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1. Existence of a National Youth Law

2. Scope and contents

3. Revisions/updates

Existence of a National Youth Law

Belgium is a federal state with three communities (Flemish, French and German speaking) and three regions (Flemish, Brussels and Walloon). The Belgian Constitution allocates competences to these entities differently. The federal Belgian government has only limited authority over youth-related matters—for example, certain aspects of judicial youth protection—but there is no comprehensive youth policy at the federal level.

Person-related matters that affect people directly, such as education, healthcare, culture, and youth affairs, fall under the jurisdiction of the Communities (Flemish, French and German Speaking). Thus, youth policy is within the competence of the Communities. As a result, the most comprehensive youth policies and policy instruments are developed and implemented at the community level. Each community has autonomy and responsibility over its own youth policy. 

In Flanders, these powers are exercised by the Flemish Parliament and the Flemish Government – including the Minister of Youth –, which assume the responsibilities of both the Community and the Region, and which make decisions autonomously through decrees (e.g., the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023). In the Belgian capital, Brussels, the Flemish Community Commission (VGC) is a decentralized authority with a directly elected council (the Dutch-speaking language group of the Brussels-Capital Parliament) and an executive college (elected by the majority of the Dutch-speaking language group). It is partly responsible for implementing Flemish decrees in Brussels and supports Flemish services in the fields of culture, education, and welfare, healthcare and youth affairs.

The new Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 (Decree on the youth and children's right policy and the support of youth work, original title: Decreet over het jeugd- en kinderrechtenbeleid en de ondersteuning van het jeugdwerk), which entered into force on 1 January 2024, is the core legislation concerning youth policy and youth work policy. The Youth Decree regulates the instruments for implementing a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work.
 

Scope and contents

Youth policy is founded on the principle that it is possible to implement a categorical policy approach, targeting a group of people through a group policy approach. As a group policy, youth policy aims to develop comprehensive, coordinated strategies for young people, moving beyond fragmented initiatives to instead address their needs and interests holistically across multiple (policy) domains such as youth, education, work, health, and inclusion. For this reason, youth policy intersects with (almost) every other policy domain. In this sense, youth policy can be understood as a broad, cross-sectoral approach to young people (including children); a perspective that is not self-evident, given that governments generally apply a sectoral approach in most other policy areas. This is implemented in a particular way in the Flemish youth policy

The new Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 defines the youth and children’s rights policy as follows (cf. Article 3, 13°): ‘the comprehensive and integrated vision, and the systematic and planned measures based on it, of a government that aim to produce a tangible impact on youth, with particular attention to children’s rights as an ethical and legal framework’. The Decree explicitly refers to children’s rights as ‘all fundamental rights of children as laid down in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Constitution, and the European, regional, and international treaties to which Belgium is a party’. Children’s rights are at the very core of Flemish youth policy.

The Flemish Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 regulates the instruments for implementing a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy and for supporting Flemish and supra-local youth work. The five main instruments of the Youth Decree are:

• A Flemish Youth and Children’s rights policy Plan (cf. Article 4): ‘No later than one year after the start of each government term, the Flemish Government submits a Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan to the Flemish Parliament… The Flemish Government approves the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan, referred to in the first and second paragraphs, after consulting with youth’.
• Horizontal and vertical consultation on youth and children’s rights policy (cf. Article 5): ‘A horizontal consultation on youth and children’s rights policy is organized concerning the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy. This consultation consists of at least the contact points for youth and children’s rights policy, referred to in Article 6, and the associations referred to in Articles 9 through 13. All Flemish ministers annually organize, for their respective competences and in preparation of the policy memorandum and the policy and budget explanation, a vertical consultation on youth and children’s rights policy’. This refers to recurrent stakeholder meetings, both between agencies and departments of the government (horizontal consultation) and within policy domains, with all relevant stakeholders within that policy domain (vertical).
• A network of the Points of contact for youth and children’s rights policy in all departments and agencies of the Flemish Authorities (cf. Article 6): ‘The senior officials of all departments and of the internally and externally autonomous agencies of the Flemish Government, as designated by the Flemish Government, shall appoint a staff member to serve as the contact point for youth and children’s rights policy’. Remark that the Decree, as such, identifies all other policy domains as relevant for the youth field and requires a contact person in each other policy domain.
• Impact assessment of new legislation on children and youth (JoKER) (cf. Article 7): ‘For every draft decree submitted to the Flemish Parliament, a child and youth impact report, abbreviated JoKER, shall be attached if the proposed decision directly affects the interests of persons under 25 years of age’.
• A ‘State of the youth’ progress report to monitor the situation of youth (cf. Article 8): ‘In this article, the term State of the youth is understood as a scientifically substantiated report on the living conditions of young people, which also highlights longitudinal developments.

Furthermore, the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 also defines that the Flemish Government establishes a Flemish Youth Council and subsidises four intermediary organisations.

