The Alliance of Youth Workers Associations (AYWA) welcomes the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council for establishing the Erasmus+ programme for the period 2028-2034 and appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback and thus contribute to shaping the final look of the programme. We fully believe in having an open and inclusive consultative process that will ensure the participation of everyone concerned by the programme, especially young people and those who work with them across the different sectors.
Upon consulting our national member organisations and the youth workers that they represent, we would like to provide the following comments to the current programme proposal:
Increased budget, but no youth chapter
We warmly welcome the increase in the overall budget planned for the Erasmus+ Programme, and we encourage the European Commission to explore the possibilities for further increase, as every additional euro would contribute to more opportunities for young people and other beneficiaries of the programme. At the same time, we express a concern that the current proposal does not include a guaranteed youth chapter, as the previous programme did. Preserving a dedicated percentage for youth is not only a financial safeguard, but also a symbolic recognition of the youth sector’s autonomy and identity within Erasmus+. Without it, there is a significant risk that the youth sector will be significantly overshadowed by formal education and fields that possess greater resources.
The role of the National Agencies’/youth sector has been and continues to be very important, particularly in providing support and reaching youth work actors and youth groups. National Agencies play a crucial role in building capacity, especially in decentralised areas such as youth and sport. In this context, decentralisation is a key tool to achieve greater impact. Their ability to support reforms and developments that accelerate the implementation of the Programme is essential. The TCA budget is one of the possible tools to ensure this. A minimum mandatory national co-funding should be set to match the European Commission’s contribution.
We call the European Commission to demonstrate in practice the growing importance of youth participation and youth work and to ensure that the Youth Chapter for the new programme period is at least 15% of the overall budget. Furthermore, we call the EC to be particularly cautious when integrating European Solidarity Corps into the new programme, so that its brand is preserved and the local solidarity projects are sustained.
Focus on education and training, obscure attention to youth work
The regulation for establishing the Erasmus+ programme gives much more attention to education and training compared to the other fields. The preamble of the Regulation states that “… it is necessary to establish Erasmus+ 2028-2034, the Union Programme for education and training and also in the fields of youth and sport.”, which leaves the impression that its youth component is not equally important as education and training. We are concerned that the predominant attention given to formal education would strengthen the reputation for Erasmus+ as the EC programme for education.
We are particularly appalled by the absence of explicit references to “youth work” and “youth workers”, which appear just a few times in the document. Instead, the programme refers to generic groups such as “learners”, “staff” and “participants”. Such framing could lead to a loss of visibility and resources for youth work, especially for non-formal, inclusive, and civic-oriented youth activities. Making youth work and youth workers less visible with the new programme undermines the efforts for youth work recognition throughout Europe, and directly contradicts the priorities set by the European Youth Work Agenda. Instead, the new programme should emphasise youth work as a distinct concept, and it should fully recognise it alongside education and training.
We call the European Commission to revise the proposal ensuring a balance between youth and other programme areas, and devoting the same importance for youth work as for education and training. Youth work development should be a standalone strategic objective, and the youth component of the programme should have its own specific objectives, in line with the EU Youth Strategy and the European Youth Work Agenda. Only then, the programme will become an effective instrument for implementation of those policy documents into practice.
Shift from personal growth and civic engagement to skills and labour market
Compared to the previous Erasmus+ programme, civic engagement and personal development are mentioned much less frequently. The new programme shifts the balance toward skills development, labour market integration, and innovation. While these aspects are important, the reduced focus on civic participation undermines the invaluable efforts of youth workers to strengthen democracy and active citizenship amid growing challenges. At the same time, the almost exclusive focus on employability skills diminishes the established approach towards supporting the holistic development of the young person, especially of young people with fewer opportunities.
We call the European Commission to strengthen the focus on democracy and active citizenship and maintain its commitment to a holistic growth and development of the individual including the personal, professional, social, political and other dimensions.
