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1. Formal Mechanisms of Consultation

2. Actors

3. Information on the extent of youth participation

4. Outcomes

5. Large-scale initiatives for dialogue or debate between public institutions and young people

Formal Mechanisms of Consultation

Neither in Central Europe, nor in Hungary is it easy to involve young people in political decision-making processes, because only a small number are interested in public policy.

Legal provisions or policy guidelines on youth consultation

Although there is no stated or binding law on how young people should be involved in consultation processes, young people have the opportunity to express their views on all matters that affect them. All ministries have the right (declared by the Act CXXXI of 2010 on public participation in developing legislation) to agree on strategic cooperation with those youth organisations that could assist them with legislation.

Levels of consultation

On the ministry level, the Deputy State Secretariat for Young People under the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium) and the State Secretary for Public Education under the Ministry of Interior (Belügyminisztérium) provide a forum for consultation with youth organisations. The Board of the Children and Youth Fund (Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapprogram Tanácsa) is an important strategic partner in policy-making. Regarding education policy, the National Youth Parliament (Országos Diákparlament) has an important role in representing the recommendations of the students. (For more information on these organisations, see 5.3)

The National Youth Council (Nemzeti Ifjúsági Tanács, NIT) hold regular consultations with their members where they can present the current situation of youth. The Hungarian Youth Conference (Magyar Ifjúsági Konferencia, MIK) also provides opportunities for young people to articulate their needs towards the government, as it is also a strategic partner of the Deputy State Secretariat for Young People. (See more details in 5.3 Youth representation bodies.)

At the local level, there is no mandatory framework for how young people should be consulted. Young people can represent their interests through Student Councils (Diákönkormányzat) operating in schools.

Method and regularity of consultation

The Board of the Children and Youth Fund has a meeting at least once a quarter and inform the relevant minister twice a year about the implementation status of their tasks. The State Secretary Responsible for Public Education convenes the National Youth Parliament every other year, and he also participates in the meetings. The plenary sessions of the National Student Council operate between the two sessions of the National Student Parliament.

NIT has 2 plenary meetings per year, and additional consultations are also held in the capital and in the countryside on a project basis where local decision-makers and young people can have a dialogue on specific issues. In 2025, the Ministry, together with NIT, organised the National Youth Strategy Roadshow ('Mit Szólsz Hozzá? Roadshow'). At these events, young people expressed their opinions on five topics (housing, work, healthcare, education and community), which were then forwarded to the government. As part of this programme, young people can also provide their opinion online, through a questionnaire.

MIK holds its national consultation twice a year as well as two/four meetings of the Standing Committee (Presidency), though since 2023, they did not publish the closing documents on their websites.

Actors

Among the actors in the youth field the youth workers (or experts); youth and student organisations (dealing with specific youth issues); Ministry professionals who are not decision-makers and student/youth councils operating at schools or the local level should be mentioned who participate in consultation processes as members of an organisation or as individuals. Specific target groups within the youth field are not treated separately from youth in general.

The authorities participating in the consultation processes in the youth field are mainly the Deputy State Secretariat for Young People under the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium), the State Secretary Responsible for Public Education under the Ministry of Interior (Belügyminisztérium), the ministry responsible for specific issues (Ministry for National Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ministry of Interior) and the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights.

Officers responsible for youth issues at local governments and local NGOs should be mentioned as additional stakeholders. From a financial point of view, the National Cooperation Fund (Nemzeti Együttműködési Alap) also considers the relevant needs (see in 5.6 Supporting Youth Organisations). Certain for-profit organisations are important actors as well regarding articulating the needs of youth.

Information on the extent of youth participation

Youth organisations are the most important participants in consultations at the national level as they can represent young people, such as the NIT. Individual young people can participate in consultations at the local level or on specific issues. They mostly discuss issues which are relevant on the local level with the delegates of NIT, NGOs, and other stakeholders, like in the Youth Dialogue project (Ifjúsági Párbeszéd). Many of these young people are representatives of local school student councils.

A higher number of young people are involved in the Open University event organised by NIT and MIK (Szabadegyetem) each year. The aim of NIT x MIK Free University in 2025 was to enable young people to get in touch with youth policy experts and decision-makers and ask them questions that are currently of concern to the younger generation. Important topics include digital youth protection and artificial intelligence.

Outcomes

On the ministry level, the main outcomes of consultations with young people are usually individual policy decisions taken on the basis of the proposals of these discussions. According to Ministry information, they will take into consideration the results of the National Youth Strategy Roadshow ('Mit Szólsz Hozzá? Roadshow') when they create the new youth strategy. They held in-person consultations in 25 locations and they received more than 4 000 answers in the online consultation questionnaire through the website.

At the national level, the National Youth Parliament (Országos Diákparlament, ODP) and the National Student Council (Országos Diáktanács, ODT) make recommendations in school and student-related issues. They made 64 proposals in 2026. In the sessions, the Minister Responsible for Public Education provides an update on the implementation of the previous recommendations.

All official data/decisions are publicly accessible on the website of the ODT but sometimes in legal terminology in the Hungarian Official Journal (Magyar Közlöny).

Large-scale initiatives for dialogue or debate between public institutions and young people

Youth Dialogue

The NIT organised the Youth Dialogue (Ifjúsági Párbeszéd) in 2025 in the frame of the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027. The event aimed at facilitating the dialogue between young people and decision makers. The Deputy State Secretary for Young People participated in the event with other actors in the field of youth policy. The most significant questions from young people were what the future plans are to involve youth in public politics; what methods are being used to reach young people; what community spaces are available for young people, and what opportunities exist for youth community involvement and volunteering. Other important topics raised by the young participants were the mental health of young people, the need for improving the education system and the political elections in 2026.