site.btaEuropean Commissioner Iliana Ivanova: Young Europeans Give Us Cause for Optimism about Our Democratic Future

Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth exclusively provided BTA with her article, titled “Young Europeans give us cause for optimism about our democratic future”. This is the full text of the article:

In the debates ahead of the European elections on 6-9 June, protecting our democracy is one of the main topics.

Globally, people in over 50 countries representing over half of the planet’s population are going to the polls in 2024. At the same time, “democratic backsliding” and in some cases an outright shift towards autocracy have been observed. We therefore do need to be vigilant, both about the reasons for these developments, including disinformation, and about remedies against them, such as rigorous rule-of-law standards, citizenship education and media literacy. In contrast to the negative trends, there is one important area where we have cause to be optimistic: the civic engagement of young people gives good grounds for hope.

The turnout for the 2019 European elections reached a 25-year high with 50.7%. What was less commented upon at the time, was the role of young people in that boost in voter participation. The share of young people under 25 voting increased by a full 16 percentage points, and that of 25-39-year-olds by 14 percentage points. Young people thus had a huge impact. Their signal: Europe’s future is important to us!

Ahead of this year’s elections, we have reasons to believe that this trend could continue. The Eurobarometer survey on youth and democracy, published on 13 May, asked 26 000 people aged 15-30 all over the EU about their views on democracy, politics and how they believe they can influence society. The most eye-catching figure was that 64% of young people said they intend to vote in the upcoming European elections.

Of course, there is a natural gap between intention and action. But based on 2019 trends, we can be hopeful that young voters will continue to show up. Why is this? Firstly, two out of three respondents believe that the EU has an impact on their daily lives. Be it through the single market, free movement, consumer rights, food standards, environmental checks - the value the EU brings is clear to them.

But young people’s main concerns also confirm a commitment to the fundamental values of the EU. When asked what they expect the Union to deliver, the top three priorities were to preserve peace (37%), fight poverty (34%) and promote human rights (30%).

And there is evidence that these priorities are linked to young people’s own engagement. The survey shows that 64% of young people have participated in the activities of an organisation in the past 12 months, a marked increase since 2022. In addition, many have studied (16%) or volunteered (12%) abroad.

Engagement in a youth organisation is engagement in society. In many cases this is done with the support of EU-programmes such as Erasmus+ for education and exchanges or the European Solidarity Corps for volunteering. Take Estelle from France, who joined the Corps at a local environmental educational centre in Macerata, Italy. Or Elio from Ireland who studied in Brussels and still found time to volunteer in the city.

Furthermore, interest in voting may also be boosted by the awareness that the elections will determine how the EU will handle some of the big questions for our younger generation – Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, climate change and challenges to our democratic way of life. And the survey found that more than two thirds of young people believe their education has equipped them with digital skills to identify disinformation.

Overall, the survey paints a picture of a younger generation who want a say in their present and future, but also want to defend democracy and human rights.

In 2019, young people set the tone for European Union’s priorities. On 6‑9 June, they have that chance once again. But only if they prove by their vote that our confidence in the European engagement of the next generation is right.