YOUTH COUNCIL : MINISTERS SEEK WAYS TO IMPROVE QUALITY OF MOBILITY.

It is important to facilitate mobility for young people, youth workers and youth organisations from the EU, and support cooperation, particularly with the Eastern European countries (Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia), in the context of the renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field. The Eastern dimension is a big priority for the Polish Presidency. This is the message that was adopted, on 28 November 2011, by the member states' ministers of youth at the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council, presided by Poland.

The conclusions on the Eastern dimension of youth participation and mobility call on the EU to develop cooperation and improve the quality of mobility, in particular in the field of non-formal non-formal and formal learning and volunteering activities. In order to do so, the conclusions call on member states and the European Commission to promote exchanges and mobility programmes for youth and youth organisations via the exchange of good practice for cooperation between organisations that work in the field of youth. They also ask for the removal of obstacles to mobility and to participation, namely by promoting the learning of foreign languages.

Moreover, the recommendations also make a series of specific recommendations to member states and the Commission. For example, they encourage member states to reinforce cross-sectoral cooperation between the different fields of action and the competent authorities in order to pursue the reflexion on the obstacles to reciprocal...