Youth make up 16.3% of the European Union and are an important deciding factor in the future of the EU’s political landscape. Regardless of these statistics, current decisions are the decisions of the future.
Despite an increase of 14% in young people’s turnout in the 2019 EU elections, turnout remains low. At the same time, we can see that young people are very active in the informal political spheres, dominating political activism and civic engagement, such as demonstrations or online engagement.
How can we translate the desire to participate towards higher voter turnout during the EU elections? How can we develop approaches that address the duality in participation?
Participation, however, goes beyond voter turnout and beyond just the elections. How can we ensure that young people are heard and have a voice during the EU elections and later in the EU Parliament?