Is the future looking young? An overview of youth in action in the EU and EaP and why their voices matter! 

Young people are more than the future – young people are the present of Europe. Our network, the Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) Initiative, is based on the activities and energy of young Europeans and their hopes for the future of our Union. That’s why whenever there is a strategy that promotes fairness among ages and youth participation we ought to advocate for its success.

In this blog post, we are diving into youth voices and why they matter through examples of youth participation and their impact. This will further provide a case for empowering youth action, especially in the light of the European Commission’s new Intergenerational Fairness Strategy. This strategy aims to integrate policymaking with the views and concerns of young Europeans. It’s a long-term perspective based on fairness in opportunities and policymaking and intergenerational fairness, balancing economic prosperity, environmental action, social policy, sustainability and democratic resilience.

Why should youth voices matter? Surely, we can think of ethical rationales – ranging from representation to fairness of young citizens – but there are also valid material reasons. 

Firstly, the numbers: following a fall in birthrates in the old continent and longer life expectancies, the voting power of age groups has shifted in the EU: in 2025, under-35s represented 19.4% of total voters, whereas over-65s were 23.7%. Our generation has less voting power, and are more politically disillusioned, compared to our grandparents. Politicians are thus structurally rewarded in the polls, when they propose policies for the elders compared to the youth.

However, this is not a matter of generational warfare. Ponder this: how many people in their forties and above have experience in doomscrolling, in the angst of finding a house, or entering the job market? Most likely, not many. It is a matter of positionality, as thought by Linda Alcoff in 1988. Lived experiences of youth bring new perspectives in policymaking, given the unique and new experiences which our generation has faced. And this is why it is important to seek them out, in all stages of policymaking.

When the electoral power is skewed toward older generations, youth interests risk becoming a political afterthought. Young Europeans are not just observing this trend, however, they are actively disrupting it.

The driving force behind this disruption is the European Youth Forum. As the biggest platform of youth organisations in Europe, it has spent years acting as a strong advocate for intergenerational justice. Rather than passively accepting the angst described above, the Forum translated it into concrete political positions, most notably through relentless advocacy for lowering the voting age to 16.

Supported by milestones like the 2022 global ‘Be Seen, Be Heard’ campaign, the European Youth Forum mobilised many to demand a structural rebalancing of the Intergenerational Contract. Going beyond requesting a seat at the table, they showed that lowered voting age and formal integration of youth voices into policymaking is essential for thriving democratically.

The impact of this advocacy becomes increasingly visible across the continent. For example, thanks to the momentum built by youth organisations, Member States like Austria, Belgium, Germany, and Malta now allow 16-year-olds to vote in local elections, European elections, or both. In that, the current EU Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness can be regarded as the direct institutional response to grassroots pressure.

While the previous EU example shows how young people can push for reforms, similar patterns of engagement can be found in the countries of the Eastern Partnership. If securing a seat at the table is vital for democratic survival in peacetime, it becomes an absolute necessity when rebuilding an entire nation – something that becomes especially clear when looking at Ukraine. 

Amidst the ongoing war following Russia’s attack in 2022, young Ukrainians demand to be the architects of their country’s recovery and European integration. Organisations under the umbrella of the National Youth Council of Ukraine (NYCU) are struggling relentlessly to ensure that international reconstruction strategies account for all generations. By actively participating in international decision-making processes, Ukrainian youth advocate for the protection of youth rights and their systematic representation in democratic processes in a post-war reality.

Ultimately, Ukraine’s youth take the concept of “democratic resilience” – a core pillar of the EU’s Intergenerational Fairness Strategy – to a profound level. They prove a central premise of the new strategy: that a sustainable future cannot be implemented without involving the generation that will live in it.

Overall, there is a growing number of youth activists and youth voices in Europe. Throughout this blog post we have encountered these examples and this explains the need for the European Commission’s new intergenerational strategy for youth inclusion and fair opportunities, while including social policies, democratic resilience and sustainability. 

Young people across Europe have shown time and time again that they are ready and willing to contribute to our Union and our democratic values. We ought to make sure young people are included, heard and treated fairly!