Talk to them

Two years after the birth of the indignados movement, the EU’s 28 member states have finally realised that Europe is sitting on a bomb that is about to explode: one that is formed by close to 6 million young unemployed people.

Of course, this is just one element of a much larger cluster munition — in May, there were 26.52 million people without jobs in the EU — but it is a critical one, because, at 23.1 per cent, the average rate of unemployment in the 18-25 age group is twice the overall EU unemployment rate (of 11 per cent). And bear in mind that it is only an average. Youth unemployment is twice as high in some southern European countries.

Thus the need for urgent action. With three months left to run before German general elections, which in many ways will amount to a first round for the next European elections in May 2014, Angela Merkel, the leader of a country which boasts the lowest rate of youth unemployment in Europe, seems to be the first to have realised the danger represented by this situation.

Just a few days after a European Council meeting devoted to this issue, on July 3 in Berlin, she convened a European conference to tackle the problem with concrete measures that are to be adopted in the coming months. At the event, which was attended by 18 other national political leaders, as well as ministers of labour and trade union representatives, only the youthful unemployed themselves were missing.

On an initiative of the German trade union DGB and its French counterpart the CGT,some of their number gathered in front of the chancellery for an “alternative summit”. At this event, the European Youth Forum and national youth councils from several countries presented concrete proposals addressed to the European Commission and the European Parliament.

“We do not understand why we are not in there” in the chancellery, Florian Haggenmiller, the youth secretary of the DGB told the Financial Times: “They talk about young people, but not to young people. We believe they will only find solutions if they talk to us.”

It is hard not to agree with this statement, especially when you consider that young Europeans have been expressing their dissatisfaction in the continent’s streets and also in its polling booths for quite some time.

Will we really have to wait for a fresh surge in voter abstention and a breakthrough for populist movements in the European elections before European leaders begin to talk to them?