For an Inclusive, Sustainable and Secure Europe: Recommendations from Young Europeans

With the new European Commission about to begin its tenure, young Europeans are eager to advance a set of recommendations for the European Union they would like to see and live in. Their demands include: an EU united in values and democracy, a well-defined Europe from a geopolitical and geoeconomic perspective, a self-sustaining Europe that prioritises its environmental goals, a borderless Europe within, with strong but humane-centered external protections, a safe and secure Europe, an EU that has the capacity for greater numbers of members, an equal and equitable EU, a literate Europe focused on civic education and information space literacy.

During the two-year EUact2 project we directly engaged, connected and empowered more than 1580 EU citizens from 25 EU countries and beyond. We reached more than 316 000 people online. An emphasis was placed on translating the opinions, ideas and knowledge of young people into pragmatic recommendations directed at fostering a more inclusive, sustainable and secure Europe. This work took place through three primary activities:

• we engaged 215 young people in focus groups
• we connected with 68 young leaders in transnational reflection workshops
• we collected 559 interactions, through e-democracy crowdsourcing events

More than 35 recommendations were recorded in domains from Democracy, Citizen Engagement and Strategic Communication to Climate and Sustainability, Digital Transformation (and Democracy), Education and Youth and EU’s Global Role, Defence and Security.

Selected recommendations

Democracy, Citizen Engagement and Strategic Communication

• Sustain Inclusive Democratic Participation and Civic Engagement through implementing top-to-bottom, bottom-to-top and strategic communication efforts and adjustments
• Prepare for Electoral Reforms and Institutional Changes through revisiting and brining to discourse new forms and standards of voting and institutional structures

Climate and Sustainability

• Amplify Education and Awareness Measures through comprehensive formal and informal methods
• Concentrate on Social Solutions by including those who are most vulnerable and affected
• Improve Policymaking though recognizing complex interdependencies and by including scientists, those ‘on the ground’ as well as strengthening global cooperation networks

Digital Transformation (and Democracy)

• Bolster cybersecurity competences, member states’ information sharing and enforcement on European standards
• Concentrate efforts on the Just Digital Transition with equal accessibility standards and safeguards
• Enhance indirect forms of democracy through the careful use of advanced digital tools like AI
• Open up, rework and simplify online platforms
• Provide AI Guidelines and Promote the Use of AI in Everyday Life
• Reskill and Upskill the Labour Force and Reduce the Costs of Digital Transformation

Education and Youth

• Approach education from the angle of intersectionality to guarantee equal accessibility to education
• Reinvigorate processes towards institutionalizing European minimum standards for education, especially considering topics like human rights and civic education
• Focus on collaboration between the private sector/businesses and the education sector to better connect education with the needs of the market
• Support initiatives beyond formal education more extensively

EU’s Global Role, Defence and Security

• Improve foresight, crisis management competencies and internal cooperation for better preparedness and social resilience
• Deepen internal markets to achieve economic leverage and enhance EU external role and political influence
• Re-evaluate strategic partnerships by strengthening some and re-defining others to maximise security and prosperity for the EU
• Implement humane-centered internal migration policies, while providing meaningful incentives and deterrents in areas with high migratory potential
• Prioritise enlargement as a tool for tackling geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges
• Significantly bolster European defence industry by using the specific strengths of different member states, increase the density of joint procurement and production initiatives and invest in shared R&D and advanced technology
• Focus on constructive engagement and citizen diplomacy to expand influence (in a non-intrusive way)

Read the full recommendations report below.