Ga verder naar de inhoud

The European Parliament Youth Interest Group

Are you a parliamentarian, a strong believer in youth rights and a committed champion of young people? Join Us!

What is the Youth Interest Group?

The Youth Interest Group is a platform of like-minded MEPs committed to championing a Europe that works for young people and to advocating on relevant issues to ensure that youth voice is heard and young people’s opinions are reflected in EU-level policy formation.


Complementing the youth-focused work of the European Parliament CULT Committee, it brings together MEPs from across the political spectrum and from different Committees to work towards the mainstreaming of youth across all policies and advancing youth-centred priorities.

The Youth Interest Group was established by the European Youth Forum at the beginning of the 2020-2024 European Parliament mandate, and is an evolution of the previous youth-focused Inter Groups that have been operating since 2009.

Areas of focus for 2023-2024:

  • To ensure a strong legacy for the European Year of Youth 2022 and a lasting focus on young people at EU level. In particular:
    • To push the European Commission to propose an amendment of the Better Regulation Toolbox to include an ‘EU Youth Test’;

    • To build on the European Parliament’s positive own action outlawing unpaid internships within the Parliament and support the European Youth Forum’s campaign to ban unpaid internships outside formal education via a legal instrument;

  • To raise the profile of the European Youth Forum’s ‘Youth Manifesto’ and ‘Youth Engagement Checklist’ asks for the 2024 European Parliament Elections in the build up to the elections;

  • To champion representative youth organisations as guardians of a flourishing civic space and in discussions on European-level policy and programmes;

  • To consider invitations to speaking opportunities for youth organisation representatives in relevant hearings in different European Parliament Committees, including to promote the outcomes of the EU Youth Dialogue programme.

The European Youth Forum will support MEPs with:

  • Drafting amendments to legislative proposals;
  • Preparing parliamentary questions;

  • Inputting into their own-initiative reports;

  • Organising youth-focused hearings and events;

  • Convening informal meetings of the Youth Interest Group on an ad-hoc basis (roughly three times per year) to discuss new policy positions and current, relevant EU files;

  • Keeping Youth Interest Group members up to date about important youth-related developments, including via a monthly newsletter.


Are you an MEP? Join the Youth Interest Group!
Send us an email and we will get in touch.

Anna B
Anna Blackwell