1.2 National Youth Law
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Existence of a National Youth Law
The main piece of legislation governing youth policy in Bulgaria is the Youth Act (Закон за младежта).
The Youth Act is promulgated in State Gazette (SG) no. 31/20.04.2012, effective 20.04.2012 and was last amended and supplemented in SG no. 61/02.08.2022, effective 02.08.2022.
The Youth Act defines the basic principles for planning, management and funding of the national youth policy. It tackles topics such as development of youth policy, youth activities, youth organisations, youth volunteering, youth workers and youth information.
It provides clear definition of the powers of the governmental authorities – at national, regional and local level and defines the concepts of "youth", "youth organization", “youth worker” and “youth volunteering”.
According to the Youth Act, the national youth policy is a purposeful and consistent activity of the state, municipalities, youth organizations and society, which aims to create favorable conditions for the full personal development of young people and their participation in the social and economic life, as well as their involvement in the management at local, regional and national level through activities encouraging the development of young people in the country.
The Youth Act defines the main principles of the national youth policy, and namely:
- legality, transparency, relevance, system, and consistency of policies of the government, municipalities and youth development society;
- coordination of youth policies in the field of education, social policy, healthcare, culture, sports, justice, interior and defence;
- coordination of the national youth policy with the youth polices implemented by and within the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations;
- integration of child and youth policies;
- ensuring dialogue and participation of youth in the formation youth policy;
- freedom of association for young people, freedom of youth initiatives, self-governance of youth organisations;
- decentralization of youth polices.
The national youth policy is governed by the Council of Ministers through the Minister of Youth and Sports and in accordance with the National Youth Strategy. The National Assembly adopts the National Youth Strategy upon proposal of the Council of Ministers.
The Youth Act was last amended in 2022 – effective from 02.08.2022. The key amendments are as follows:
- changes to the content of the National Youth Strategy: vision for the youth policy development, leading principles for the strategy implementation and expected results;
- changes to the youth report period (not annually but every two years instead) and to the youth report content. It should summarize the changes and trends in the socio-economic situation of young people during the two-years’ reporting period. See the detailed content of the youth report in section 1.6 Evidence-based youth policy.
- inclusion of provisions for the Public Council on Youth Issues in addition to the National Advisory Council of Youth as bodies supporting the minister of youth and sports in the implementation of the national youth policy.