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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

In Spain there is a type of consultation called Structured Dialogue (Dialogo Estructurado), an initiative launched by the European, with the purpose of serving as a forum for joint reflection on priorities, implementation and follow-up of European cooperation in the youth field. This initiative involves regular consultation with young people and youth organisations at all levels in EU countries. It also promotes dialogue between youth representatives and policymakers at youth conferences organised by the Member States holding the Presidency of the EU during European Youth Week.

With the purpose of adapting the policies to the needs of those they are aimed towards, the Ministry of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda (Ministerio de Derechos Sociales y Agenda 2030) guarantees that representatives for youth and youth organisations actively participate in the design and application of policies and action plans for youth Employment and entrepreneurship.

The European Youth Strategy establishes Structured Dialogue between youth and people responsible for youth policies within the member states, which entails the development of regular enquiries with youth and their representatives in advisory bodies and youth organisations at all levels. In Spain this structured dialogue takes place within the Inter-Ministerial Commission on Youth (Comisión Interministerial para la Juventud); special attention to proposals and initiatives made by the Youth Council of Spain are among its tasks.

The Spanish Youth Council is the main body advising public officials on the process of elaborating policies related to youth. It binds together a total of 76 youth entities and it is made out of the Autonomous Regions Youth Councils as well as the national youth organisations.

The Strategy for Entrepreneurship and Youth Employment 2013-2016 is the result of these mechanisms of participation, enquiry and dialogue with social partners and youth. This strategy includes 100 measures, with the final purpose of making access for youth to the labour market easier by means of recruitment or self-employment.

Structured Dialogue, focuses on a general theme (established by Council of Youth Ministers) during each of its 18-month work cycles. The working method is one of conducting a consultation between young people and youth organisations in each of the Member States.

These States are the ones who organise and guarantee the participatory process of the national working groups, in which, among others, the following are included:

• Representatives of the Youth Ministries (representatives of the Ministry of Social Rights and 2030 Agenda – Ministerio de Derechos Sociales y Agenda 2030)
• National youth councils (representatives of the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España) and the Institute of Youth (Instituto de la Juventud).
• Local and regional youth councils,
• Youth organizations,
• Young people from different fields,
• Youth researchers.

In regards to the possibility of participation of youth volunteers in the process of elaboration and design of the strategy or the public policies referred to volunteering, one single process was opened in year 2012 making collaboration with NGOs of social action possible through a questionnaire designed ad hoc.

Actors

The main collective actors representing young people are those coveredin previous sections. There are no other institutional actors other than those already mentioned.

Specifically targeted public policies for youth are carried out at two different levels, as discussed in chapter one. The general coordination of information for analysing and designing such policies takes place from the Youth Institute (INJUVE). But competences in the field of youth are in the hands of the Autonomous Communities and the respective councils that understand this matter are the ones in charge of carrying out the greater part of the implantation, monitoring and evaluation of public youth policies.

The Youth Institute is the central government body responsible for youth policies at the state level in 1977. Therefore, it maintains the status of national reference point in dialogue with the other ministerial departments and economic and social agents, with the autonomous communities, municipalities and youth associations. Moreover, the Youth Institute has guaranteed its presence at state level through its lines of research, materials, information, national and European programmes, international resources, examples of good practice and pilot initiatives.

Information on the extent of youth participation

The participants must be young people between the ages of 13 and 30 years old, resident in the countries involved in the project, with 60 spaces available per country. Spain is governed in this area by the Resolution of the EU Council on the format of political participation of young people in democratic life.

Outcomes

Recommendations are proposed by each country at a European Conference with representatives of all national consultations together with those responsible for governmental affairs in the youth field. After this stage, the results of the Structured Dialogue are made available to the European Commission to develop measures to improve various aspects of Youth Policy in the European Union.

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

In Spain, the Spanish Youth Council (Consejo de la Juventud de España, CJE) is the agency responsible for dialogue with public authorities and state institutions, in addition to participating in the design of policies that directly or indirectly affect young people and the presentation of alternatives to the problems of this group. Initiatives for dialogue between public administrations and young Spanish people find their interlocutor in the associations integrated in the CJE.