In the European Union youth policy - as employment and social affairs – falls within the competence of the member states. However, in 1993 the provisions of Article 149 § 2. of the Treaty of Maastricht extended the scope of EU policies to the youth field.

In 2001 the White Paper on Youth (A New Impetus for European Youth) launched by the Commission defined the framework for cooperation and co-ordination in the youth field highlighting four priority areas of development: participation, information, voluntary activities and a greater understanding and knowledge of youth. The White Paper proposed the mainstreaming of youth dimension in the agenda of other relevant policies, such as education and training, employment and social inclusion, health and anti-discrimination.

As part of the revised Lisbon strategy the European Youth Pact adopted in 2005 aims to promote the participation of all young people in education, employment and society, and defines the key indicators of integration, social development, training and mobility, reconciliation of work and private life.

The Commission has been providing generations of grant programs promoting and supporting youth exchanges, cooperation of youth organizations, training for youth workers and youth leaders for more than ten years. The European Commission’s grant program for the period between 2007 and 2013 is called Youth in Action.

In April 2009 the European Union published a communication on the new EU strategy for youth policy for the decade 2010-2018. Entitled Youth – Investing and Empowering, the new youth strategy targets the priority areas of action on the basis of three main aims: to create more opportunities for youth in education and employment, to improve access and full participation of all young people in society, and to foster solidarity between youth and society.  The Resolution on the Renewed Framework for European Cooperation in the Youth Field (2010-2018) adopted on 27 November 2009 by the Council of the European Union laid the foundation of the structured dialogue with young people and defined the cooperation in the youth field for the period between 2010 and 2018.

In 2010 the EU developed a new plan to generate economic growth and employment. The main goal of the Europe 2020 strategy is to reach a 75 % level of employment in Europe. The strategy draws up seven flagship initiatives, one of which is the action plan called: Youth on the Move, a complex program promoting European mobility among young people.

2011 EU-China Year of Youth

2011 was designated as the EU-China Year of Youth with a view to "further promoting and deepening partnership between Europe and China", at the 12th EU-China Summit, held in Nanjing on 30 November 2009. A joint action plan for the Year of Youth was signed on 6 October 2010 by Commissioner Vassiliou and the Vice President of the All China Youth Federation. This action plan sets a general framework plan for the development of joint activities in the context of the Year.

The EU Youth in Action Programme is the main source of potential support on the EU side for concrete joint youth projects aimed at developing partnerships, networks, voluntary projects, youth exchanges among youth organisations from the EU and their counterparts in China. Projects promoting cooperation with China can be supported in the framework of two actions of the Youth in Action Programme: Action 3.2 "Youth in the World”, and Action 2: the European Voluntary Service.

Further information:
http://ec.europa.eu/youth/focus/focus1864_en.htm
http://www.2011euchinayouth.eu/