social Services, which the Children and Youth Act (2008) names as the country’s youth authority.

The National Youth Policy Action Plan (2022) identifies the main problems to be addressed regarding youth: social security, lack of interest in social activities, underdeveloped youth work and youth employment infrastructure, lack of participation in youth work organisations, and insufficient cooperation between the public, private, and non-governmental sectors.

There is a strong political commitment to evidence-based youth policy in Luxembourg. The scientific research providing orientation for youth policy is made available to the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth through its collaboration with the Centre for Childhood and Youth Research (CCY) at the University of Luxembourg.

The National Youth Policy  2021-2030 sets out two main objectives: to effectively support and encourage young individuals in fulfilling their potential and aspirations while addressing their needs and concerns; and to effectively support young people as active and responsible citizens who fully participate in and contribute to the social, economic, political and cultural life of the nation and Europe.

The Law on Youth (2016), last amended in 2022, “regulates the principles and objectives of youth policies, the areas of state intervention in the field of youth, as well as the requirements for actors of youth policies.”

No overarching national youth policy or strategy on youth exists in Monaco. Youth are primarily supported through family, quality sports facilities, cultural activities, and education-oriented policies.

The National Youth Strategy (2017-2021) of Montenegro was implemented in 2016 as a re-evaluation of the former National Youth Action Plan (NYAP) (2006-2011). The Youth Strategy aims to achieve six key objectives and positions young people not only as subjects of youth policy, but also as actors responsible for its planning, realisation, monitoring, and evaluation.”

Since youth policy is organised on a municipal level, currently there is no national youth policy - each municipality bases its local youth policy on what is needed and available at the local level. However, on 06 June 2023, the House of Representatives unanimously approved a motion by the Christian Democrats which calls on the government to come up with an integrated youth strategy. It is unclear what impact the November 2023 election results will have on this issue.

The Agency for Youth and Sport (AYS) is responsible for the interests and needs of youth and the implementation of the National Youth Strategy (2016-2025). The Youth Sector is divided into the Department of Youth Policy and Training, and the Department for International Cooperation. The current head of the Youth Sector is Gordana Cekova.

Norway’s youth policy is made up of various policy documents from different sectors, targeting different aspects of the lives of young people. While the Ministry of Children and Families is responsible for overall youth policy, a number of other ministries also have strategies and measures regarding youth affairs and cooperate on such issues.

Poland currently has no national youth policy. According to the Government Plenipotentiary for Youth Policy, the Polish government is in the process of developing a new national “Strategy for the Young Generation.” In 2021 and 2022, consultations about the strategy’s content were held with young people throughout the country. No draft document is available yet.

The II National Plan for Youth 2022-2024 (II PNJ) was approved on 11 August 2022, and succeeds and builds upon the I National Plan for Youth 2018-2021 (I PNJ). The II PNJ is the political instrument for intersectoral coordination of youth policy in Portugal and aims to reinforce the realisation of the rights of young people and promote their emancipation and personal development, both economically and socially.

In 2018, a new draft youth law (no. 716/2018) passed the Senate stage. While it has not been fully adopted to date, the government lists the law’s approval as a goal in its Programme for 2021-2024. Currently, the 2006 youth law (no. 350/2006) therefore remains the authoritative legal framework for youth policy.

The Federal Law on Youth Policy in the Russian Federation (2020) “regulates the relations arising between the subjects carrying out activities in the field of youth policy in the formation and implementation of youth policy” (Article 1). Furthermore, this law defines the goals, principles, basic directions, and forms of implementation of youth policy.

The National Youth Law (2007) established the Commission for Youth Policies and the National Youth Forum in San Marino. Although the Youth Law’s purpose is to promote the development of “policies aimed at favouring the full and free development of the personality of young people”, there is no information regarding an existing national youth policy.

A new Youth Strategy for the Period from 2023 to 2030 was adopted with the vision to empower young people as active and equal participants in all areas of social life. It stipulates six principles for working with and for young people, as well as one general goal, “to improve the quality of life of young people”, which is underpinned by five specific goals.

The Slovak Republic Youth Strategy 2021-2028 is the overarching policy document currently steering youth policy in Slovakia. The strategy highlights that more than 300 stakeholders from all over the country were involved in the two-year consultation process for its preparation.

The National Programme for Youth 2013-2022 is the thematic guide to youth policies and programmes in Slovenia, and identifies six key areas for youth policy.

The Youth Strategy 2030, approved on 17 May 2022 by the Council of Ministers, is the current framework upon which youth policy in Spain is based. It was developed by the Institute for Youth (INJUVE) under the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030. The strategy is to be implemented through three triennial action plans: 2022-2024, 2025-2027, and 2028-2030.

In the Youth Policy Letter (2020/21), the government reports on youth issues related to health, education, work, crime and exposure to crime, housing, leisure, sports and cultural activities. The letter also contains an Action Programme (2021-2024), which presents four new priorities for youth policy.

According to the report on Childhood and Youth Policy in Switzerland (2016), child and youth policy is characterised by the distribution of tasks between the confederation, cantons, and municipalities, with the confederation playing only a supporting role. At the confederation level the Federal Social Insurance Office (OFAS) is the main body responsible for the child and youth sector, dealing with children’s rights, protection of children and young people, extracurricular activities, and child and youth policy.

The National Youth Strategy until 2030, adopted by Decree of the President in March 2021, aims “to create opportunities for young people living in Ukraine to be competitive, to participate in the life of society, to consciously contribute to its further development.” Priorities of the strategy include the safety, health, and integration of young people.

The British Youth Council (BYC) is an umbrella organisation made up of over 200 national and local youth organisations, which supports young people “to influence and inform decisions that affect their lives.” Member organisations elect an annual board of young trustees (aged 16 to 25) which guide all policy and strategic decisions.