TUI : Youth Study of TUI Foundation presented in Berlin

Three weeks before the European elections, the TUI Foundation today presented its European youth study 'Young Europe' to the media in Berlin. Young Europeans do not consider themselves to be adequately represented in the European Parliament, regard the European elections as second-order elections - and yet, support the European idea. 'Generation Europe demands to be heard and have a greater say. This is the message of TUI Foundation's Youth Study 2019 to all bearers of political responsibility,' said Elke Hlawatschek, Managing Director TUI Foundation, at the presentation of the results in Berlin.

Pro-European views have increased steadily since 2017 and remain strong this year. In 2019, support for the EU ranges from 61 per cent in Italy and Sweden to 79 per cent in Spain. In the UK, Greece and Poland, support for EU membership has continually grown since 2017. In France, Spain and Italy, by contrast, support for EU membership declined from its record level observed in 2018. The same trend was also observed in Germany: The proportion of young respondents advocating EU membership grew from 69 per cent in 2017 to 80 per cent in 2018 and declined to 74 per cent in 2019.

Further interesting results:

• One in five young Europeans took part in a demonstration within the past twelve months (22 per cent, in Germany: 18 per cent). About the same percentage of young people chose not to buy certain products for political or ethical reasons or to buy them precisely for these reasons (28 per cent, in Germany: 33 per cent).
• A majority of young people in the EU (55 per cent) tend to regard climate protection and environmental policy as an opportunity rather than a threat for their own personal lives.
• Young Europeans tend to regard the European elections as 'second-order elections': Only 50 per cent of them indicate that the elections to the European Parliament are 'important' (in Germany: 56 per cent). By contrast, 73 per cent state that elections to their national parliament are 'important' (in Germany: 74 per cent).
• Nevertheless, 38 per cent of all respondents (in Germany: 54 per cent) want 'more' Europe and hope that the EU member states will grow closer together. However, only 23 per cent (in Germany: 21 per cent) believe that this will actually happen within the next five years.
• If you ask young people how well they feel represented by the national and European parliaments, a uniform picture emerges. They all feel better represented by their own national parliament (with 30 per cent stating they are 'very strongly' or 'strongly' represented) than by the European Parliament (20 per cent).

'In the past, the election turnout rate was usually lower for young adults compared with the overall population, and the gap is growing. One of the reasons is the change in the perception of civic responsibilities. Young people seem to be less inclined to consider voting as a civic duty. Above all, they do not always seem to consider the traditional, conventional forms of participation to be sufficiently attractive, and they tend to believe political parties and the political system are not very responsive,' said Marcus Spittler of the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB), who had provided scientific support for the study. 'The Youth Study has shown that 45 per cent of the respondents agree with the statement that they feel able to understand and assess important political issues well or very well. At the same time, only 17 per cent believe that politicians care about what people think' Spittler continued.