Young people and politics, a proposal to measure the impact of laws on the younger generation

In an Italy where the gap between young people and politics is deepening, there are those who work to build bridges. This is the spirit that guides the 20e30 association, officially launched in January 2023. A reality composed of under-35s that aims to rewrite the rules of civic participation, going beyond electoral campaigns to give young people a concrete role in democratic life.

The association's turning point comes with a concrete proposal: to strengthen the Generational Impact Assessment (GIA), turning it into a more comprehensive and incisive tool. Currently, the Vig is used to preventively assess the environmental and social effects of legislation on younger generations. However, there is a fundamental piece missing: the economic assessment.

"A law that generates public debt without creating value burdens the next generation. If instead that debt finances schools, hospitals, infrastructure, then it produces a lasting benefit. The economic parameter in the impact assessment is fundamental, and we want it to be considered,' explains the association's secretary Mattia Angeleri. This is why, in collaboration with the National Youth Council, the Ries Foundation and other institutional bodies, 20e30 is working to put forward an amendment to Bill no. 1192 (measures for regulatory simplification), which is being discussed in the Senate in these very weeks. The focus is on Articles 4 and 5, where the intention is to supplement the Vig with economic criteria and to establish an independent body capable of truly assessing the impact of laws on the new generations.

According to the association, the reform of the Generational Impact Assessment is a crucial junction. Not only to ensure that laws do not harm the younger generation, but also to give them a voice in the decision-making process. "A technical assessment written in a document is not enough. We need youth associations to have their say in a structured way. Otherwise, the Vig remains an exercise in style, useful on paper but irrelevant in practice'. In this sense, he calls for the VIG to be entrusted to an independent body, with a consultative function open to the participation of the most representative youth organisations. Only in this way, he explains, will it be possible to build a transparent, future-oriented policy based on intergenerational equity. "Today the younger generations are paying the bill for decisions taken without considering them. It is time to change approach, and we are here for that'.

The proposed reform aims to transform the Vig into an operational and transparent instrument. Articles 4 and 5 of the bill, in the view of the proposers, should introduce three key elements. The first is the economic dimension in the assessment, which would allow, for example, an analysis of whether a law increases the public debt in a sustainable manner or leaves a disproportionate tax burden for future generations. This point is considered crucial in order to distinguish between useful public spending (e.g. infrastructure, education) and regressive spending (e.g. non-returnable electoral bonuses). This is followed by the establishment of an independent body: in order to prevent the VVG from remaining a political marketing document, it is proposed that an autonomous body be set up to draw up and monitor evaluations, guaranteeing scientific rigour and transparency. This body should have an advisory but incisive role in the legislative process. And finally, the involvement of representative youth organisations, the text envisages that the most representative youth associations - such as those registered with the National Youth Council - can participate in the process of the Vig precisely through the body introduced by the 2019 Budget Law. This is an important innovation, recognising the right of the most representative youth associations to be heard before a law is passed.