The Youth Partnership has carried out a series of research projects to support European, national and local integration of youth perspectives, youth mainstreaming and impact assessment across policies and structures.

In the Council of Europe, the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Reykjavik in 2023 identified the need to integrate a youth perspective in the work of the organisation, and to strengthen the voice of young people in all its policies and to develop mechanisms to engage them in those policies. The Reykjavik declaration is a guiding document for the institution to develop this work and the 10th Conference of Youth Ministers’ adopted a Council of Europe Reference Framework on a Youth Perspective. The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities endorsed recently the new Charter for Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

In the EU, mainstreaming the youth perspective across EU policy fields was a key objective of the European Year of Youth. Member states and youth organisations are continuing discussions on how youth mainstreaming is implemented within the framework of the EU Youth Strategy. The Communication of the legacy of the Year of Youth summarises the main impact of the year, and lists key actions going forward. The European Youth Forum has been advocating for using a youth test or youth checks in all policy and some member states have such mechanisms in place.