The European Parliament is still in its summer recess until 1 September. The European Youth Forum has used the summer break to take a closer look at the young MEPs under the age of 35 in each country.
It is particularly remarkable that five countries did not elect any members under 35 to parliament, namely Belgium, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg and Romania.
Are you surprised that there are so few young MEPs in the European Parliament? How could the representation of young voices be improved?
Source: Youth Forum, as of August 2024
Should it be improved? Youth and ignorance are old bedmates. Social media has taught me exactly how dangerous it is for societies most inexperienced and naive having the loudest voice.
Ignorance is a problem with all ages. Social media are also frequented by older people, who will equally (or even more) easily fall for misinformation. Especially with career politicians, having predominantly older people in high positions is detrimental, because they have been living in the career politician bubble for a very long time and are even more out of touch with normal people’s everyday lives and problems than their younger counterparts.
Age and being out of touch are bed mates too. It should be representative of our population.