Lack of recognition of the role of youth workers
The programme underlines that it should support the meaningful participation of young people and youth organisations in decision-making and policymaking. This is an essential aspect that needs to be safeguarded. However, it is equally important to recognise the role of youth workers in these processes: youth workers should be acknowledged as key actors and bridges between young people and decision-makers; they are essential in facilitating the translation of young people’s experiences into policies that respond to their needs, and in strengthening the relationship between young people and other stakeholders in the society, particularly of young people that are hard to reach. Hence, it is essential that youth workers are recognised as professionals with relevant competences and responsibilities, not only as volunteers or facilitators.
We call the European Commission to ensure that youth workers are not only mentioned in the programme, but also clearly recognised as decision-shapers within the youth sector. Youth workers and national youth workers’ associations should also be emphasised as “contact points” at both national and European level, enabling cross-European exchange and acting as carriers of European values and knowledge transfer across and beyond Europe, including in third countries. The recognition of the key role of youth workers should also be seen through the creation of systemic and formalised opportunities for youth workers, equivalent to those for teachers and school staff, which will further strengthen quality and professionalisation of youth work.
Diminished importance of non-formal education and intercultural learning
Non-formal learning and education, traditionally central methods for youth organisations and youth workers, are weakly represented in the proposed Programme. The importance of non-formal education is ever more important now, due to its ability to continuously adapt to evolving learning needs in a rapidly changing world. Along the same lines is the importance of informal learning environments, which are essential for fostering participation, resilience and inclusion. The lack of emphasis of these aspects in the programme raises concerns that NFE might not receive sufficient funding in the future. Since NFE is one of the main approaches used by youth organisations and youth workers to foster participation, empowerment, and inclusion, its diminished presence threatens the sustainability of these practices.
More alarmingly, intercultural learning is not mentioned at all in the programme proposal. Since intercultural learning has always been a key feature of international mobilities, it is unclear whether now the purpose of international youth work will only be to support the development of professional competences, without any intercultural dimension.
Intercultural learning has always played a crucial role in strengthening the European identity, helping young people understand and appreciate diversity, and contributing to the prevention and elimination of racism and discrimination.
We call the European Commission to reconsider the departure from non-formal education and intercultural learning as key components of all its previous youth programmes, and to clearly acknowledge their importance for the personal development of the young person, for building social cohesion and for fostering global peace and intercultural understanding.
Absence of EU Youth Goals and EU Youth Dialogue
The current proposal does not include even one reference to the EU Youth Goals and EU Youth Dialogue, which raises a concern over the continuation of this or a similar programme for ensuring dialogue between young people and decision makers in the European Union. Historically, Erasmus+ has been one of the strongest instruments for implementing the EU Youth Strategy and other relevant policies, and the new programme should build on those commitments.
We call the European Commission to clarify whether the EU Youth Goals and EU Youth Dialogue are foreseen for the future and if yes, then to provide them with an adequate place in the programme. If not, then the EC should provide information about the alternative approach to ensuring that young people’s voice is heard on issues that matter to them, or it should launch a co-creation process with young people and youth workers to design a new approach.
Gender equality in the proposed regulation
Although the document refers to various gender equality regulations and action plans, the commitment to promoting gender equality, gender-sensitive inclusion, and integration within the programme is weakly represented. The document highlights support for the participation of women and girls in STEM fields as a measure for gender equality. However, this is not backed by concrete measures, targets, or resource allocations, which raises concerns about the actual implementation of these principles in practice.
We call on the European Commission to strengthen the gender equality aspect of the programme by introducing concrete measures, targets and resources to ensure meaningful equal participation across all programme areas, beyond STEM.
Strongly believing in the impact of European Union Youth programmes, the Alliance of Youth Workers Associations remains committed to supporting the process of planning an even more impactful future Erasmus+ programme. Thus, we remain available for any further consultative processes and other preparation activities where we can contribute with our expertise.
