The European Youth Portal is a multi-lingual website addressing young people in Europe and providing access to youth related European and national information. The aim of the European Youth Portal is to provide young people aged 13 to 30 across Europe with information and opportunities around a wide range of topics based on the EU Youth Strategy, including education, employment, participation, culture, social inclusion, health, mobility and volunteering. One of its major strengths is that this content is provided at European and national levels through a partnership between the European Commission and Eurodesk, and is available in up to 27 different languages, covering 33 countries.
The European Youth Portal is an initiative of the European Commission and was launched in 2004. [1] The portal was suggested in the European Commission's White Paper "A new impetus for European Youth". [2] [3] It has been developed with and for young people, particularly in association with Eurodesk and the European Youth Forum. [4] In April 2009, the European Commission adopted the EU Youth Strategy. One of the strategy's objectives is to enhance the participation of all young people in society and to increase their participation in civic life and in representative democracy. It is also stated in the Council Resolution of 27 November 2009 on a renewed framework for European cooperation in the youth field (2010–2018)." [5] To this end, the European Commission re-launched the European Youth Portal in May 2013 with a new look and feel, and new content. It replaced the previous one which was no longer meeting the growing expectations of its young audience.
The Eurodesk network - a permanent support structure of the European Union's 'Youth in Action' programme - is responsible for managing the content, contributing to its translation and promoting the portal. [6] [7]
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and negotiates agreements and work programmes with European employers. It coordinates the national and sectoral policies of its affiliates on social and economic matters, particularly in the framework of the EU institutional processes, including European economic governance and the EU Semester.
European Union culture policies aim to address and promote the cultural dimension of European integration through relevant legislation and government funding. These policies support the development of cultural activity, education or research conducted by private companies, NGO's and individual initiatives based in the EU working in the fields of cinema and audiovisual, publishing, music and crafts.
The European Structural and Investment Funds are financial tools governed by a common rulebook, set up to implement the regional policy of the European Union, as well as the structural policy pillars of the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. They aim to reduce regional disparities in income, wealth and opportunities. Europe's poorer regions receive most of the support, but all European regions are eligible for funding under the policy's various funds and programmes. The current framework is set for a period of seven years, from 2021 to 2027.
In the European Union education is at the responsibility of its Member States and their Ministries of education that they have; in such, the European Union institutions play only a supporting and overseeing role. According to Art. 165 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Community
shall contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States, through actions such as promoting the mobility of citizens, designing joint study programmes, establishing networks, exchanging information or teaching languages of the European Union. The Treaty also contains a commitment to promote life-long learning for all citizens of the Union.
The European Research Area (ERA) is a system of scientific research programs integrating the scientific resources of the European Union (EU). Since its inception in 2000, the structure has been concentrated on European cooperation in the fields of medical, environmental, industrial, and socioeconomic research. The ERA can be likened to a research and innovation equivalent of the European "common market" for goods and services. Its purpose is to increase the competitiveness of European research institutions by bringing them together and encouraging a more inclusive way of work, similar to what already exists among institutions in North America and Japan. Increased mobility of knowledge workers and deepened multilateral cooperation among research institutions among the member states of the European Union are central goals of the ERA.
The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the European Research Area (ERA). Starting in 2014, the funding programmes were named Horizon.
Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union Space Programme, managed by the European Commission and implemented in partnership with the EU Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), Frontex, SatCen and Mercator Océan.
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is the European Union's main legislative instrument aiming to promote the improvement of the energy performance of buildings within the European Union. It was inspired by the Kyoto Protocol which commits the EU and all its parties by setting binding emission reduction targets.
The North–South Centre, officially the European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity, is a Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe, the oldest political organisation of European states.
The Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a joint initiative of the European Union, together with its member states, and six Eastern European countries. The EaP framework governs the EU's relationship with the post-Soviet states of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The EaP is intended to provide a forum for discussions regarding trade, economic strategy, travel agreements, and other issues between the EU and its Eastern European neighbours. It also aims at building a common area of shared values of democracy, prosperity, stability, and increased cooperation. The project was initiated by Poland and a subsequent proposal was prepared in co-operation with Sweden. It was presented by the foreign ministers of Poland and Sweden at the EU's General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels on 26 May 2008. The Eastern Partnership was inaugurated by the EU in Prague, Czech Republic on 7 May 2009.
PLOTEUS is an acronym of Portal on Learning Opportunities Throughout European Space, meant to connote πλωτηρ (ploter) which means "navigator" in ancient Greek. It is a European Union web portal, coordinated by the European's Commission Directorate-General for education and culture, that aims to help citizens find out about education and training opportunities, throughout the countries belonging to the European Union, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Turkey, though the latter did not participate in PLOTEUS at its launch, as it was not a member of the Leonardo da Vinci programme yet. According to France 5, the portal offers an "easy access" to an "excellent source of information" from primary school to postgraduate education. PLOTEUS has been prioritised as a "project of common interest" by the European Commission. The European Parliament and the European Council have confirmed in 2006 their "support for transnational web-based services such as PLOTEUS". The portal is run by the Euroguidance network, financed by the Leonardo da Vinci programme, and is interconnected with EURES, the European Commission's portal on job mobility information. Both PLOTEUS and EURES are considered as examples of "pan-European services". After the launch of PLOTEUS and EURES in 2003, the Bologna process drive to favour student mobility in Europe wa further expressed in 2004 by the launch of the Europass program, which is accessible from the EURES portal, as well as PLOTEUS.
Design for All in the context of information and communications technology (ICT) is the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools to promote universal design in computer-related technologies, including Internet-based technologies, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations, or specialised design.
All European countries show eGovernment initiatives, mainly related to the improvement of governance at the national level. Significant eGovernment activities also take place at the European Commission level as well. There is an extensive list of eGovernment Fact Sheets maintained by the European Commission.
The State Ministry for Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia was a government agency within the Cabinet of Georgia in charge of coordination and monitoring of activities undertaken towards integration of Georgia with the European Union and NATO from 2004 to 2017.
Ramona Nicole Mănescu is a Romanian politician and lawyer. From 24 July 2019 to 4 November 2019, she served as minister of Foreign Affairs in the Romanian Government. She was a Member of the European Parliament serving 2007 to 2013 and 2014 to 2019 from the National Liberal Party, active within the European People's Party. As part of this group she is a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, vice-chair in the Delegation for relations with the Mashreq countries and a substitute member in the Committee on transport and tourism and in Delegation for relations with the Arab Peninsula.
Diplomatic relations between European countries and Indonesia date back to 1949. Initially, European Union (EU)–Indonesia relations were facilitated through the EU–Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) cooperation. Bilateral cooperation was continuously expanded and eventually the EU Delegation to Indonesia was opened in 1988. Economic and political dialogue between Indonesia and the EU takes the form of regular Senior Officials Meetings. In 2000 relations were further reinforced with the release of the European Commission's communication "Developing Closer Relations between Indonesia and the EU". In November 2013, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy Catherine Ashton made her first official visit to Indonesia.
Mariya Ivanova Gabriel is a Bulgarian politician and a member of the GERB party, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria and Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2023. She served as European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth between December 2019 and May 2023 and as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2017.
Eurodesk is an international non-profit association created in 1990. It is a European network of European, national and local information centers for young people and those working with them. It offers youth information on international learning and participation opportunities and is an organisation supported by the Erasmus+ programme (2014–2020). In 2004, Eurodesk – in cooperation with the European Commission - launched the European Youth Portal.
The European Training Strategy (ETS) of the European Commission outlines findings, objectives, and measures to sustain the quality and recognition of youth work in Europe. It was introduced as part of the European Union's YOUTH programme (2000-2006) and is revised regularly in accordance with new youth programmes going into effect. The most recent version adapts to Erasmus+, covering the time period between 2014 and 2020.
The European Union's scientific collaboration beyond the bloc describes the European Union's frameworks for bilateral cooperation and specific projects in science and technology with countries and regional blocs situated beyond the European Union.