Youth involvement in social and civil dialogue in the Mediterranean region

Youth

Background

In many Middle East and North African countries, civil society organisations, youth groups, employers' and workers' organisations face difficulties in effectively taking part in decision-making process. Especially young people often remain excluded from participatory processes. In addition, they are faced with high levels of unemployment, lack of quality jobs, serious security issues and other obstacles. The EESC taking notice of the socio-economic situation of young people in the region proposes a number of recommendations by involving young people in all stages of the policy-making processe.

Key points

In the opinion the EESC:

  • recommends including youth representatives in every youth-focused legal activity and involving young people in all stages of the policy-making process, from decision-making to the implementation and evaluation of policies;
  • estimates that civil society and social partner organisations should further support young people by providing capacity-building workshops, making it easier for them to connect with resources and opportunities for involvement;
  • stresses that encouraging young workers to take part in collective bargaining and establishing youth-oriented representative structures at company level is an effective way of structurally embedding youth participation in social dialogue structures;
  • states that the representation of youth organisations and youth councils in discussions with state authorities should be increased by recognising youth workers as key players in consultation processes;
  • calls on the European Commission to support a third phase of the South Mediterranean Social Dialogue (SOLiD) project, which should be used to develop a Youth Charter, while also exploring the establishment of youth-focused consultative mechanisms.
  • emphasizes that Mediterranean countries are often characterised by a lack of adequate frameworks for effective social dialogue and therefore stresses the need to strengthen social dialogue in particular at national, sectoral and company levels through the full implementation of the key ILO Conventions on social dialogue.

Additional Information

EESC section: External Relations (REX)

Opinion number: REX/583

Opinion type: Own-initiative

Rapporteur: Thomas WAGNSONNER, (Workers, GR-II/Austria)

Co-rapporteur: Lidija PAVIĆ-ROGOŠIĆ, (Civil Society Organisations, GR III/Croatia)

Date of adoption by the section: 12/11/2024

Date of adoption in plenary: 22-23 January 2025

Result of the vote in plenary: 175 in favour/0 against/3 abstentions

Contact

Millie Tsoumani

Press Officer, Tel.: +32 (0) 2 546 9088, Email: [email protected]

Andreas Berger

Policy Officer, Tel.:+32 (2) 546 9062, Email: [email protected] 

Work organisation