• The European Youth Forum performs functions that are complementary to those of its Member Organisations and its main focus is on articulating and voicing the concerns of its membership into the political agenda of governmental institutions, namely the European Union, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

• The European Youth Forum provides a space for organisations to develop sustainably, and offers strategic support for capacity building, networking and the dissemination of good practice to build a strong and united youth movement in Europe. It empowers youth in their ability to come together and build independent, democratic, representative and inclusive associations.

• The European Youth Forum is a place for debate which leads to the elaboration of policies and positions, which are based on the opinions, experiences and expertise of young people from all over Europe.

The European Youth Forum works in specific policy areas as identified by its Member Organisations:

• Education:
o Promote the concept of Life Long and Life Wide Learning, and the recognition and complementarity of all the dimensions of Education: Formal and Non-Formal Education and informal learning.
• Youth Policy in Europe:
o Increase the participation of young people in the shaping of the European policies concerning them and improve the qualities of youth policies and programmes.
• Employment and Social Inclusion
o Improve the social situation of young people in Europe, focusing on promoting the employment and social inclusion of young people and an adequate level of social protection.
• Human Rights and Equality
o Develop policies aimed at recognising the diversity of Europe and ensuring equal opportunities to young people.
• Sustainable Development
o Promote sustainable development through advocacy work and involve youth organisations in policy making on related issues.
• Health
o Raise awareness of health issues among youth organisations and facilitate youth involvement in health policy development, namely on tobacco and alcohol issues.
• Training
o Provide training services to our Member Organisations and institutional partners through our Pool of Trainers and contribute to the monitoring of European training programmes.
• Mobility
o Lobby, inform and investigate for the removal of legal obstacles to mobility in youth work.
• Global and Regional Youth Cooperation
o Allow young people to participate and provide political input at the global level, as well as contributing to the development of regional platforms and bringing their representatives together.
• Development of National Youth Policies
o Support the formulation of comprehensive and cross-sectoral National Youth Policies in Europe and ensure the full involvement of youth organisations in these processes.

During the year 2006, the European Youth Forum produced several publications:

• Annual Report 2005: Published in April 2006
• Youth Opinion: This gathers the views and opinions from youth organisations on a certain topic and it is distributed to a net of 2500 subscribers. It is published twice a year. Recently we have had issues on Human Rights, Diversity and Participation in April, and one on global youth work.
• Shadow Report: On the common objectives of Participation and Information of the Open Method of Coordination in the youth field.
• Thematic leaflets:
o ‘Youth Development Goals’ (on the MDGs)
o European Youth Foundation
o Get Visable (on visa-issues for youth workers)
• General leaflet on Youth Forum work.

Electronically, we publish the e-Youth Opinion, every two months, with regular updates on youth-related news.  We also have a e-newsletter, the Courier, published weekly, distributed to all Member Organisations.