Getting rid of Europe’s wrinkles: bringing young Europeans to the ballot box.

A need to rejuvenate European elections

The European elections are quickly approaching and for many young EU expats living in Brussels, it's a time when doubts about having the time – or energy – to vote this May 25th quickly begin to surmount. "For many young people, the first question they ask themselves is not "What choice will I make?" but "Will I make a choice at all?" or even "What's the point?" says Viviane Reding, Vice-President of the European Commission and EU Justice Commissioner.

While the 2013 Eurobarometer survey reveals that only 39 percent of Europeans feel that their voice counts in the EU, Ms Reding says meanwhile that, ”the youth of Europe are not engaged in EU politics. In 2009, fewer than 20% of the potential voters under 30 years old actually voted, with this trend getting worse.”

Youth absenteeism: the often-quoted explanations…

It has often been said that youth not voting is a form of protest against the EU. However, a report recently published by the League of Young Voters and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), reveals that such perceptions of youth absenteeism are false: young people are actually the least likely to abstain through dissatisfaction with the EU.  Another mythical explanation is that EU elections are seen as less important than national ones and that is why young people might stay away from the ballot box. However, the same report shows that those that abstain from EU elections almost certainly abstain from national ones too.

… and what the data reveals

Instead, the report released by International IDEA and the League of Young Voters tells us that absenteeism among young people is closely linked to socio-economic factors. For example, a typical non-voter is a female aged 25 or less, who has not been to university and is either unemployed or has a manual job.

Jennifer de Nijs of the League of Young Voters reveals another demographic-related factor noted in the report: “politicians themselves stated they did not focus on young voters. They felt this group was disinterested, and that older age groups have more votes because of the demographics in Europe.” Giuseppe Porcaro, secretary general of the European Youth Forum (EYF) agrees: “Young people are voting in increasingly low levels and this absenteeism creates a vicious circle where parties neglect youth issues and young people react by voting in ever smaller numbers.” According to the EYF’s League of Young Voters, European political parties do not target young people in their campaigns, and many main parties’ manifestos fail to mention young people nor put forward specific policies relating to youth issues.

The solution: debates, more debates and a hip-hop battle

Still, Mr Porcaro assures us that all is not lost: “The good news is that precisely because young people are still very engaged in political issues – just through different means – they can be brought back to the ballot box. ”

In the goal of bringing youth back to the voting urns, the European Institutions have thus joined forces under the war cry, “This time it’s different,” and put together an onslaught of participatory - and, quite frankly, fun - ways to get youth interested in European politics. Ms Reding explains that, “We need to show young people that their voice matters. And their choice matters."

The options for getting involved range from the traditional formats to out-of-box and dare we say “young and hip” approaches to political participation. So to the young potential EU voters out there: have a look at some of the upcoming events, and start using the power of not only your vote this May 25th, but also your voice.

European debates: citizens’ dialogues

Since 2013 (the European Year of Citizens), the Commission has held 50 "citizens' dialogues" in town halls across Europe, bringing together Commissioners, Members of the European Parliament and citizens.

These dialogues are to culminate with the mother of all debates, a pan-European debate, today (Thursday 27 March) in Brussels at the Commission's Charlemagne Building. While a number of theme-oriented Dialogues will have taken place throughout the day involving 10 members of the European Commission (Vice-Presidents Reding and Rehn and Commissioners Potočnik, Vassiliou, De Gucht, Damanaki, Hahn, Hedegaard, Andor and Mimica) the grande finale with President Barroso will take place from 16:00 – 17:00 CET.

Anyone can get involved in the debate from their home computers by watching the debate live via webstream, or following it on Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #EUdeb8.

A freestyle hip-hop battle

Are traditional debates not your thing? Then how about a hip-hop battle? Organised by EU40 and MTV Voices, four teams – each comprised of two MEPs from the same political party and a professional freestyle hip hop artist – will duel on current EU topics next Wednesday, April 9th at 18:30 in the European Parliament.

Teams will compete by rapping with music on a given topic, effectively debating the other team, going back and forth. The exact topics will not be known to the teams in advance, and will be announced at the start of each battle. Several youth NGO delegations will submit topics and introduce their topic to the audience while the MEPs will brief their rapper on their stance. The winners will be determined by audience applause. Come for the off-the-wall rapping, or for the after party which will take place at Coco, Place Luxembourg following the event.

Put a question to a European politician

Feel like getting up a little more close and personal with an EU politician and confronting him or her with your own questions on Europe? Then take the mike and ask your question during the Ta Voix Compte! debate at Flagey on April 3.

Organised by the European Parliament's Belgium Information Office, the European Commission's Representation in Belgium, the European Movement Belgium and the Europe.Brussels Liaison Office, 10 prominent EU politicians will be listening to your questions next Friday. The three themes will be: the future of Europe, the European economy and employment and Europe in the world.

Play online games to become an EU expert

While politics is not all fun and games, on the MyVote2014 website it certainly is! The website, conceived by VoteWatch Europe, offers online interactive quizzes to help potential voters learn about the European parties and policies. It also includes statistics on how MEPs voted in the past, along with a game called “Cast Your Vote” in which you vote yourself on 15 items voted on in the European Parliament. At the end you see which MEPs most closely match your views.

Photos from VoteWatch Europe and EU40