Federal Minister for Youth Karin Prien receives third report from the ComYC

The Competence Centre Youth-Check (ComYC), a project of the National Institute for Public Administration Germany (NIPAG), presented its third report at an event attended by Germanys Federal Minister for Youth, Karin Prien, and members of the German parliament Jasmina Hostert (SPD) and Ralph Edelhäußer (CSU). The report "Youth-friendly policymaking with the youth-check: A review of the 20th legislative period" looks back at youth-friendly regulatory impact assessment in the previous legislative period.

On 23 September 2025, Germany's Federal Minister for Youth, Karin Prien, received the third report from the ComYC during the event ‘Youth-friendly policymaking with the youth-check: A review of the 20th legislative period’.

In her welcoming address, Prien thanked the ComYC and made clear that youth-specific regulatory impact assessment is ‘not a luxury, but a necessity’. She views the youth-check as a component for rebuilding young people's trust in political processes. “The youth-check helps politics and public administration to see how legislative proposals in their responsibility affect teenagers and young adults. The youth-check thereby fulfils an important awareness-raising role and promotes understanding and fairness between the generations," said Federal Minister for Youth Prien.

The report was handed over to the Minister by Prof. Dr. Jan Ziekow, Director of NIPAG, and Dr. Silke I. Keil, Managing Director of the NIPAG. Both also hosted the event.

Nora Schneck (ComYC/NIPAG) presented the report's key findings. Jasmina Hostert (Member of the Bundestag and SPD parliamentary group spokesperson for youth policy) and Ralph Edelhäußer (Member of the Bundestag and CDU/CSU parliamentary group youth rapporteur) commented on the report and its results.

In her statement, Hostert emphasised the importance of the youth-check for politics and public administration: ‘The key finding of the report is that the youth-check is effective.’ She emphasised, ‘I think the youth-check's mission to raise awareness is very important. Even as a youth politician, I am sometimes surprised that young people are specifically affected by some legislative proposals.

In his comments, Edelhäußer described the ComYC as a ‘very important player’. He was particularly impressed by the organisation's scientifically work. He also expressed interest in developments at state and international levels, stating that there was still much to be done referring to his constituency in Roth, Bavaria.

This was followed by a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Youth-friendly policymaking with the youth-check: What's next in the 21st legislative period?’ In addition to Prien, Hostert and Edelhäußer, the discussion was joined by Claudia Kittel (member of the youth-check Advisory Board), and Rebecca Romes-Larsen (Managing director of the ComYC). The panel discussion focused on recent developments of the youth-check and made an outlook to its future direction. The panellists agreed that young people should be aware of the youth-check. Simultaneously the youth-check should also raise awareness among politicians and public administration as to how legislation impacts young people. The discussion also covered opportunities for participation and the importance of interdepartmental collaboration.

During the 20th legislative period, the ComYC published 91 youth-checks and examined 490 draft bills for their specific impact on young people.

The ComYC’s report is available for download (only in German).