ČT24 | Is there growing interest among young people in European politics?

According to the Eurobarometer survey, 91% of young people aged 15-24 believe that participation in European elections is important. How does this attitude translate into practice? Does this mean that there will be an increase in voter turnout among young people? What advantages and opportunities does the European Union offer to younger citizens? Can Brussels effectively explain the benefits of EU membership to young people? These are the questions addressed by Klára Votavová, a research fellow at EUROPEUM Institute, for the Horizont programme on Czech TV.

The survey conducted by STEM and Czech Radio, "Divided by Europe", focusing on the Czech Republic, is interesting. It revealed that for young Czechs, being part of the European Union is something entirely natural that they don't really think about. So, when you talk to someone who is fifty years old and remembers the time before we joined the EU, they tend to compare those two states and may even call for us to no longer be EU members. However, the young simply don't make such calls, because for them it's a matter of history when we weren't in the EU.

You can listen to the entire interview here starting from the 22nd minute.

Klára Votavová
Associate Research Fellow

Expertise: Social policies, EU digital policies, Just Transition, Central and Eastern Europe