European Youth Parliament Finland – EYP-Finland ry Uudenmaankatu 15 A 5, 00120 Helsinki http://www.eypfinland.org – eyp@eypfinland.org
1. Committee on Constitutional Affairs – AFCO Chairpersons: Ciara Robinson (UK), Aino Laine (FI) The democratic deficit: in the 2009 elections of the European Parliament almost three quarters (71%) of voters aged 18–24 abstained from voting. How best should the EU fix its democratic deficit and restore the enthusiasm of its youth for the European project? Overview Young people are the future of Europe. However, the European youth face a multitude of problems on an unprecedented scale. The economic crisis, youth unemployment, global warming and international conflicts are some of the many critical issues that need to be addressed. In 2009, a meagre 29% of the 43 million eligible actually voted; 4% less than the previous election in 2004. It is imperative that this does not continue. Voter turnout must increase so that young people are equipped with the necessary political tools to tackle the aforementioned issues. However, as voter apathy, political disillusionment and indifference continue to grow, so does the democratic deficit. Due to a lack of engagement, political institutions and policy makers are even less representative of and less accountable to the younger generation. Yet, much of this disillusionment can be attributed to mistrust in European politics and lack of transparent information. How can young people be expected to participate in European politics when its very institutions or actions are not always representative or accountable? Furthermore, young voters’ ability to influence policy is expected to decrease over the next decade due to the overwhelming demographic share of the ageing population in Europe. This is particularly prevalent when politicians aim to win votes by catering their policies towards the elderly who now represent a large voting bloc. For example, despite youth unemployment reaching as much as 50% in certain areas, austerity measures can often target the young. This is evident in the United Kingdom where an increase in university fees has been combined with cuts in welfare benefits and jobseekers allowance. This shift in the balance of political power towards the elderly is something that needs to be addressed. Whilst the issues of an ageing population are important, a balance should be achieved where the rights and wishes of both the young and old are recognised. Many young Europeans have made reference to a lack of political awareness as the reason behind their reluctance to get involved. It remains uncertain whether it is the responsibility of the individual, national governments or the European Union to educate young people on political matters. Further questions have been raised regarding the means by which young people can become politically active. The use of social media, online platforms and e-democracy are methods that have been highlighted as more appealing and increasingly effective in our digital era. However, these still remain relatively unexploited by older politicians. This does not mean using simple media campaigns but creating new and innovative ways in which citizens can vote, discuss and deliberate on a variety of policies. There are programmes already in place to encourage more participation in the political process including the Youth in Action Programme, increased emphasis on evidence-based policy making, the 2013 Year of the Citizens and other initiatives like the European Youth Week. However, a lot more could still be done to engage young voters. It must be asked, what can be done to engage young Europeans? Whose responsibility is it to do so? How can the EU tackle its democratic deficit? How can the EU restore trust in its policy-making? How can we adapt democracy to a digital era? And how can we balance political representation between Europe’s disillusioned youth and ageing population to ensure fair and effective democratic representation?