The Bureaux of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) held their first meetings of the year in the European Youth Centre Strasbourg on 16 and 17 January 2023.

High on the agenda of their joint meeting, the Bureaux were informed about the priorities of the Icelandic presidency of the Committee of Ministers by Sandra Lyngdorf, Deputy to the Permanent Representative of Iceland to the Council of Europe.  Iceland’s is the tenth presidency in a row to put youth amongst its priorities.  Iceland lays great store by youth participation in decision-making processes, so much so that it has invited the Advisory Council on Youth to contribute its vision for the Council of Europe in the future as part of the preparations for the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Reykjavik on 16 and 17 May 2023.

The Bureaux also discussed the projects that will be implemented in 2023 in accordance with the Joint Council on Youth (CMJ) terms of reference and was informed about the timeline for the call for applications for the Advisory Council on Youth 2024-25 term of office, to be launched in the spring.

The Bureaux adopted the draft agenda of the 48th CMJ meeting which will take place on 14-15 March 2023. Amongst the issues to be discussed feature the progress in the preparation of a draft recommendation on climate crisis, young people and democracy, of guidelines on young people’s participation in public life, as well as the review of Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 on youth work.

Finally, the manager of the partnership between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth explained the consultations that will be held to prepare the workplan for 2024-25.

For more information on the youth sector statutory committees and on their decisions.