How the EU loses its youth

Imagine it’s a European election and nobody under 30 goes. This negative scenario could come true at the end of May – if the Commission and Parliament continue as before.

There are currently two main reasons for young voters’ disenchantment with politics: climate protection and the reform of copyright law on the Internet.

For example, we have received the news that the European Parliament wants to bring forward the decisive vote on copyright law in order to hold Europe-wide demonstrations on 23 March.

According to “Netzpolitik”, the initiative comes from Manfred Weber (CSU), leader of the conservative EPP parliamentary group and top candidate for the European elections. The reform goes back to his party colleague Axel Voss (CDU).

This makes CDU and CSU ineligible for many young people who are on the move on the Internet and upload videos to YouTube, for example.

SPD top candidate Katarina Barley is also making herself unpopular. She is on the one hand against upload filters, which will probably become necessary with the reform. On the other hand, however, she has nodded off everything in Brussels.

The picture in climate policy is also unpleasant. The EU Commission does not tire of praising itself. Head of authority Jean-Claude Juncker, a Christian socialist, almost feels like a Green.

But when the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg came to Brussels in February, he gave her the cold shoulder. At the end of a speech he didn’t even applaud, SPON reports.

Sure, in Sunday speeches Juncker & Co find the student demos great, after all Thunberg is also known to their own children. But they prefer not to shift up a gear in climate protection.

So the EU loses its youth, or is there anything else to come?

More about the European elections here (German)

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator