Programme insights and regional context

Through its projects, EU4Youth promotes the active participation of young people in society and the economy in the EaP countries, providing capacity building and policy support to national stakeholders in the fields of youth education, employment and empowerment.

The programme is currently implemented through three large ongoing projects.

The EU4Youth programme is funding a number of targeted grant schemes to support local actors working in the field of youth.

Since 2023, seven regional grants are being implemented under the EU4Youth - Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship project, focusing on supporting youth employment and entrepreneurship in the green and digital economies.

In addition to the regional grants, EU4Youth provides a total of EUR 2 million in direct funding to civil society organisations (CSOs) in Ukraine, supporting resilience and empowering youth to take an active part in rebuilding their economy and society. The six direct grants in the country provide support to youth centres, assistance for persons with disability, rehabilitation for young veterans, as well as investments in post-conflict education and recovery efforts.

A new wave of small grants was launched in 2024 under the EU4Youth - Youth Engagement and Empowerment project to facilitate innovative pilot projects at the local level, focusing on climate change, the inclusion of disadvantaged youth, and country-specific topics such as young people’s participation in the recovery of Ukraine.

EU4Youth offers fully funded scholarships and fellowships at the College of Europe – Natolin, supporting young leaders from the EaP countries in becoming future changemakers and promote cultural exchange and learning.

Since 2021, scholarships have supported 57 young people from the Eastern partner countries enrolled in European Interdisciplinary postgraduate studies at the College of Europe in Natolin, increasing their understanding of European politics and governance, and fostering multi-cultural learning.

The ongoing Russian full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine continued to force the EU4Youth programme to adapt to increasingly challenging conditions, including resource shortages amidst an intensified military mobilisation. Nevertheless, projects largely managed to continue their actions, ensuring vital support to youth, including to those directly affected or displaced by the war.

According to CSO meter monitoring reports, the EaP region in 2024 observed further repression of civil society in Azerbaijan and Belarus, as well as democratic backsliding and deteriorations in basic freedoms in Georgia.

Amidst legal and technical challenges, grant projects in Azerbaijan were not able to register in 2024, leading to the suspension of all grant activities in the country, while the programme overall kept facing difficulties to engage with youth stakeholders.

EU-Belarus relations further deteriorated in 2024, prompting the EU to recalibrate its assistance fully away from the central authorities and impose restrictive measures against the authoritarian regime, while increasing its support for the Belarusian people. State suppression of civil society continued to massively limit EU4Youth activities in the country, narrowing the possibilities to effectively support and engage with young people.

EU4Youth support in Georgia also faced an increasingly challenging environment in 2024 following the adoption of the Law on transparency of foreign influence, which stigmatises and complicates activities for CSOs and media that receive foreign funding. 

Following the adoption of the law in May 2024, mass protests erupted in the country and intensified again after accusations of irregularities in the parliamentary elections in October 2024. Protests were largely driven by youth, underscoring the democratic values and pro-European sentiment of many young people in the country. The largely peaceful protests were met with an increasingly violent crackdown on fundamental freedoms, with enforcement authorities forcibly dispersing and detaining protestors.

Given these worrying developments, the EU pronounced on a de facto halt in the EU accession process for Georgia in 2024, noting that Georgia’s EU trajectory was severely affected by insufficient political commitment to implement reforms, as well as the adoption of the foreign agent law, and anti- EU narratives from Georgian officials. Following the elections, the Georgian government announced the suspension of the country’s EU accession process until 2028, prompting a new wave of mass protests.

Notwithstanding the deteriorating situation In Azerbaijan, Belarus and Georgia, there have also been promising developments in the region, with Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine reinforcing their efforts to strengthen civil society, empowering young people and fostering inclusive youth participation in decision-making processes.

In 2024, Moldova and Ukraine reaffirmed their commitment towards EU membership, showing important progress on their path towards EU integration. Following the decision to grant candidate status to both countries in 2022, the EU formally opened accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine in June 2024. In October 2024, Moldovans further underscored their desire for a European future in a constitutional referendum on EU accession.

In the coming years, the EU4Youth programme will continue to reinforce ties between young people across the EU and the two candidate countries, while also providing crucial policy support to assist Moldova and Ukraine in their EU accession process, particularly in relation to Chapter 26 on education and youth.