Organization for Youth Education & Development (OYED)
European Union Directives on Youth Policy
European Union Directives on Youth Policy
In this section we have gathered the directives created by the European Union on youth issues. But what is a directive?
“An EU directive is a form of legislation that is "directed" at the member states. It will set out the objective or policy that needs to be attained. The Member States must then pass the relevant domestic legislation to give effect to the terms of the Directive within a time frame set in the directive, usually two years. Directives are often used to help enforce the free trade, free movement and competition rules across the EU. They can also be used to establish common social policies, and thus can affect employment issues, labor law, working conditions, health and safety. Therefore they can significantly affect businesses.” [1]
Below you will find directives, which were adopted/refused or in progress by the European Union in the field of youth:
1994:
• Council Directive 94/33/EC of 22 June 1994 on the protection of young people at work
The law focuses on the protection of young people at workplace. The exploitation is strictly prohibited, and children who are under 15 years are not allowed to be employed. A young person is defined by being between 15-18 years old, and the employment (internship or training, full-time employment is prohibited) of this age group is also strongly controlled by the EU. If the person takes a job, it cannot be harmful to the safety, health or development of children and cannot influence the school performance of the person. [2]
OJ L 216, OJ L 216, 20.8.1994
2004
• Council Directive 2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004 on the conditions of admission of third-country nationals for the purposes of studies, pupil exchange, unremunerated training or voluntary service.
In this Directive it is possible to observe one of the main objectives of Community action in the field of education, which is the promotion of the EU as a whole world center of excellence for studies and vocational training. For this reason the Council allocates in this document great importance to the promotion of mobility of third-country nationals for study purposes, which sets the foundation for further university exchanges between EU citizens. [3]
OJ L 375, 23.12.2004, p. 12–18
[1] What is an EU Directive: http://www.europeanlawmonitor.org/what-is-guide-to-key-eu-terms/eu-legislation-what-is-an-eu-directive.html (Accessed: 17.03.2014, 14:35)
[2] EurLex: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31994L0033:en:HTML (Accessed: 17.03.2014, 14:35)
[3] EurLex: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:303:0016:0022:EN:PDF (Accessed: 17.03.2014, 14:35)
