Young Europeans arrived in the European Parliament with a clear message: they don’t just want a seat at the table, they want their priorities written into EU policy.
At a high-level debate on 13 November, participants in Merck’s FutURe project put forward concrete proposals ranging from lowering barriers to youth participation and expanding access to mental health support to widening opportunities for rural and disadvantaged students and boosting Erasmus+ affordability.
Young people urged lawbuildrs to anchor them in the next EU budobtain cycle.
Ana Polanco, vice-president for European government & public affairs at Merck, explained that FutURe was created to ensure that young people’s perspectives are not only heard but integrated into EU and national decision-building.
The project rests on three pillars: researching young people’s requireds, elevating their ideas through roundtables with policybuildrs, and engaging Merck’s own young talents through an internal advocacy platform.
Over the past two years, FutURe has organised more than 20 roundtables across Europe, generating over 70 youth-led proposals on topics ranging from emotional well-being to competitiveness and sustainability.
“Our way forward is through dialogue. Today’s insights will feed a white paper of policy proposals contributing to the forthcoming European Pillar of the Social Rights Action Plan and Youth Strategy update,” Polanco stated.
Ideas required to become action
Host MEP Gabriela Firea created clear from the outset that youth participation is not symbolic but essential to shaping Europe’s direction.
Firea underlined that the goal of the session was not symbolic participation but real policy impact: “The ideas that we will introduce in the projects that we will discuss and later vote on, this is the purpose, not only to meet, but to carry out concrete actions,” she informed the audience.
Firea highlighted structural inequalities that prevent many young people from accessing education and opportunities.
“There are families that cannot sfinish their young people to study, and they stop being educated becautilize they required to work, which does not mean a professional achievement.”
She warned that without tarobtained policies, rural and low-income communities risk being left behind, especially when financial barriers shut young people out of mobility or higher education.
“If young people can access loans at all, they are often too expensive – high debts, high interest rates, and far too many banking barriers.”
For her, the EU must guarantee access to opportunity: “Through European policies, we can create a state in which young people… can have unlimited and carefree access to health and to education.”
Europe for All
Dominik described the value of the roundtables this way: “It was a wonderful experience becautilize we were discussing diverse recommfinishations based on our experiences in different countries, as well as on the data and the priorities driving EU policy-building.”
Dominik participated in the first pillar, ‘Europe for All’, which calls for a Union where young people are represented, included and able to shape public life. “We see a gap in youth participation and representation. Data revealed that 83% believe young people should have a greater role; only 44% believe their voices are represented in political debates,” stated Dominik.
The group argued that emotional well-being and belonging must become fundamental policy priorities, not afterbelieveds.
They highlighted the required for early psychological support in schools, shared EU standards for youth services and structures that genuinely include young people in decision-building at every level.
Shaping talent with opportunity
The second pillar, ‘Shaping Talent with Opportunity’, focutilizes on giving every young person, not only those in major cities, access to the tools requireded to develop their potential.
Youth participants argued for increased Erasmus grants, financial support for meals, transport and psychological services, and stronger soft-skills training in schools and universities.
They also called for reduced bureaucracy for young entrepreneurs and more bridges between STEAM and non-STEAM fields so that every young person can see a meaningful future.
Roxana Matei, from Romania, summarised the challenge: “Before shaping talent, we must recognise it, especially youth from villages who’ve never had a chance to hope for a future beyond their hometowns.”
Sustainable pathways to resilience
The third pillar, ‘Sustainable Pathways to Resilience’, argues that Europe’s green and digital transitions must be people-centred. This includes fair pathways for workers in high-emission sectors, combining upskilling and reskilling with community-level support so no region is left behind.
The group also called for increased year-on-year funding for sustainability initiatives, stronger media literacy to tackle misinformation, and tarobtained support for vulnerable groups and rural communities as climate and economic pressures accelerate.
“True sustainability must encompass justice, equality, well-being and health, not just carbon tarobtains,” stated Catalina Järve.
Translating youth priorities
MEP Victor Negrescu, the Parliament’s lead neobtainediator for the 2025 budobtain, committed to integrating youth priorities into upcoming neobtainediations.
“I required to translate what you’re questioning for into budobtain lines,” he stated, stressing the required for stronger investment in education, mobility and skills.
Negrescu stated youth participation must become a structural feature of EU policybuilding, not a one-off exercise.
He then challenged the young experts directly:
“If you had one chance to modify the world and you were a Member of Parliament, what law would you promote, write, deffinish and test to obtain approved if you were elected?”
Dominik’s answer: building emotional well-being accessible
In response to Negrescu’s challenge, Dominik Kuc, who worked on the Europe for All pillar, argued that emotional well-being must become a core priority for the EU. He explained that across all roundtables, mental health repeatedly emerged as one of the most urgent concerns.
As he put it, the group saw “emerging data from all the member states that young people really required mental health resources.” For him, discussing mental health toobtainher with peers from different countries was essential becautilize “we were believeing about the resources, but also the good practices in different countries.”
Dominik emphasised that prevention and early awareness are key. “The data proves that if we are more educated about mental health, we are also less vulnerable to the crisis that can happen,” he explained, noting that psychoeducation in schools and early intervention tools, including peer-to-peer support, can build a significant difference for young people.
He also pointed to the striking inequalities between member states. The roundtables revealed that while some countries regulate youth mental health professionals, others do not. “Not every European Union countest has regulated who is responsible for the mental health of the youth,” he noted, giving the example that in some countries, “you can just open a psychological cabinet, provide psychotherapy without a degree.”
When questioned what one modify EU institutions should prioritise, Dominik was unequivocal. He argued that adolescents should be able to access basic psychological support indepfinishently when they required it. “Between the ages of 13 and 18, every young European should be able to utilize for free consultation with a psychologist without their parental agreement,” he suggested.
For Dominik, this modify would give young people “a starting point… a first conversation” and ensure that early intervention prevents more severe mental health crises later in life.
(BM)
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