• Flemish Youth Council (cf. Article 9): ‘The Flemish Youth Council aims, on its own initiative or at the request of the Flemish Government or the Flemish Parliament, to provide advice on all matters concerning youth. The Flemish Youth Council also aims to represent young people. The Flemish Government is required to seek advice on draft decrees and draft regulatory decisions of the Flemish Government that implement the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan, referred to in Article 4. Such advice is not binding. … The Flemish Government provides clarification and explanation to the Flemish Youth Council regarding its decisions on the advice that pertains to the competences of the Flemish Government. … The Flemish Youth Council consists of at least 16 and at most 24 members, of whom at least one third are under 25 years of age at the start of their mandate. No more than two thirds of the members may be of the same gender.’
• The four intermediary organisations (cf. Article 10-13):
  • An association tasked with developing, supporting, and informing subsidized youth organizations, promoting professionalization and innovation, supporting the Flemish Youth Council, and collaborating on youth information initiatives (cf. Article 10). The organisation that is subsidized for these tasks is De Ambrassade.
  • An association responsible for promoting knowledge and research on children’s rights, reporting on their implementation in Flanders, and informing children and youth about their rights, in collaboration with public and private partners (cf. Article 11). The organisation that is subsidized for these tasks is STEKR.
  • An association that supports children’s and youth participation in local youth policy, assists local youth officers and aldermen, and promotes knowledge, quality, and innovation in the field (cf. Article 12). The organisation that is subsidized for these tasks is Bataljong. 
  • JINT, to implement European youth programs, promote international exchange and cooperation for young people and youth workers, and support the development of youth work and the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy in alignment with European frameworks (cf. Article 13).

In addition, the Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 contains provisions to apply for a total of eight types of subsidies (four structural and four project-based): 

• the general conditions for subsidies, subsidy requirements, and subsidy rules;
• the recognition and subsidization of regionally organized youth associations, information and participation associations, and cultural-educational associations;
• the recognition and subsidization of supra-local youth work for special target groups: professionalized youth associations for children and young people with disabilities and professionalized youth associations for children and young people in socially vulnerable positions;
• the subsidization of inter-municipal partnerships;
• project subsidies for experimental youth work;
• project subsidies for the implementation of the Flemish youth and children’s rights policy plan;
• project subsidies for supra-local professionalized open youth services;
• project subsidies for supra-local voluntary youth work with children and young people with disabilities;

Finally, the Youth decree of 23 November 2023 also contains provisions on:

• the recognition of training programs and certification of youth leaders, head leaders, and instructors;
• the recognition of political youth movements;
• local youth policy: the local youth council, the Youth Council of the Flemish Community Commission, and the subsidization of the Flemish Community Commission;
• the processing of data by, among others, the department and recognized and/or subsidized youth organizations;
• the discontinuation of supplementary subsidies for employment in the cultural sector.

The Youth decree of 23 November 2023 is aimed at youth, defined as ‘all persons up to and including thirty years of age, or a subset of that population group’ and identifies specific target groups:

• Children and young people with a disability, defined as ‘children and young people who are confronted with a long-term and significant participation problem resulting from the interaction between impairments of a mental, psychological, physical, or sensory nature, limitations in the execution of activities, and personal and external factors’.
• Children and young people in a socially vulnerable situation, defined as ‘children and young people who, due to their background, home situation, or status, face a higher risk of disadvantage or exclusion’.

Young people themselves and their representatives were involved in the design and implementation of the Flemish youth policy, both via the Flemish Youth Council and other strategies. This is explained in more detail in 1.3 National youth strategy. Flemish youth policy relies on data, evidence-based methods and shared standards to ensure effective, inclusive, and empowering integration of youth into society. More information regarding the use of data and evidence in youth policy making is available in 1.3 National youth strategy (Context Analysis) and 1.6 Evidence-based youth policy (e.g. ‘State of the youth’ progress report).
 

Revisions/updates

The Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 integrates the previous decrees on youth (and makes them obsolete): the Decree regarding a Renewed Youth and Children’s Rights Policy (2012); Decree regarding the Subsidization of Supra-local Youth Work, Youth Centres and Youth Work for Special Target Groups (2017); Decree regarding the Support and Stimulation of Local Youth Policy (2012); and the Decree regarding Additional Subsidies for Employment in the Cultural Sector (2004). The Youth Decree of 23 November 2023 harmonises youth policy instruments and coordination of youth policy and restructures the subsidy-framework for youth work.

Earlier the Government of Flanders Order of 7 September 2018 regarding youth and children's rights policy had already determined more specifically the scope and aim of the youth and children's rights policy plan (JKP), strengthened the coordination role of the Flemish minister of youth and children's rights policy and anchored the horizontal consultation on the youth and children's rights policy in the context of the youth and children's rights policy reflection group.