Young People and the 2017 General Election: ‘The Youthquake’

Abstract

Although most of the first-time voters and young citizens of the European Union (EU) share a positive attitude towards the EU, less than 30 percent cast their votes in the European elections of 2014. Against this backdrop, this year’s European election campaigns particularly focused on young people aged 15 to 24. In that sense, the youth participation project #EngagEU aimed at motivating young people to vote in the European elections 2019 and at empowering them to formulate concrete political demands. Summarised in the manifesto “Young Ideas for the Future of Europe”, their ideas were presented to the public as well as to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 30 April 2019 at the #1stYoung Ci⁠tizens’Convention organised by the Institut für Europäische Politik and discussed with young can­di­da⁠tes for the European elections. Technology-based solutions to combat climate change and an independent monitoring capacity for EU values and democratic principles are concrete demands that political decision-makers might take up in the aftermath of the European elections.