Last week I had the opportunity to address a conference on youth participation in the European Union. This conference, which included a number of interesting workshops and presentations, was part of the celebrations marking Malta’s fifth anniversary as a member of the European Union.

European Union membership has ushered in a change in our culture and way of thinking. Malta has moved away from its rather geopolitically restricted dimension to a scenario wherein we are directly contributing towards the advancement of the European family that consists of almost 500 million persons.

Malta is no longer on its own. We are now sharing the same table with the rest of the continent. We are enjoying the same benefits, taking advantage of the same opportunities and facing the same challenges that call for a united front to find common solutions.

This is exactly what a good number of Maltese young people are doing together with their European peers. Maltese youths are exploiting programmes and projects that aim at achieving common solutions for various European challenges. They are discussing, working and living with other Europeans. Besides enhancing their own cultural and intellectual personae, they are also showing us how we can overwhelm our differences and truly achieve unity in Europe.

Success is being achieved through EU funded programmes that have the scope of developing the concept of democracy, unity in diversity, intercultural dialogue, innovation and research, and a host of other themes that are relevant to today’s European contemporary society.

The mobility programmes within the European Union have literally given wings to our young generation which all of a sudden is finding a myriad of opportunities waiting to be taken up and exploited. The experience these young people are gaining away from our shores will serve them in very good stead to fulfil their ambitions and be prepared to take up their career.

e26 million have been invested for participation in EU educational programmes. Five years from membership the return from this investment is incalculable. The intangible gain that stems from the experiences of each and every young person who participated in these programmes is indeed priceless for the individuals themselves and for the country.

The benefits from these programmes are not restricted to the young generation. Positive repercussions are felt by those who are directly or indirectly connected to youths in their work. Local councils’ participation in about 30 projects under the Youth for Action Programme provides a very good example of this.

This participation by local councils is translated into more than 1,000 Maltese and foreign youths who either travelled to spend time abroad or were hosted in Malta. The projects varied from cultural orientated ventures to environmental projects and from dialogue for the civil society to projects that address human rights issues.

This is only one of the youth orientated programmes that have been taken aboard by local councils. A number of local councils appreciated the benefits of programmes such as the youth programme and over the years moved on to bigger projects that reach a wider spectrum of the community.

These programmes are giving the opportunity to our young generation to come out with ideas and turn them into initiatives that do not only benefit themselves but the whole community or locality.

Some local councils have also found the right approach through which they are encouraging the younger generation to take up politics as an idea generation and decision making tool. This is being done through the formation of the Youth Local Councils. Through these fora local councils are providing their young communities with a platform on which they can hone their planning, decision making and implementation skills.

After five years some are still experiencing culture shocks when they find themselves dealing with the challenges and opportunities being offered by the EU. This is not an ideal scenario. Opportunities are there to be taken and challenges are there to be faced.

In the European Union these opportunities and challenges are not taken on with an isolationist and island mentality approach. Youth Local Councils are the first step to initiate our youngsters to learn how to present ideas and work with other Europeans on projects that do not only affect their immediate surroundings or indeed their locality but a whole continent.

Chris Said is parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister