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1. Mechanisms and actors

Mechanisms and actors

The Ministry of Sports, Youth and Voluntary organisations is developing interministerial cooperation which, among other things, aims to create complementarity between policies and the ministries that implement them. Such complementarity is to be seen above all between youth policies, educational policies, and policies on culture.

The development and implementation of youth policies is based on multi-partner work involving the State and its ministries, local authorities, representatives of associations and youth movements, and, in some cases, young people themselves. This shared work may take the form of consultative bodies bringing together various parties involved in development of youth policies, such as the Advisory Council on Youth Policies (Conseil d’orientation des politiques de jeunesse – COJ), or of “territorial structured dialogue”  in regions (see the Chapter 5 "participation"). 

The Advisory Council on Youth Policies

The Advisory Council on Youth Policies (Conseil d'orientation des politiques de jeunesse -COJ) is a consultative body reporting to the Prime Minister, created by decree n°2016-1377 of 12 October 2016. It provides a forum for debate between the various parties involved in developing youth policies.

The COJ’s missions include assessment of youth policies, presentation of an annual activity report to the Government, and non-mandatory consultation on legislative and regulatory projects.

The Council also has a power of initiative to communicate proposals to the Government with a view to improving young people’s situation.

 The Council comprises eight boards when sitting in plenary session, reflecting its crosscutting character and horizontal cooperation:

1. State
2. Local authorities
3. Young people and youth organisations
4. Youth and non-formal education associations and movements
5. Integration of young people
6. Social partners
7. Associate members
8. Experts

According to the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Voluntary organisations, the Council’s different sessions have distinct roles:

• The plenary session sets the major focuses, enables members to share a common culture and common objectives, and ensures regular communication of committees’ and workgroups’ activities ;
• The two thematic committees (non-formal education and integration of young people) work on more targeted problems ;
• Committees and plenary sessions alike may create workgroups to appraise specific questions.