1.9 Current debates and reforms
In Spain, these are the main debates:
The debates from the Youth Strategy 2020 involve different scopes like the European perspective of the youth policies; the youth from the point of view of the administrations; the emancipation challenges; equality policies; participation, volunteering and cooperation; lifestyles, leisure and free time; culture, youth creation and ICT; youth in Spain, values and principles.
Through the scope of the Congress of Deputies the political debates regarding the Strategy 2020 took place exclusively in the X Legislature (2011-2016). The discussion took place around two written questions to the Government and one non legislateive proposal from the Socialist Parliamentary Group. The first question focused in the need to maintain Spain in line with the ideas of the Strategy on sustainable and inclusive growth. The second question was done in order to know the status of the National Social Report required by the European Commission in the framework of the Strategy 2020. Finally, the Non-legislative proposal was launched to guarantee the accomplishment of the objectives of the Strategy on social inclusion and fight against poverty.
The youth situation is another debate in the Congress of Deputies in the XII Legislature (2016-present).
The Popular Party (PP) Parliamentary Group based on the importance of the youth for the future of the country, and following the main lines of the Youth Strategy of the European Union, made a Non-legislative proposal to introduce a youth perspective in all the public policies, and an analysis of the youth impact.
The Socialist Parliamentary Group (party that currently governs together with the Unidos Podemos party, forming the first coalition government in the history of Spain) requested the creation of a Sub-commission in the Committee on the Rights of Children and Adolescents abouth the Youth in Spain, based in the risks that the youth faces, like higher poverty rates and difficulties to enter the labor market.
Concerning the work of the committees the Federal Parliamentary Group Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea, the Socialist Parliamentary Group and Citizens (Ciudadanos) Parliamentary Group inquired the appearance of experts, authorities, members of the Government and civil servants in different Committees, to speak about youth on gender equality, the main problems of the youth population on the labour sphere, the access to housing, youth poverty, youth disability, European plans on youth, education.
- Youth Work, especially in those fields where young people work with other youth.
- Mutual recognition of professional skills between countries for non-formal education; specially the European Skills Passport.
There are also a series of debates on youth identities and the capacity of participation of youth in the social domain [i]. The deep transformations brought about by the digital technological revolution, have become a decisive influence in the way young people are building their identity, subjectivities, relationships and participation; strongly linked to the different means of training. From an approach, the new forms of identity which seem to combine concepts that thanks to the mass-media and ICT new spaces representing the way into conceptions in terms of cosmopolitanism, are analysed; also the studies about Millennials and Generation Z [ii].
[i] See more on Youth Work.