Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-25-Speech-3-123"
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"en.20040225.9.3-123"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, rapporteur, I would firstly like to say, on behalf of the shadow rapporteur, Mrs Zissener, that our group, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats, is in favour of this report provided that the principle of subsidiarity is respected.
I believe that participation and information for young people is an issue of the utmost importance and I have always said, since I joined this Parliament, that it is the young who are important, not those of us who are not so young, because they are the future of Europe and it is in them that we must invest and apply all our efforts.
I have a lot of contact with young people and I truly believe that they are much more receptive than adults or the elderly. We must take advantage of this situation.
According to the new poll by the Eurobarometer for the coming European Parliament elections, an average of just 30% of the population is expected to vote. This seems to me a ridiculously low figure and we must make a great effort to increase it. It is not enough for all of us to sit here saying how very worried we are; we must really prove this through action. It is furthermore clear that we are doing something wrong. I will tell you an anecdote, ladies and gentlemen, concerning a situation in which I was involved right here this very afternoon.
You are all perfectly aware that 2004 is the European year of education through sport and, although it is directed at all European citizens, it is in particular directed at young people. Nevertheless, this afternoon I went to see a visiting group of young Spanish students from the south of Spain, from Andalusia, from my region, and in the brief chat I had with them I asked them whether any of them could tell me what European year 2004 was. Not one of them – not one of the 30 young people in the room – could answer me. When I told them, they were rather surprised because they all realised it was something directed particularly at them. This is a sign that perhaps we are doing something wrong and we must correct it as soon as possible.
To do so we need greater cooperation between youth organisations and public authorities. We must work hard to achieve this and I believe that the report by Mrs Gröner is an initial step towards providing more information for young Europeans."@en1
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