• young people's participation in the exercise of active citizenship
• enhancing the information addressed to young people and existing information services for young people
• promoting voluntary activities among young people.
• encouraging greater understanding and knowledge of youth.

For those interested in the development of youth policy at EU level, detailed information on all these areas and the political follow up to the white paper is available on the Commission’s web site. However, the information presented here on EU youth policy will concentrate more on the practical impact of EU youth policy for young people and those working with them.

More important than this time table for development is the approach taken by the Commission to consult widely with young people about these policy developments. Young people have said very clearly that they wish their views to be taken into account. The Commission has consulted widely on policy issues since 2000, has specifically used the European Youth weeks for 2005, 2007 and 2008 to listen to the views of young people. In 2007, the European Commission has put in place the Structured Dialogue with young people to address this issue of giving young people the opportunity to express their views, and in 2008 invited young people to express their views on the future challenges facing Europe in the next 10 years.

It is clear that young people are on the political agenda in Europe and a key aspect of this is that the European Commission wants to hear the views of young people. This is important for young people and youth multipliers to know this since EU policy making seems so far away from the everyday life of a young person. In the near future, Eurodesk will be placing more emphasis on how youth multipliers can work to engage young people with the policy process and the communication of young people’s views to the European institutions.

Many European opportunities for young people exist as a direct result of EU youth policies and the Commission youth programmes which arise from them - for example: funding and support for youth exchanges, ERASMUS placements, volunteering opportunities, etc. … but this is not necessarily understood by those participating in the opportunities. Eurodesk sees it as part of its information work to help the youth field understand this link and subsequently give their views to inform future developments. This approach to understanding the practical aspects of youth policy is in line with Eurodesk’s “… so you think you know it all” (SYTYKIA) initiative, which is a European awareness tool for youth multipliers.

The Commission’s approach necessarily addresses the formal representational channels for young people, i.e. the national youth councils and the European Youth Forum, whereas Eurodesk’s approach aims to add value to this process, by facilitating young people, who are not already politically engaged, to express their views into this consultation process.