Nothing about young people without young people

On Friday, 17. January 2020, a closing conference was held at the House of the European Union as part of the project VSI SMO EU (We are all EU) – Dialogue with Youth. In the first half of 2019, the project was primarily promoting dialogue with young people and maximizing their participation in elections, while in the second half of the year, the purpose of the project was getting to know the newly elected MEPs and creating proposals of young people to help them live and gain self-sufficiency.

MEPs Klemen Grošelj and Irena Joveva have participated in several meetings throughout Slovenia as part of the project. As they have said, they are extremely pleased with this kind of opportunity and project, which enables dialogue with young people. They are convinced this is essential to maintain and, in particular, to strengthen their relationship with young people. The key topics most relevant to young people and have been highlighted during the meetings are active youth participation and active citizenship, the youth sector, education, employment, and entrepreneurship, and last but not least digitization.

Especially in digitization, Groselj emphasized the importance of cybersecurity. The rapid advancement of new technologies brings new opportunities. Digitization and the Internet are also shaping alterations in lifestyle. Some professions, that are heavily present in the labour market, will also change. Namely, there is a need for new occupations and this is an opportunity for young people. On the other hand, digitization itself brings new risks: “We have to create a solidarity system that will enable young people to develop, while at the same time, through different processes, they will alert the elderly to the pitfalls that the Internet and digitization themselves carry. I am pleased that – when it comes to e-elections – you are also exposing the question of risks, which tells me that there is a high degree of maturity among young people,” concluded Grošelj.

Irena Joveva, on the other hand, highlighted the change, which can be sensed by young people with the exit of the United Kingdom from the EU. “The UK Parliament has voted that their negotiators will no longer have to (necessarily) negotiate with the EU on the full involvement of their universities in the Erasmus+ program.” She wants the negotiators to be able to reach an appropriate agreement in this area as well. “It all starts and ends with money. As a significant part of the EU budget will go to the Green Deal, it will be difficult to anticipate a large increase in funding for programs intended for young people.” Joveva expects the new Erasmus+ budget to increase as well. “I will do everything in my power to obtain as many finances as possible for the Erasmus+ project,” she concluded. Joveva added, that she will use her three questions which she can address monthly to the European Commission to shed light on the issues and challenges that young people face.