European elections, two out of three young people in Italy ready to vote

Brussels – Interested in politics and European issues, determined to use their right to vote, attentive to environmental issues and programs for a Europe of peace. Here are the young Italians called to vote for the European elections in early June, as portrayed by the special Eurobarometer survey aimed precisely at the youngest. The questions addressed only under-30s to study their attitudes and intentions. The first is voting, in which two out of every three individuals (67 per cent) say they want to exercise their rights.

Young women and men of Italy do not doubt this: they will vote—or so they declare. Only a tiny fraction of respondents stated firmly that they had no intention of going to vote (11 per cent), with an almost similar share of undecided (9 per cent) reserving their decision for the last moment.

Environmentalism and ecology seem to be the key factors for Italians in the upcoming consultations. One in four (26 per cent) say they want to know what the various parties’ election agendas include, and another four out of ten  (44 per cent) say they want sustainability among the candidates’ pledges, although they are not quite willing to read the entire agenda.

Those offered on the “green” subject do not seem to be answers of circumstance. When questioned about the possibility of finding a job in the sector, three out of ten voters (30 per cent) offer a clear “yes,” and almost one in two (48 per cent) show interest and inclination anyway. Only young people from Cyprus, Romania, Greece, Malta, and Slovenia are more “eco-sensitive” than their Italian peers, who demand better commitment to peace from the EU.

Promoting and defending peace is the first choice of Italians under-30 when asked what the EU should focus on (33 per cent), on par with fighting social exclusion and more work (33 per cent). Competence, the latter, of the member states and not the EU, and that sounds like distrust in the national political class.