The concept of vulnerability has become of a new paradigm in understanding policy and the role of governments (Carney, 2018). Young people as a social category started to receive European level policy attention only relatively recently (European Commission, 2009). However, analysis of European lifelong learning policy discourse on vulnerability identifies young people as one of the main target groups (Maiztegui-Oñate et al., 2019). In the social construction of target groups, the recognition – and attribution to them – of certain characteristics, values and images contribute to how the groups are viewed by the public (Brunila & Rossi, 2018; Levitas, 2004; Schneider & Ingram, 1993; Williams, 2011). Taking a dynamic view of vulnerability, using critical discourse analysis, and drawing on a 25-year corpus of 68 European lifelong learning documents, considered as social practices (Fairclough, 1989) that express EU political goals and values, we explore the foundations and rationale of lifelong learning policies that treat young people as a vulnerable group, and how lifelong learning has addressed vulnerability among young people. Over 1992-2018, strategic and policy documents issued by various EU institutions shaped policy discussions within member states, between countries, and within the Commission. At the same time they reflect the outcomes of those exchanges (e.g. Saar, Ure& Holford, 2013). With EU expansion, the goals and actions of lifelong learning policies changed. The documents reflect the outcomes of negotiations over membership (Saar, Ure & Holford, 2013). The significance of European level policy discourses in general, and lifelong learning policies in particular, has in fact increased over the period, with the post-2008 recession supporting interest in lifelong learning as an instrument to address social exclusion and support vulnerable groups. It may be that a renewed emphasis on the social dimension of education and training, and recognition that adult learning is offered in a variety of settings such as educational institutions, local communities and NGOs – and not concern about learning for personal civic, social and work development alone –imply a humanist agenda (Rubenson, 2018). Young people, especially in vulnerable situations, have been constructed primarily as a category that is, or should be, economically active – needing lifelong learning to develop labour market skills. Other visions implicit in lifelong learning (e.g. citizenship, social participation) have been marginalised. Human capital perspectives dominate European lifelong learning policies, underpinning a narrow view that misunderstands the causes of vulnerability and generates incomplete policy objectives for socially excluded youth.

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