This Programme addresses young people between the ages of 13 and 30, although the main target is the 15-28 age gap. On the other hand, the programme is open to all youths independently of their level of education, social and cultural background.

The majority of projects financed by the Youth in Action Programme require a partnership to be established between two or more partners. Countries which qualify to participate in all five actions are identified as ‘‘Programme Countries’’. These are all the 27 Member States, the EFTA countries and candidate countries as follows

• Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
• Turkey

The Youth in Action programme also supports cooperation between ‘Programme Countries’ and other neighbouring partner countries. These are:

• Mediterranean countries: - Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia
• Eastern Europe and Caucasus: - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldavia, Russian Federation, Ukraine
• South Eastern Europe: - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYORM, Montenegro, Serbia