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1. Youth parliament

2. Youth councils and/or youth advisory boards

3. Higher education student union(s)

4. School student union(s)

5. Other bodies

Youth parliament

The Youth Parliament in Portugal is an educational programme to promote citizenship, aiming to boost youth interest in civic and political participation.

Approved by Resolution no. 42/2006, of 2 June, the Youth Parliament programme is an initiative of the Portuguese Parliament, implemented in partnership with the following entities: the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth; the Ministry of Education; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Regional Secretariats of Education and Youth of Madeira and  Azores.

It is intended for young people attending the 5^th to 9^th grades of basic education, as well as secondary education. The Youth Parliament programme is an initiative that takes place every school year in public, private, and cooperative education within the country and among Portuguese communities, both in and outside Europe.

Therefore, the Youth Parliament is not a representative body that develops youth interests. It is primarily an educational programme.

However, the Portuguese institutional framework provides for several youth representative bodies across various scopes. At national level, there are two major platforms that represent youth and the youth associations movement: the National Youth Council and the National Federation for Youth Associations. Additionally, at national level, there is the Youth Advisory Council, which serves as the advisory body for the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport. IPDJ’s organic law also provides for the existence of its own Advisory Council, which supports and participates in establishing the guidelines for its scope of action. Finally, at regional and local levels, there are Regional Advisory Councils and Municipal Youth Councils.

Youth councils and/or youth advisory boards

National Youth Council (CNJ)

It is the platform for national youth organisations that represents youth interests and promotes youth participation in the formulation, implementation and assessment of youth policies. It comprises 45 youth organisations from various sectors (student, scout, cultural, sports, socio-educational, religious) and takes part in several advisory areas on youth related matters (e.g., Advisory Council on Youth, Advisory Committee of the IPDJ, Economic and Social Committee, National Education Council, National Council for Drugs, Drug Addiction and the Harmful Use of Alcohol, Committee for the Coordination and Monitoring of the Youth Guarantee, RTP’s Advisory Council, Parliamentary Committee hearings and working groups for youth matters). At international level, it represents Portuguese youth in forums such as the European Youth Forum, the CPLP Youth Forum, and the International Youth Organisation for Ibero-America (OIJ).

Its legal statute (Law no. 1/2006) indicates that the State must take its advise “as a contact for young people on all issues regarding youth” (Article 5(c)), and institutional participation in the formulation of policies affecting youth and in the creation of legislation are also referred in Article 8. Without prejudice to participation rights granted to different youth organisations individually, the National Youth Council (CNJ) integrates the participation and concertation bodies where youth interests should be globally represented (according to Article 8(2)).

CNJ’s governing bodies, elected every two years, consist of young people up to 30 years old, belonging to organisations integrated in the platform and elected by the General Meeting. The three governing bodies – Board of Directors, General Meeting, and Supervisory  Board – follow internal regulations. Part of CNJ’s funding is public, meaning it must report to  the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport and to IPDJ. The organisation also applies for national and European funding programmes.

National Federation of Youth Associations (FNAJ)

Another fundamental platform of representation for Portuguese youth, for its wide local base of involvement, is the National Federation of Youth Associations. FNAJ represents youth organisations at a local level and their regional federations, defending young people’s aspirations and fighting to solve their problems; promotes associative life as an instrument for active youth participation in local communities; and encourages civic and associative youth education. It represents local associative life in advisory bodies such as the Advisory Council on Youth, IPDJ’s Advisory Council, the National Council for Drugs, Drug Addiction and the Harmful Use of Alcohol, the Committee for Assessment and Selection of the Erasmus+ Youth/Sport and the European Solidarity Corps programmes, among other processes in which public youth policies are defined. It has around 1,000 affiliated associations. FNAJ has four governing bodies, and its statutes and regulations are available on the organisation’s website. Its funding comes from IPDJ programmes for youth associations and from applications   for national and international funds.

Advisory Council on Youth - CCJ

The Advisory Council on Youth (Conselho Consultivo da Juventude) is an advisory body of the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport. According to Article 2  of Decree-Law no. 129/2015, the Advisory Council on Youth is responsible for:

• Examining the issues concerning global youth policy;

• Examining the issues concerning civic participation, and social and economic integration of young people;

• Assessing projects of sector-specific legislation, in sections concerning youth issues;

• Identifying priority fields for intervention in the youth sector, in the context of the White   Paper on Youth;

• Identifying fields for intervention, in the context of the European strategies agreed upon by  EU Member States;

• Establishing structured dialogue procedures.

The Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) is chaired by the Secretary of State of Youth and Sport and is composed of 23 organisations representing the most diverse youth interests (students, unions, business, scouts, cultural, sports, and cultural), and other organisations with relevant work in the youth field may also take part in its meetings, as explained in Article 1 of the above-mentioned Decree-Law.

CCJ has the following structure:

• Five representatives appointed by the National Youth Council, that cannot represent other  participating organisations of the CCJ;

• Five representatives appointed by the National Federation of Youth Associations, that cannot represent other participating organisations of the CCJ; 

• One representative of the UGT Youth Commission;

• One representative of INTERJOVEM;

• One representative of the National Young Entrepreneurs Association; 

• One representative of the Portuguese Young Farmers Association;

• One representative of each of the youth organisations of parties with seats in the  National Parliament;

• One representative of University Students Associations;

• One representative of the National Federation of Polytechnic (Higher Education) Students Associations;

• One representative of the Federation of University Sports;

• One representative of the Students Associations of Secondary Schools;

• One representative of the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities; 

• One representative of the National Association of Civil Parishes;

• One representative of the Department of Youth of the National Confederation of Family Associations;

• One representative of the National Scouts Corps;

• One representative of the Portuguese Scouts Association; 

• One representative of the Portuguese Girl Scouts Association; 

• One representative of the National Culture Centre;

• One representative of the Portuguese Communities in the World.

The Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) meets every three months or, extraordinarily, whenever convened by its president. Specialised committees, intended to assess specific issues, can also be created. These meetings are properly noted and the issues addressed are varied, covering youth employment and support programmes, youth associative life, youth hostels’ management, and the national Government’s budget for the youth sector, among other topics.

Some of the topics of the Advisory Council on Youth’s agenda are as follows:

• The Legal Framework of Youth Associations;

• Youth employment and the Youth Guarantee programme;

• Presentation of the National Government Budget for Youth;

• Information on Movijovem’s co-management - inclusion of the National Youth Council and of the National Federation of Youth Associations in the share capital and decision-making bodies of the cooperative that runs Youth Hostels and the European Youth Card in  Portugal;

• Presentation of the European Solidarity Corps Programme; 

• Consultation on legislation or regulation amendments; 

• Consultation concerning the National Plan for Youth.

Its funding is included in the operating costs of the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport.

IPDJ’s Advisory Council (Conselho Consultivo do IPDJ)

The organic law of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth provides for the existence of an Advisory Council which is the advisory, support and participation body concerning the formulation of the Institute’s general courses of action and the decision-making procedures of the governing body.

The Advisory Council is composed of nine elements from the sport and youth sectors, and it can meet in plenary session or in specialised sections. In its composition, the following entities directly linked to youth are highlighted:

• The president of IPDJ, I. P., who presides;

• A representative appointed by the National Youth Council;

• A representative appointed by the National Federation of Youth Associations;

• A representative appointed by students associations in higher education;

• A representative appointed by students associations in basic and secondary  education.

IPDJ’s Advisory Council is responsible for issuing advice on:

• The annual and multiannual activity plans and on the activity report;   

• Other matters submitted by the president.

The Advisory Council meets at least twice a year, and extraordinarily whenever convened by its President, or at the request of one third of its members. Any person or entity whose presence is deemed necessary to clarify the topics under consideration can be convened  by the President to participate in the meetings, but with no voting rights.

IPDJ’s Regional Advisory Councils

At regional level, the statutes of IPDJ provide for the existence of the Regional Advisory Councils (CCR), corresponding to the five regional directorates of IPDJ (North, Centre, Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, Alentejo, and Algarve). The Regional Advisory Council (CCR) is   the representative structure of sport and youth associative life in the region, as explained in Article 22 of Ordinance no. 11/2012, of 11 January.

The Regional Advisory Council (CCR) is responsible for presenting proposals, suggestions or recommendations on actions, initiatives and programmes promoted by the IPDJ, I.P., covering its respective region.

It is composed of seven elements, mostly linked to the youth associative movement (Ordinance no. 11/2012, of 11 January).

The Regional Advisory Council meets twice a year, and extraordinarily whenever convened by IPDJ’s Regional Director, or at the request of one third of its members.

Advisory Councils in the autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira

In the autonomous regions of Madeira and Azores, there are also formal mechanisms for youth consultation:

• The Regional Advisory Council for Youth (Conselho Consultivo Regional da Juventude – CCRJ) is the advisory body of the Regional Government of Azores on youth-related matters (Regional Legislative Decree no. 10/99/A, which reformulates the Regional Advisory Council for Youth – CCRJ);
• The Regional Council for Youth of Madeira (CJM) is the advisory body of the Regional Secretary of Education, member of the Regional Government responsible for youth affairs.

