What is a European year?
A European year is an awareness campaign on a specific issue aiming to encourage debate and dialogue within and between EU countries. It highlights a particular issue to national governments and aims to both inform and change attitudes.
The European Commission proposes the theme for a European year, which is then adopted by the European Parliament and EU countries. Although European years have been running for nearly 40 years, they don’t necessarily occur every year.
Why do we need them?
European years often provide additional funding to local, national and cross-border projects that address the chosen theme.
The European year also sends a strong political signal from the EU institutions and EU countries that the issue will be addressed in future policymaking. In some cases, the Commission may propose new legislation on the theme.
What are the themes?
European years have been taking place since 1983. Here are some recent ones:
2023-2024 – European Year of Skills
From May 2023 to May 2024, thousands of events and activities across the EU encouraged people to gain the right skills for quality jobs and helped companies address skill shortages.
2022 – European Year of Youth
Young people took part in over 13,000 activities across 67 countries, highlighting their important contribution to building a greener, more inclusive and digital future.
2021 – European Year of Rail
This European year put rail centre stage across Europe, showing its key role in helping reach climate neutrality by 2050.
2018 – European Year for Cultural Heritage
23,000 events were held across 37 countries to raise awareness about Europe’s cultural heritage as a resource, how to protect it and guarantee its sustainability for the future.
2015 – European Year for Development
This European year raised awareness about the benefits of the EU's development cooperation, not only for its beneficiaries but also for EU citizens, and helped develop a sense of shared responsibility and solidarity with non-EU countries.
2013-2014 – European Year of Citizens
Citizens’ dialogues were a major outcome of this European year, which was dedicated to encouraging the public to get involved in building a stronger and more political EU.