Paper 16

Why must Europe listen to young people more and invest in them?

On the eve of the important European vote in spring 2024, all candidates in the European Parliament elections, and the parties and groups they represent, must ask themselves a fundamental question: how can we make these elections arouse a genuine surge of enthusiasm among young people, who are the future of the Union, and a greater awareness of what is at stake?

Let us start from a finding that many sources and analyses have confirmed. The Eurobarometer “Youth and Democracy in the European Year of Youth – May 2022” confirmed that young people's main expectation is that decision-makers listen better to their demands and act on them (72%). The many surveys carried out by the Commission among young people have also revealed the following main concerns, in order of priority:

1. The fight against poverty and social exclusion;

2. Better coordinated handling of public health and pollution problems;

3. A more determined and effective fight against climate change;

4. The development of a stronger economy that creates jobs and prosperity;

5. The defence of democratic values, freedom and the rule of law;

6. The defence of peace and security and better international cooperation on defence;

7. The promotion of education and culture and better supervision of teaching and sport.

But in the face of these priorities, what do we observe?

1) Youth unemployment is still too high. It is not due to a lack of vacancies but to the mismatch between education and vocational training and needs. Another cause is the decline in the quality of education in general throughout the Union, and the rigidity of the European education system, which does not foster talent and mobility.

In reality, it is above all necessary to make young people understand that most of their priorities are linked. By preserving freedom and the rule of law, which are the only bulwarks against corruption and the constraints of totalitarian states, we foster a healthy, free economy without distortions or penalising obstacles, we create jobs and reduce unemployment, the only effective way of fighting poverty and social exclusion.

Likewise, if we promote demanding, high-quality education, the match between available jobs and qualifications will automatically be restored. Young people will also be better equipped to face the challenges of the contemporary world. The humanist values of effort and the pursuit of quality should also be brought back to honour, in an environment that fosters competition, excellence and sharing, with respect for differences.

2) Moreover, young people must be made aware that freedom and democracy are not trivial achievements and that, in order to defend them in today's complex, multipolar world, future generations must be given both the desire and the structures that enable them to do so. To this end, as provided for in the Treaties, Europe must contribute to the development of quality education and integrate the European dimension into it in an ambitious way.

3) Europe, and in particular the Commission and the Parliament elected in 2019, have made commendable efforts to set new economic and climate standards and to release impressive recovery budgets, but what the new Parliament will need is the awareness that the common home must be re-enchanted by restoring the momentum that has been its strength and appeal since the very beginnings of European integration. Europe has 70 million young people, all of whom are asking for better information on how its institutions work and a simplification of its structures.

4) To stimulate European awareness, the Erasmus+ initiative should be promoted more and its extension to vocational education and training should be better known and supported. The emphasis should remain intra-European rather than developing the Erasmus Mundus variant.

5) European civic education should be a compulsory subject from secondary level onwards, in the spirit of the Treaties.

6) The Conference on the Future of Europe recognised the central role of young people in shaping the future of European integration. It is regrettable in this respect that the current European Parliament rejected the idea of creating two youth agoras proposed by the Conference. The Conference made many other concrete proposals to increase young people's participation in democratic decision-making at every level, but these ideas have largely remained a dead letter so far. In particular, the idea of establishing a “Youth Test” that would measure the impact on young people of any future European regulation should be looked at again favourably in the next legislature.

By investing more in young people and showing more ambition and initiative on employment, training, education and the development of cutting-edge technologies in order to interest them, the European Parliament will again be able to give them a sense of its usefulness and faith in the future of European integration.

That is our message, which should guide everyone standing in the European elections if they want to put young people at the centre of their concerns.

January 2024