PRESS RELEASE “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations”
OBESSU Statement ahead of International Youth Day
BRUSSELS, 7 August 2026 — As young people across Europe and around the globe mark International Youth Day on 12 August, under the theme “Different Contexts, Common Aspirations,” OBESSU is using this moment to release a Statement titled:
“Different Contexts, Common Aspirations Ensuring Meaningful Engagement and Providing Vital Resources”
Our Statement focuses on the European Union’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), joining forces with a range of beneficiaries and civil society organisations to call on all parties involved to ensure the next EU budget genuinely creates opportunities and meaningfully addresses the challenges ahead.
The Council’s proposed reduction to the Erasmus+ budget (June 2026) sends the wrong message at a time when young people, including school students, across Europe are already facing rising living costs, inequality, and growing pressure on their education and well-being.
Our Statement stresses that investment in education and youth is not optional. Investing in programmes like Erasmus+ and AgoraEU is an investment in democratic participation, active citizenship, intercultural understanding and Europe’s long-term resilience.
Different contexts may shape our experiences, but our aspirations are common. As young learners and young people, we need a budget that reflects this reality and invests in our future. We call for a youth- and learner-centred MFF, one that recognises and reinforces our role as active rights-holders and contributors to Europe’s democratic future, rather than treating us as passive beneficiaries.
We urge decision-makers across EU institutions and Member States, together with all other parties involved, to work towards strengthening the new EU Budget and protect and programmes like Erasmus+ and AgoraEU. To work towards a youth- and learner-centred budget that ensures that we, as young people, school students, VET learners, are meaningfully involved in shaping the programmes affecting our learning experiences, our present and future.
Investment in youth and learners, to our education and democratic participation, is an investment in Europe’s shared future.
Wanna know more or support our efforts?
Contact us at secretariat@obessu.org ; policy@obessu.org
