EUROPEAN YOUTH SUMMIT PREPARATIONS : EDUCATION, JOBS AND ENVIRONMENT ARE EU YOUTH'S TOP PRIORITIES.

Representatives from national youth councils and international youth NGOs from all over Europe met on 18-20 Jan to prepare for a special Youth Summit in Rome from 24-25 March. The event - part of the 50-year celebrations since the signing of the Treaty of Rome - resulted in a discussion paper that will now be debated in each member state before a final declaration is handed to the European Council in March.The Commission's communication spokesperson, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, told Europolitics that, during the Youth Summit in Rome, youth representatives from all over Europe will discuss their future, first with each other, then with the European Council in Berlin, through a live image transmission. He said that the lack of interest young people have in politics and public life in general was a "worrying phenomenon" for politics in Europe and that the event was part of efforts to curb this trend by bringing young people into the political process.In one of the six areas in the paper, youth representatives argue that Europe's social and economic model should improve the fragile position of youth, especially in terms of young people getting and staying in jobs. European Youth Forum (YFJ) President Bettina Schwarzmayr said that "the triple E' - Education, Employment and Environment - summarises the expectations of young people for the next 50 years ahead: only by granting autonomy and sustainability for young people's lives we can expect a healthy life for Europe". "'Flexicurity' [finding a balance between flexible working arrangements for the employer and secure employment for the employee] is a key...