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Review of the Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)7 on Young People’s Access to Rights : Article I.1. and Article I.2. : report : desk research and survey

The 2021 review of the Recommendation on the young people’s access to rights is focused on Art.I.1 (addressing discriminatory practices) and Art.I.2. (removing legal, administrative and practical obstacles to the right of young people to assemble peacefully and to freely form, join and be active in associations and trade unions). The review is coordinated by the Council of Europe in cooperation with the strategic partners, notably the European Youth Forum, and is undertaken respecting the Guidelines on the implementation of Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation on young people’s access to rights. This report is part of this complex process. It aims to better understand how the two Articles of the Recommendation have impacted on youth policy-making and on young people’s access to rights in member states (including in and through the activities of youth organizations and other stakeholders). The report is based on two pillars: desk research and an online survey distributed to the members of the Joint Council on Youth, collecting answers on the state-of-the-art, the needs and responses of the youth sector in respect to the youth access to rights. The desk research highlighted the important work carried out by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in promoting the Recommendation, notably through the Youth for Democracy programme and the grants of the European Youth Foundation. A considerable number of partners (NGOs, national youth policy authorities, local authorities) have taken ownership and contributed to its implementation. The report highlights the role of the activities in relation to: (i) fighting discrimination and promoting a rights-based youth policy making ; (ii) advancing the freedom of assembly on the policy agendas ; (iii) supporting organizations to navigate policy processes ; (iv) strengthening organisations’ advocacy roles. The report argues that the promotion of human rights education is the most important lever the Youth Department has in reaching the young people who are not part of organisations. It positively notes the efforts of the European Youth Foundation in supporting small youth organisations operating in adverse circumstances. The efforts in building the capacity of striving organisations were highly commended. At national levels, the implementation of the Recommendation is embedded in very complex, and hard to unpack policy environments. Youth access to rights is still unevenly distributed across the countries of the Council of Europe. The report suggests that, even though policies adopted by member states have a positive impact on young people, still, very few recent changes in the legislation can be attributed to CM/Rec(2016)7 or directly linked. Young people’s access to rights is rarely a stand-alone priority and often not explicitly outlined in the youth policies of Member States. Despite some indications that several member states used the Recommendation in drafting public policy documents and programmes, overall, the degree of engagement with the CM/Rec(2016)7 has been assessed as insufficient at national levels. The inadequacy of responses for the implementation of CM/Rec(2016)7 is accentuated by the insufficient translation to national languages and the insubstantial promotion among the relevant stakeholders. In many countries, the policy home for youth-related issues is volatile and frequently on the move. The capacity of state’s youth sector institutions is often under strain, with departments responsible for youth being merged, dissolved, relocated. This is a major limitation in implementing the CM/Rec(2016)7 and its further monitoring. Increased ownership is, thus, needed from public authorities to further the implementation of the Recommendation.

youth; access to rights; public policies

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