Something struck me about this blog. The opening picture shows what looks like students walking next to a street carrying small European Union flags. If this were a picture from my native United States with the stars and stripes in hand, I would assume that the students were on the way to a 4th of July parade. If the students had German flags in my adopted city of Berlin, I would presume that there was a football World Cup match on (and it could be either the men or the women playing). Looking at this picture, I cannot help but think that it is posed. When, and why, would young people willingly walk through the streets with EU flags? After more than a decade of living in five EU countries and in visiting many more, I certainly have not witnessed such an event.
Of course, on one level the general lack of commitment I observe in practice to yet another flag is a good thing. Devotion to flags and the countries they represent can lead to discrimination against people from other countries. Nationalism led to wars in the European past; it would be a bit strange to have people carry around a symbol that represents supranationalism with the same pride they attach to their union jacks.
But there is another reason why this photo seems out of place – note that I wrote above “young people.” While I have not witnessed parades of EU flags, I can imagine that people of a certain age might be comfortable displaying one. Those with memories of World War II or the reconciliation of European states that followed, or others that link economic prosperity with the Common Market, may indeed be willing at least to be seen with an EU flag. But even those marginally younger may not have these associations. While it is disputed whether former Chancellor Helmut Kohl really said it, the comment that “she [Angela Merkel] is ruining my Europe” fits the narrative that Europe¹s most passionate backers are the elderly and (almost) retired.
But this is not just an issue of “education,” of explaining to the “ignorant” why they should support Europe. While there are enough differences across countries to make generalization difficult, there seem to be three broad political trends among the young. First, it does seem to be the case that young voters have fewer attachments to other institutions, such as political parties. Second, the young are more likely than their parents to be “single issue” voters, be they on post-materialist matters like climate change or more traditional bread-and-butter issues. Finally, there is a drift to candidates over parties that one observes among all age groups.
Put these trends together which, on their own, have nothing directly to do with the EU, and the EU has a real challenge on its hands how to make itself relevant to the young. Note that this challenge is not just about how the EU markets itself–any democratic institution that fails to have an appeal to a significant part of the population has an issue with legitimacy.
So what is the EU to do?
The EU political system is set up so that the personalities on the Brussels stage do not outshine the personalities back home. When a politician like Tony Blair with a potentially broad constituency is mentioned for a prominent EU post, the national leaders generally refuse to support him or her. One could argue that more visible – and charismatic-politicians would help raise the EU’s profile among all age groups, but it is not going to happen unless there is a radical change in the way the EU works.
One sometimes hears rumblings of a more bottom-up approach. A truly EU-level, and EU-wide, party that mobilized voters to support the EU and to enact EU-level reforms could be one way to do this. At present, there are European political party groups, of course, but national parties compose them. Such a party in any case has not been created, and it probably won’t be in the near future. Even if it did, the young seem less enamored with political parties as ways of organizing them in any case.
That leaves issues. How can the EU appeal to the young through particular issues? This is not easy given the EU’s current institutional framework. If you are young in southern Europe, your biggest worry may be getting a job. The arguments that freer trade and good anti-trust enforcement that the EU provides lead in aggregate to more jobs are certainly correct, but the points are too abstract for most to care. Others may care more about climate change or the environment. Here the EU is coordinating goals for 2050 that impact the every day lives of the young, and will continue to do so as they age, more than most know.
In any case, an important theme for the EU is how to engage the young. It is not necessary for young people anywhere in Europe to be so excited about the EU that they spontaneously walk through the streets with flags. But as Europe competes with other parts of the world with young, increasing populations, it does need to harness the energy and creativity of its diminishing youth.
