Human rights, the rule of law and democracy are the basic issues on which the axiological system of the Council of Europe is based. All activities of the Council of Europe are subordinated to this axiology and influence the proposed shape of public policies in the states that are members of the organization. The study concerns a specific policy, namely the strategy for youth, and is the result of research aimed at answering the question of what influence recommendations of the Council of Europe have on the development of young Poles’ participation in public and social life at the local and regional level. During the research, the method of institutional and legal analysis was of key importance, by means of which legal acts of the Council of Europe and Poland (both legally binding and “soft law”) were analyzed, in particular those relating to youth policy.