Local Advisory Bodies: Youth City Councils

At local level, Youth City Councils (CMJ) have been implemented since the approval of Law no. 6/2012, of 10 February, amending Law no. 8/2009, of 18 February, and creating the Legal Framework for Youth City Councils.

Youth City Councils (CMJ) are the municipalities’ advisory bodies on youth policy-related matters, assisting in the formulation and implementation of youth municipal policies and ensuring  its articulation and coordination with other sectoral policies, particularly in the following sectors: employment and vocational training; housing; basic, secondary and higher education; culture; sport; health and social welfare, as explained in Article 3 of Law no. 6/2012. The Youth City Council (CMJ) approves its own rules of procedure.

The CMJ has the following structure:

1. The mayor, who presides;

2. One member of the municipal assembly of each party or group of citizens/voters represented in the municipal assembly;

3. The representative of the municipality’s city council in the regional youth council;

4. One representative from each youth association headquartered in the municipality and enrolled in  the National Registry for Youth Associations (RNAJ);

5. One representative of each basic and secondary education students associations headquartered in the municipality;

6. One representative of each higher education students associations headquartered in the municipality;

7. One representative from each students federation enrolled in RNAJ, whose geographical  scope of action is limited to the municipality or area in which the students associations headquartered in the municipality represent more than 50% of the members;

8. One representative of each political youth organisation with representation in the city council's bodies or in the Assembly of the Republic (Parliament);

9. One representative of each youth association and entities equivalent to youth associations, in accordance with Article 3(3) of Law no. 57/2019, of 7 August, at national   level.

The Municipal Assembly is responsible for approving the rules of the respective Municipal Youth Council. The internal CMJ charter is approved by the members of the board and must include the operating rules that are not provided for in the Code for Administrative Proceedings or in the law ruling the CMJ.

Regarding financing, the law does not provide specific financing guarantees to the CMJ. However, it stipulates that the Municipal Council is responsible for ensuring the logistic and administrative conditions for its operation.

Higher education student union(s)

The Legal Framework of Youth Associations, approved by Law no. 57/2019, of 7 August, defines students’ associations as those that represent students from the respective basic, secondary, higher or vocational education establishment.

Sub-section III of Law no. 57/2019 focuses specifically on the legal framework of higher education associations and federations, recognising their right to participate in advisory bodies at national level, with responsibilities on the definition and planning of the educational  system, and to be consulted, issuing opinions about school management, particularly in  matters related to activities and budget planning, educational guidance and teaching methods, or study plans and assessment of knowledge systems.

Regarding the representative structures, higher education students associations are affiliated with each other in a very diversified manner, both geographically (local, regional or national) and  in a typological way, depending on being a public university or foundation, polytechnic, or a private or cooperative higher education institution.

Usually, each university or higher education institution has a students association that represents their interests before the governing body of the university or higher education institution. Some, however, are not restricted to a single educational establishment, such as, for  instance, the Students Association of Coimbra.

University or higher education associations may then affiliate between themselves, creating a University or Polytechnic Association, or may even affiliate directly with a federation, which can be local (for example, Students Association of the University of Algarve), regional (as the Students Federation of Porto), national, in a specific field of intervention (such as, for instance, the Students Federation of University Sports) or encompassing a type of educational establishment (for instance, the National Federation of the Polytechnic Education Students Associations).

At national level, the various associations and federations constitute the students associations movement, which meets up regularly in ENDA – National Association Boards Meeting. ENDA is used for discussing and defining the position of the students associations movement on various relevant issues regarding higher education.

School students union(s)

The Associations Law, defined by Law no. 57/2019, of 7 August, presents in its sub-section II the characteristics and legal framework of basic and secondary education students associations.

Students unions are independent from the State, political parties, religious organisations or any other. They are free to draw up their respective rules and other internal regulations, to elect their governing bodies, to manage and govern their assets, and to create their activity   plans. However, they are entitled to financial support, granted by the State, for the development of their educational, cultural, social, and sport activities. Specifically, school associations of non-tertiary education have the right to monitor the activity of the management bodies and the school’s social support, and to intervene in the organisation of extracurricular activities and school sport, as well as to collaborate in the management of leisure and  sports areas.

At national level, the National Platform for Basic and Secondary Education Students Associations (FNAEBS) was established with the primary purpose of protecting the interests of students in basic and secondary schools across the country. Its creation was driven by the absence of a permanent dialogue channel between students’ associations and the Government, particularly with the Ministry of Education, to present proposals and the demands of basic and secondary education students. 

Other bodies

Not applicable.