Non-governmental youth organizations or networks not members of the European Youth Forum are invited to apply for a seat on the Advisory Council on Youth for a two-year mandate (January 2012 to December 2013). The Advisory Council on Youth is the non-governmental partner in the co-management system. It also has the task of formulating opinions and proposals regarding youth questions within the Council of Europe.

According to its terms of reference, the AC has the following tasks:

• To contribute to the mainstreaming of youth policies across the Council of Europe programme of activities by formulating opinions and proposals on general or specific questions concerning youth in the Council of Europe; where appropriate, to address these opinions and proposals to the Committee of Ministers or other bodies of the Council of Europe. The Advisory Council on Youth may also be invited by the Committee of Ministers to formulate opinions on general or specific questions concerning youth policy;
• To formulate opinions and proposals concerning the priorities, expected results and budget allocations for the youth sector;
• To designate every two years, from among its members, those who shall be invited to be represented in the Programming Committee on Youth (CPJ), the co-management body in charge of establishing the programme of activities of the youth sector.

The Advisory Council as a general rule has two plenary meetings a year for three days each (March and October). The five members elected to the AC Bureau meet in between the plenary meetings (two or three meetings for one or two days each). In addition,
eight of its members are elected to the Programming Committee on Youth, which has two three-day meetings a year. All meetings take place in Strasbourg or Budapest and travel and subsistence expenses are covered by the Council of Europe.

The members of the Advisory Council remain in permanent contact in between the statutory meetings, developing a spirit of co-operation and a collective approach to the issues at stake. A group of dedicated AC members prepare a newsletter after each
statutory meeting.

A training course for the Advisory Council members will be organised at the beginning of 2012 to introduce the Council of Europe, its youth policy and programmes, as well as co-management.