What is the EU doing for young people ?
As our major annual event dedicated to young people – the Jacques Delors Conference – approaches, we are publishing an infographic on the European Union budget and young people : how does this budget support young people today? What changes could be made to the next long-term budget (2028–2034) ? What do young people expect from this budget ?
This publication provides a comprehensive overview of the measures taken to date, whilst highlighting future developments.
What impact does the EU budget have on young people ?
Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, the Youth Guarantee, support for young farmers… the EU budget shapes the daily lives of millions of young Europeans, often without them being fully aware of it.
The budget largely determines how the EU takes concrete action on behalf of young people, through several key programmes : Erasmus+, which has enabled more than 16.5 million people to travel, study and train across Europe since its launch ; DiscoverEU, which has given more than 470,000 young people the chance to explore the continent by train since 2018 ; the ESF+, the main instrument for implementing the Youth Guarantee to tackle unemployment ; and the CAP, which sets aside €8.5 billion for young farmers between 2023 and 2027, in a sector characterised by an ageing workforce.
The next multiannual financial framework (2028–2034) could radically reshape these schemes, notably through the proposed merger of Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, with a budget approximately 30 per cent higher than that of the two current programmes combined.
And what do young Europeans expect from this ? According to the latest Eurobarometer, 15–24-year-olds are the age group most convinced that the EU must have financial resources commensurate with its ambitions, with their own specific spending priorities.
Find out the full picture in the infographic !
Authors
- Fernandes Sofia Deputy Director of the Jacques Delors Institute
- Rubio Eulalia Senior Research Fellow, economic affairs
