Youth mainstreaming, youth impact assessment and youth checks: an interview with one of our authors
The report “Youth mainstreaming, youth impact assessment and youth checks” has been recently published. Following up on the achievements of the Year of Youth, the report analyses youth mainstreaming practices in 33 European countries. We have asked Giulia Paolini, one of the report’s authors, to answer a few questions regarding the publication.
Could you please tell us what the paper is about and define the concept of youth mainstreaming?
The paper deals with youth mainstreaming, youth impact assessment and youth checks. Youth mainstreaming is a process that involves integrating a youth perspective in the formulation of policies in all fields that can have an impact on the lives of young people. In other words, policy initiatives in any field (for example social security, employment, healthcare) should be developed keeping the interests and needs of young people into consideration.
Youth impact assessment (or Regulatory Impact Assessment in the field of youth) is strictly linked to youth mainstreaming. Through mechanisms of youth impact assessment, policy makers evaluate the intended and unintended consequences of policy proposals on young people, thus ensuring the young people’s concerns are considered.
Youth checks are specific mechanisms of youth impact assessment. They have a specific methodology inscribed in formal procedures set in the policy making process.
The paper compares the youth checks existing in four EU member states (France, Germany, Austria and in the Flemish Community of Belgium). It aims at identifying similarities between the four systems that can be useful to design youth check in other contexts.
Where did the data you use in the paper come from?
We collected data through the Youth Wiki network. The Youth Wiki is an online platform that reports on youth policies in 34 European countries. It offers detailed descriptions of the strategies, regulations and programmes of each country, in ten fields of policies for young people (for example, social inclusion, volunteering, youth work). For the paper, the network provided qualitative data on mainstreaming approaches in all countries and on the functioning of the youth checks in the four countries where they exist. We also collected insight from interviews with representatives of national authorities in charge of conducting the youth checks.
What are the paper’s main findings?
Through the comparative analysis we were able to identify several characteristics that are common to all four systems. For example, all youth checks are rooted in evidence. They base the assessment of policies’ consequences on young people on data collected through surveys, reports and studies. This ensures a reliable and comprehensive evaluation of what a new policy would mean for young people. Another aspect that is common is the fact that youth checks mainly apply to draft legislation initiated by governments. Initiatives from parliaments are much less common. A final example is the fact that youth checks are not an instrument of youth participation: consultations with representatives of young people and youth stakeholders are not part of the formal process. By spotting these and several other characteristics of youth checks, we hope to provide a basis for peer learning among countries.
How is the Commission supporting youth mainstreaming?
Youth mainstreaming has been one of the priorities of the Commission for a long time – a Council resolution of 1999 already advocated for mainstreaming youth across all policy fields. More recently, the 2019-2027 EU Youth Strategy formally invites Member States and the Commission to adopt a mainstreaming approach to policy making. During the European Year of Youth in 2022, the debate on youth mainstreaming and the youth checks gained momentum. Our paper is indeed one of the 60 actions that the European Commission has established as legacy of the year. Nowadays, the Commission is piloting an EU-level youth check: policy initiatives in fields that might impact the lives of young people will undergo a formal procedure of youth impact assessment. This is quite remarkable!
What do you think is the future of these mechanisms, of the youth checks?
I think they will be increasingly adopted. Several European countries are setting the basis for youth checks, for example Italy, Malta and the Netherlands. We also know that there is a growing interest among regional and local administrations. This trend is very positive, not only to give more visibility to youth policy but also, ultimately, to foster the political awareness of young people: by seeing that their needs and voices are considered in public policy, they can find interest and motivation in participation and engagement.
Author: Anna Maria Volpe
In the picture: Frederic Fimeyer (Head of Department EACEA A: Erasmus +, European Solidarity Corps), Giulia Paolini (Analyst EACEA A6), Diana Antonello (Analyst EACEA A6), Peter Birch (Head of Sector EACEA A6.2: Studies and Analysis), Anna Maria Volpe (Information and Communication Adviser EACEA A6), Florence Mondin (Head of Unit EACEA A6: Platforms, Studies and Analysis)