Today, during the S&D event ‘Empowering Youth in the Online and Offline World’, the S&D Group reaffirmed its commitment to building a Europe where young people are equal partners in shaping the policies that affect their lives.
The event featured speeches from youth representatives, group president Iratxe García, S&D MEPs Sandro Ruotolo, Sabrina Repp, Hannes Heide, Ana Catarina Mendes, and EU Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport, Glenn Micallef.
MEPs emphasised that policies must be made with young people, not simply about them, and called for youth mainstreaming to become a core element of all EU policymaking across digital policy, climate, employment, education, mobility, and beyond.
At the event, the S&D Group outlined several concrete actions to ensure young people’s voices are systematically embedded in EU policymaking, including:
- Establishing a systematic, standardised Youth Test for every new EU proposal.
- Broadening youth representation beyond National Youth Councils to include grassroots movements, NGOs, political youth organisations, and international networks.
- Ensuring the Youth Advisory Board of European Commission President von der Leyen has real influence, transparency and follow-up mechanisms.
- Strengthening participation at the local level, particularly in rural and remote areas, through sustainable funding for youth organisations.
- Enhancing online resilience, media literacy, civic and citizenship education, and safe digital spaces for all young people — especially those from marginalised groups.
- Ensuring quality traineeships, with ambitious EU-wide standards on pay, duration, social protection and equal treatment.
- Securing broader and more coherent funding for youth, including synergies between Erasmus+, cohesion funds, development funds and solidarity instruments.
Ana Catarina Mendes, S&D vice-president, said:
“As Socialists and Democrats, we must be clear: empowering young Europeans is not a slogan – it is a political priority. Youth mainstreaming must therefore be an integral part of all policymaking. Youth participation is not a consultation exercise; it is co-creation, and it must become the norm in Europe. Their recommendations must not only be heard – they must meaningfully shape the decisions we take at EU level.”
Hannes Heide, S&D coordinator for CULT committee, said:
“Europe cannot afford to treat youth policy as a side project. From climate to digital rights to economic security, young people feel the impact of every major political decision. This is why we are pushing for a Youth Test and a full mapping of youth involvement across EU institutions — to turn words into real, accountable action. We, the S&Ds, commit to making our policies with young people and not only about them.”
Watch the video here .
