Sustainable action is needed more than ever: the European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry welcomes the efforts of the European Commission and the decisions of the European Parliament on mental health care for children, adolescents and young people and calls on the Member States to act quickly

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent crises [1‐3] have left and continue to leave deep scars on the development of a large proportion of European and global youth (and young adults in the transition phase), which are reflected in increased levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness, suicidal tendencies, eating disorders, educational gaps, reduced physical fitness, difficulties in transition phases and in entry into working life [4‐11]. The studies from different countries consistently show that not all children were equally affected, with adolescent females, children with neurodevelopmental disorders, those from single-parent families or institutionalized children being more at risk [4‐11]. The 2022 McKinsey Health Institute Survey [12] also reported an increase in stigma and self-stigmatisation of young persons of the Generation Z with mental health problems [5]. The results of the June 2023 Eurobarometer survey reported that 62% of EU citizens believed that global events at the time of the survey (the COVID-19 pandemic, Russian aggression against Ukraine, the climate crisis, unemployment and high food and energy costs) have affected their mental health "somewhat" or "a lot". Of the survey participants 46% responded having an emotional or psychosocial problem during the past year, such as depression or anxiety, and 54% of young respondents with a mental health problem reported that they had not received help from a professional. The most common problems in the access to mental health services reported by those in need were long waiting lists (67%) and high costs of the services (35%) [13]. Two Europe wide reviews of prospective datasets on mental health showed a correlation of the increase of depression and anxiety symptomatology with the rigidity of Corona measures like school closures. Children’s interests were generally not given much attention or respected by policy makers during the acute crisis, therefore one of the lessons learned has to be to strengthen children’s rights to be better prepared for rapid reactions in further crises [6, 14]. The World Health Organisation refers to some children and adolescents with mental illness in Europe as»left behind« by the crisis [15]. But not all the consequences of the pandemic were negative. We have seen child and adolescent mental health systems [16, 17] and education systems [18] adapt very quickly, and many other systems have also introduced online working modes, which have since been maintained (as an additional option for their users) to this day [19] (https://​health.​ec.​europa.​eu/​system/​files/​2023-06/​com_​2023_​298_​1_​act_​en.​pdf). In addition, the maximum capacities of care systems have been unveiled in times of exceptional needs. After the demands on mental health systems greatly exceeded their capacity, with almost half of young people reporting that their mental health needs were not being met, policy makers finally became aware of the needs of the young European population [13, 16, 19‐21]. …