The roads ahead of us are going to be difficult, but fundamentally speaking, we are optimistic for the future of Europe and the youth, and in the last conference under the Regional Youth Compact for Europe (RYCE) project, this was very clearly expressed with everyone participating.
The Final Project Conference for RYCE was held on July 1, 2021, in the city of Belgrade, Serbia, at the Metropol Hotel. The nature of the conference was a hybrid, with 36 participants viewing from the Zoom platform. There was a sizable variety of participants, including 13 partners from various countries and organizations/networks, such as ALDA.

The Regional Youth Compact for Europe project, which has reached its conclusion with the passing of conference, has been going on for 3 years, with the aim of empowering youth organizations and other civil society groups in the Western Balkans and Europe. This is particularly when it comes to matters such as policy design, mobilization of participation and better decision-making among the younger generations, and EU integration monitoring.

The first panel’s topic was about the relationship between the WB and the EU, the second was about youth expectations for outlooks of European integration alongside research presented on the matter, and the third and last panel had representatives from Local Democracy Agencies to discuss local democracy and civic initiatives.

To reiterate, the conference overall expressed optimism for the future of Europe and the youth, but also stressed the importance of investing in the younger generations and monitoring the function of democracy and building trust. The approaches intended to be taken are largely bottom-up and pan-European. For goals like this to be accomplished, the youth effectively need to be mobilized for greater participation, they need to be provided info about policy matters that concern them, and it needs to be kept in mind that the digital world we live in today enables the tearing down of barriers to information in a way that was not as available in the past, and that this is very good for the younger generations.

It was also highlighted that as of July 1, needing only 3 years to get it done, roaming agreements were put into place in the Balkans with the help of the European Union, in which there will be zero roaming tax fees among the Western Balkans, part of the “Roam Like at Home” initiative. Further digitalization is encouraged, and the EU helps with this, as investment in these categories can help with things such as economic growth and job offers. Policy benchmarks are targeted, and EU integration continues to be a topic of importance, especially in a period in which we are no longer in the worst stage of the pandemic. This helps to rejuvenate the discussions and processes. Individual approaches are largely taken for each country to tackle the disenchantment of the youth with their local governments, bad rule of law, among other factors. The results of surveys for the youth done around this time last year were also presented, and questions were taken.

It can be said that this overall proved to be a productive dialogue for this involved, and a solid presentation of the accomplishments of the last 3 years of the Regional Youth Compact for Europe project. However, it can also be said that processes of youth mobilization, EU integration benchmarks, etc. is still very much something that needs to be further sustained as we are not quite done yet, but the optimism among those involved is still very present. Further discussion when it comes to these types of matters is always something that needs to take place.
This activity is in the framework of the project “Regional youth compact for Europe” implemented by the Centar for Democracy Foundation (lead partner), Balkan Network for Local Democracy, CRTA, Youth Act and Sodem. This project is funded by the European Union.

EVROPSKA UNIJA I ZAPADNI BALKAN: PREMA OBNOVLJENOM POVJERENJU

Putevi koji su pred nama bit će teški, ali u osnovi smo optimisti za budućnost Evrope i mladih, a na posljednjoj konferenciji u okviru projekta Regionalni kompakt mladih za Evropu (RYCE) to je vrlo jasno izraženo od svih učesnika.

Završna projektna konferencija za RYCE održana je 1. jula 2021. u Beogradu, Srbija, u hotelu Metropol. Konferencija je bila hibridna, a 36 učesnika je gledalo sa platforme Zoom. Bilo je znatne raznolikosti učesnika, uključujući 13 partnera iz različitih zemalja i organizacija / mreža, kao što je ALDA.

Projekt Regionalni kompakt mladih za Evropu traje već 3 godine a tokom konferencije doneseni su zaključci s ciljem osnaživanja omladinskih organizacija i drugih grupa civilnog društva na Zapadnom Balkanu i u Evropi. Ovo je posebno izraženo u pitanjima poput kreiranja politika, mobilizacije učešća i boljeg donošenja odluka među mlađim generacijama, te praćenja evropskih integracija.

Tema prvog panela odnosila se na odnos između Zapadnog Balkana i EU, drugi se odnosio na očekivanja mladih od pogleda na evropske integracije zajedno s istraživanjima prezentiranim po tom pitanju, a treći i posljednji panel imali su predstavnici Agencija za lokalnu demokratiju kako bi razgovarali o lokalnoj demokratiji i građanskim inicijativama.

Da ponovimo, konferencija je u cjelini izrazila optimizam za budućnost Evrope i mladih, ali je također naglasila važnost ulaganja u mlađe generacije i praćenja funkcije demokratije i izgradnje povjerenja. Pristupi kojima se namjerava ići su uglavnom odozdo prema gore i panevropski. Da bi se postigli ovakvi ciljevi, mlade treba učinkovito mobilizirati za veće sudjelovanje, treba im pružiti informacije o političkim pitanjima koja ih se tiču, a treba imati na umu da digitalni svijet u kojem danas živimo omogućava rušenje prepreka za informacije na način koji u prošlosti nije bio dostupan i da je to vrlo dobro za mlađe generacije.

Također je istaknuto da su od 1. jula, a za to im je trebalo 3 godine da to urade, na Balkanu uspostavljeni ugovori o romingu uz pomoć Europske unije u kojima neće biti taksi za roming na Zapadnom Balkanu. Potiče se daljnja digitalizacija, a EU u tome pomaže, jer ulaganje u ove kategorije može pomoći u stvarima poput ekonomskog rasta i ponuda poslova. Mjerila politika su targetirana, a integracija u EU i dalje je tema od važnosti, posebno u periodu u kojem više nismo u najgoroj fazi pandemije. Ovo pomaže obnavljanju rasprava i procesa. Uglavnom se za svaku zemlju uzimaju individualni pristupi kako bi se borilo protiv nezadovoljstva mladih sa svojim lokalnim vlastima, lošom vladavinom zakona, između ostalih faktora. Predstavljeni su i rezultati anketa za mlade rađene za vrijeme protekle godine i postavljena pitanja.

Može se reći da se ovo sveukupno pokazalo kao produktivan dijalog za sve uključene i solidna prezentacija dostignuća u posljednje 3 godine projekta „Regionalni kompakt mladih za Evropu“. Međutim, također se može reći da su procesi mobilizacije mladih, mjerila za integraciju u EU, itd. još uvijek nešto što treba dalje održavati jer još nismo sasvim gotovi, ali optimizam među uključenima je i dalje vrlo prisutan. Daljnja diskusija kada su u pitanju ove vrste stvari uvijek je nešto što se mora održati.

Ova aktivnost je dio projekta „Regionalni kompakt mladih za Evropu“ koji provode Fondacija Centar za demokratiju (vodeći partner), Balkanska mreža za lokalnu demokratiju, CRTA, Youth Act i Sodem. Ovaj projekat je finansiran od Europske unije.