How youth policy is funded

Youth policies are funded mainly by the National Fund for Youth Policies, established by Art. 19, paragraph 2, of Decree Law 223/2006. The Fund is financed through the national budget law and is managed by the Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civic Service.

The allocation percentages of the Fund for Youth Policies among the national Government and the Regions, Autonomous Provinces, and the system of Local Authorities is defined in a specific agreement approved by the Unified Conference. 

For the three-year period 2024-2026, the allocation is defined in the Agreement between the Government, the regions, the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, and local authorities concerning the allocation of the “Fund for Youth Policies” for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, approved by the Unified Conference on 17 October 2024. The allocation of the Fund for each year is determined by a yearly Decree of the Minister for Sport and Youth.

What is funded

The Agreement between the Government, the regions, the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, and local authorities concerning the allocation of the “Fund for Youth Policies” for the years 2024, 2025, and 2026, approved by the Unified Conference on 17 October 2024, establishes, for each year of the three-year period 2024–2026, that the percentage allocated to interventions of national relevance, amounts to 47% of the Fund, while the percentage allocated to the Regions, Autonomous Provinces, and the system of Local Authorities, for interventions of territorial relevance, amounts to 53%. Such 53% is divided as follows: 28% is allocated to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces; 22% is allocated to ANCI, for Municipalities and Metropolitan Cities; 3% is allocated to UPI, for the Provinces.

The measures of national relevance focus on promoting youth social inclusion, financial access, and the transition from education to employment, as well as fostering civic engagement, cultural participation, and skills development. They also include support for youth mobility and cooperation initiatives, the implementation of the National Youth Card, the monitoring of funded actions, and the organisation of awareness-raising and institutional activities.

The Fund allocated to Regions and Local Authorities supports coordinated territorial interventions in youth policies, promoting social inclusion, active participation, education-to-work transitions, and access to opportunities. Key actions include youth engagement in civic, cultural, social, environmental, and sporting activities, the implementation of Regional Youth Cards in synergy with the National Youth Card, and the organisation of awareness-raising initiatives. The measures aim to strengthen integrated and locally responsive youth policy systems.

Financial accountability

The Department for Youth Policies and the Universal Civic Service finances measures aimed at younger generations through different types of instruments. Therefore, the financial responsibility is different based on the type of intervention.

With regard to the resources assigned to the Regions, full autonomy is recognized to these institutions. The resources are used directly by the Regions that send their monitoring tools (periodic reports and tables) to the Department verifying the progress of the project activities. Therefore, this activity allows to obtain information on the use of the funds, providing useful elements to identify and assess any shortfalls and possible corrective actions.

The funds allocated to the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI), to the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), and to other organizations are expressly regulated by ad hoc agreements, which establish the procedures for monitoring the projects and the mutual responsibilities and commitments.

With regards to the funds assigned to private non-profit organizations, in order to guarantee public co-financing, the Administration requires the presentation of adequate bank guarantees or insurance policies for the first trance received; the guarantee must be valid for the whole duration of the project eligible for funding. The subsequent instalments are paid further to the presentation of adequate documentation of expenditure.

The institutions involved must also ensure compliance with legal, tax, social security and labour provisions, the traceability of financial flows and the anti-mafia certification.

In addition, the Department can carry out inspections at the project sites (by its representatives and/or specialized persons or companies specifically designated) to verify the progressive implementation of the activities.

The preventive supervision on the legality of the administrative action, which is the responsibility of the Department, is exercised by the Court of Auditors, which is an independent body.

The Office of the Budget Presidency of the Council of Ministers exercises the administrative-accounting regularity control on all the expenses.

With regard to external responsibility, the principle of transparency allows all citizens to verify the administrative procedures undertaken by the Public Administration.

The Public Administration disseminates information that must be made public in their own institutional websites under a section called “Transparent Administration”. These publication requirements concern, among other things, the organization and the activities of public administrations, the use of public resources and the services provided. The principle of transparency promotes the prevention of corruption, including a “social control” by the citizens (the so-called “civic access”).

Use of EU funds

Italy avails of funding from the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps. In addition, other public entities such as Ministries, Regions and local authorities avail of other EU funding such as European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).