"Young people are often told that we are the future. Yet many of us struggle to trust that future." These are the first lines of the "Youth visions for a European democracy in 2049" manifesto that was developed by 120 participants of a youth event of the New Democratic Pact for Europe held by the Council of Europe in June 2026 in Strasbourg. This manifesto presents a shared youth vision for the continent's democracy in 2049, when the Council of Europe will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
With almost a quarter of a century yet to go to the centenary let's look at how the Council of Europe has been involved with young people since its foundation in 1949.
Working with young people: milestones
The starting point for the Council of Europe's engagement with young people and youth organisations to promote European cooperation and support out-of-school experiences was the European Cultural Convention in 1954
In the 1960s an experimental European Youth Centre was launched near Strasbourg. This led to the creation of unique resources for young people at the international level: the European Youth Foundation (1972), and permanent European Youth Centres in Strasbourg (1972),and Budapest (1995).
Many more youth-policy achievements followed: the first European Conference of ministers responsible for youth (1985), the European Charter on young people's participation in local and regional life (1993, updated in 2026), the launch of the No Hate Speech movement (2013), the involvement of youth delegates in the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (2014) and the Reykjavík Declaration (2023) have strengthened the role of young people in shaping Europe's democratic future
At their 10th conference held in Malta in October 2025 ministers responsible for youth confirmed that the Council of Europe is an essential partner in empowering young people to respond to shared challenges, to uphold and defend human rights and to participate fully in democratic life. They called upon the Council of Europe to remain a leading actor in youth policy within the broader architecture of international organisations and European institutions.
At the heart of the Council of Europe's work: youth participation
Since 1972 the Council of Europe has been giving youth organisations and governments an equal say in decision-making. In the co-management system with the Joint Council on youth 30 young people and representatives of youth ministries from 48 countries are taking decisions collectively on youth policies and programmes. This system is designed to guarantee that young people's needs and interests are reflected in the priorities of the Council of Europe.
For 2024‐27 these strategic priorities, set out in the Youth Strategy 2030, are:
- Revitalising pluralistic democracy
- Young people's access to rights
- Living together in peaceful and inclusive societies
- Youth work
- Developing and strengthening youth policy based on Council of Europe standards
The ultimate goal is to make sure that young people from every spectrum of European societies - rural youth, young people with a migration background, Roma and Travellers, those belonging to national and other minorities, including LGBTIQ youth, young people from disadvantaged neighbourhood, youth living with disability - can participate in pluralistic democracy, and that European governments create and implement youth policies which facilitate young people's access to rights.
The European Youth Centre, with two venues in Strasbourg and Budapest, physically brings young people together today for meetings, non-formal education sessions and training. Through the European Youth Foundation, the Council of Europe supports youth cooperation by providing financial support to youth-led activities involving at least seven member states
What do young people want by 2049?
"We are expected to prepare for a future that has not yet taken shape, for jobs that do not yet exist, technologies whose consequences are still unfolding," state young people in their 2049 manifesto. The document lists 15 measures to be taken by governments, international organisations - including the Council of Europe - and civil society. These measures touch upon all the issues that young people are concerned about, including local youth participation, democratic accountability, education, healthcare, the jobs market and basic income, inclusive democratic participation, power-sharing across generations and housing.
Young people continue to believe that democracy is worth fighting for rather than abandoning, which is a central credo of the manifesto writers. They make this clear in their opening heading: "Dear democracy, our youth is yours".
