Abraham Lincoln once said that « Democracy is the power of the people, by the people, for the people ». That’s what I hope my future Europe to be except that Young people should build it. In 2030, we would be talking about The Europe of Youth, by the youth and for the youth.

We need to concentrate on young people and give them a dream. The future Europeans need to believe in something, they need a reason to still have faith in this organisation. Just as our predecessors dreamed of the Europe of peace after the two World Wars and those after them believed in the Europe of Economy especially with the creation of the euro, we need a project, a goal that would give back a sense to European Union, an objective that would gather around people around the UE, that would be understood and supported by the population.

What better spokesperson for The Union than the young people? They are full of ideas, and dreams and hopes and most importantly, they need something to believe in, something big and important. Nowadays, with the difficult situation the world is in, young people are put in the back burner. There are not enough jobs and the unemployment rate for young people is exceeding 25 %. It is becoming more and more difficult to find prospects for the future. In my opinion, just like the Union is a way for the countries, which are a part of it to exist in the world, it should also be a way for young people to have a voice and to secure themselves a future.

For this to happen, the European Union needs to be known among them. It should find subjects that they are interested in, be more promoted on social networks like Twitter and Facebook; it should be discussed in schools and so on. One good initiative would be to open European institutions like the European Parliament or the European Central Bank to visits for students. Or to have European MP’s or officials give conferences about the What, Where, Who and Why of the European Union. It would be an interesting way of popularising the Union among the young people who most of the time only have a limited knowledge about the UE.

Also, there should be more events and workshops like “My Europe” or programmes like The Erasmus Exchange Programme or even partnerships between schools throughout Europe, that permit to students to go study abroad and maybe find jobs opportunities in all the UE.

Ultimately, in 17 years from now, I see a new Europe in which young people occupy a predominant place in the European institutions, or in the elections or even in the promotion of a renewed European dream. I do think that in 2030, the UE will be known for its job opportunities in every field of competence, for the involvement of its young people in politics or for the increasing number of young members of Parliament.

Hopefully, in 2030, my Europe WILL is known as THE EUROPE OF YOUTH.

Hykpo Marie Claude, Paris, France.