Forthcoming Policy Development

The forthcoming Policy Development will happen in November 2019 when Aġenzija Żgħażagħ will organise the Model European Parliament in Malta. The Model European Parliament  is an international simulation of the working of the European Parliament for students aged 16–19. The aim of the programme is to give young people an insight into the workings of the European Parliament and raise their awareness of European citizenship. delegates of different nationalities form a committee that debates a certain topic extensively and drafts a resolution, a non-binding piece of legislation outlining the key issues of the topic and proposing solutions. The drafting process is followed by lobbying, during which delegates may debate and propose amendments for other resolutions. The finale of a session is the General Assembly (GA). During this, resolutions and amendments are debated and voted upon by all of the delegates. Any successful resolutions are then forwarded to the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union.

After participating in the project for 2 years the Maltese National Youth Agency will be organising the forum in Malta that will bring around 200 young people and policy makers to discuss European issues that affect the well-being of young people.

Ongoing Debate

The major debate vis-a-vis youth political participation in Malta regards the age when a young person can stand for election, whether it is local, national or European. This policy debate is the natural progression after the voting age in all forms of elections was lowered from 18 to 16 in March 2018. In this regard a debate is now going  on whether such young people should also stand for elections.