Future

Young people have long been a focus of European institutions’ policies and campaigns. Since the 1980s, the institutions have run dedicated initiatives supporting innovation, training and mobility in education. To increase the appeal, many of them were named after eminent European cultural figures, such as the Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Comenius and Erasmus programmes.

The Socrates and Leonardo programmes, launched by the European Commission in the early 1990s, aimed to raise the quality of training systems and strengthen the European dimension of education at all levels. They built on the success of the long-running and successful Erasmus programme, first established in 1987 to support student exchanges across European universities. Erasmus+ currently combines the EU’s education, training, youth and sport schemes.

Beyond education, the EU’s youth policy has also addressed issues such as civic and democratic engagement, employment, gender equality, and inclusion. Moreover, youth associations and movements have been dynamic actors engaging with the idea of Europe since the beginning of the integration process. The EU’s effectiveness in getting young people on board with the European project has been - and will continue to be - decisive for its future in the years to come.

Jacopo Cellini