Young MEPs Warn of Growing Disconnect Amid European Youth Protests
Mass youth protests recently swept across Europe from Porto to Athens, catching governments off guard with demands for better education, an affordable cost of living, and political accountability.
Recent demonstrations in France drew up to 600,000 high-school students to the streets starting on September 17. Spain followed with a massive housing movement that culminated in a general strike involving four million workers and nearly 200,000 protesters.
European politicians often dismiss these demonstrations as youth apathy. Young members of the European Parliament reject that label entirely.
“It is not the apathy some attribute to Gen Z, but a disconnection from the political establishment, because it is not delivering for them,” Lena Schilling, a 25-year-old Austrian MEP for the Greens, told EUobserver.
Data shows that younger demographics remain heavily involved in civil society. An EU study from October found that 55 percent of young Europeans participated in at least one social initiative.
The average age of members in the European Parliament is 50, with men in their forties forming the largest demographic group.
“Fewer political candidates take an interest in young people,” Delara Burkhardt, a 34-year-old German Socialist & Democrat MEP, told EUobserver.
Older voters also make up an increasing share of the European electorate. This dynamic creates a structural deficit in how policies are drafted.
It is a “huge structural shift, [meaning] young people don’t feel listened to or represented,” Chloé Ridel, a French Socialist & Democrat MEP aged 34, told EUobserver. Ridel added that the few young politicians elected to speak on behalf of youth have “to elbow our way through our own committee.”
As the protests spread from Madrid to public squares in Rome and Lisbon, demonstrators set up tents in central urban areas to protest living costs. Official reactions to these gatherings have consistently focused on public order rather than root economic grievances.
The weekly protests erupting from every corner of the continent received responses of “warning of chaos and disruptions to public order, instead of addressing the legitimate reasons behind people’s dissatisfaction,” Markéta Gregorová, a 33-year-old Czech Green MEP, told EUobserver.