Less than a third of young believe Union will create a brighter future

Date: 27/03/03

LESS than one third of young people in Europe believe the EU can create a better future for them, according to a new poll.

Eurostat, the Union's statistical agency, asked people aged 15 to 24 what the bloc means to them.

Of those questioned, only 28% believe the EU represents a better future for young people, while 24% see it as a way of creating jobs and 31% say it will result in an improved economy.

For 39%, the EU is simply a means for allowing them to move freely.

There were some sharp differences of opinion between member states. For example, only 8% of those polled in the UK thought the EU could create a better future for young people compared with 45% in Italy.

Other key findings included:

• 90% of pupils in EU secondary schools learn English;
• unemployment rates among young people vary from 6% in the Netherlands to 41% in Poland;
• 56% had visited at least one other EU country in 1999-2001;
• 45% of young people in Denmark and France have tried cannabis, and;
• 90% of youngsters regularly use a mobile phone in Italy and Finland.

Meanwhile, teenagers from 5,500 schools throughout Europe took part in a debate on the EU's future last Friday.

The debate, called the Spring Day in Europe, was declared a "big success" by Massimo Gaudina, of the European Commission's task force on Europe's future, which helped organise it. He said: "There was a lot of interest and many of those who took part showed a keen interest in the current debate."

Less than one third of young people in Europe believe the European Union can create a better future for them, according to a new poll carried out by Eurostat, the European Union's statistical agency.