International Conference: «EU Neighbourhood policy and Migrations». The role of the "Youth in Action" and "Euromed Youth III" programmes.

Short Introduction

When we hear the word "neighbourhood", we immediately think about good relationship and this nice person that always have a cup of coffee or tea to offer, when we go asking for some sugar or wheat. When we hear about policies, our mind picture changes considerably...

Background

During the Middle-Age, the Mediterranean Sea was a common space for civilisations and communities, sharing trade and cultures, beliefs and values, where kingdoms and states - going one step beyond the political or economic interests - experienced the richness of diversity and intercultural awareness...

The EU main concern has been the active role of their members in the recovering of the Mediterranean Area as a space for peace and cooperation. Today Canary Islands is one of the place where illegal migration is more acute and for this reason the venue will offer a good starting point for debating on this thorny issue.

Conference main goals were:

• To acknowledge the main achievements occurred since the EU creation, its active role through its euromed policies and the new challenges EU has to face;
• To promote an active, efficient and authentic neighbourhood policy in terms of migrations, involving and committing young people in this process ;
• To use the new programmes (YIA and Euromed Youth III) to face the current challenges wihtin the Neighbourdhood Policy;
• To share tools, methods and strategies related with good practices which emerged in the previous EU funding period;

What happened during the Conference ?

The Conference gathered more than 100 people from 40 European and partner countries.

Yougsters, youth organizations, youth workers, 6 National Agencies of the "Youth in Action" programme, 6 EuroMed Units of the "EuroMed Youth III" programme, university experts, the Commission and institutional representatives from European Union, Balkans, Estearn Europe and Caucasus, debated on the role played by the two programmes "Youth in Action" and "EuroMed Youth III" in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy.

To come soon

The report of this huge event.