Youth and Europe (March/April 2022)

The study on youth and Europe was conducted by Kantar Public on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the German Federal Government. During the survey period from April 19 to April 26, 2022, the German-speaking population between the ages of 14 and 24 living in Germany was surveyed in online interviews (CAWI) on the following topics: political interest, informedness, media, image of the EU and attachment to Europe or the EU, interest in and level of knowledge about European politics, cohesion and solidarity in the EU, political participation in Europe. Respondents were selected by quota sampling from an online access panel.<br>1. Political interest, informedness, media: interest in politics; informedness about politics: frequency of media use about politics; preferred sources of information (media use) about politics.

2. Image of the EU, attachment to Europe: associations with the European Union; rather positive or rather negative image of the EU; change in personal image of the EU in the last two years; aspects personally associated with the EU (e.g. freedom to travel, the euro, peace, cultural diversity, etc.).

3. Interest and level of knowledge of European politics: personal contacts with the EU (e.g. semester abroad via the ERASMUS program, traveled through EU countries with an Interrail ticket, etc.); institutional trust (EU Commission, EU Parliament, EU Council of Ministers, United Nations, NATO, German government, Bundestag); attitude towards processes in the EU (I can understand the political processes in the EU well vs. I don´t get how the European Union works in Brussels); attitude towards institutions in the EU (The institutions of the EU are democratic vs. undemocratic); level of knowledge about the EU, EU politics and EU institutions with regard to different topics (election of members of the European Parliament, own anthem of the European Union, date of the last elections to the European Parliament, EU membership of Norway, Romania and Bulgaria, Euro as official currency in all EU member states, European army, admission of new member states after majority decision of the member states, distribution of seats of Germany in the European Parliament); interest with regard to European policy, functioning of the institutions of the European Union (Parliament, Commission and Council of Ministers), distribution of responsibilities between the European Union and the individual member states as well as the electoral system in European elections; interest in decisions of the European Union in various policy areas (counter-terrorism, migration and refugees, environmental and climate change, foreign and security policy, energy policy, consumer protection, agriculture and fisheries, economy, employment and social security as well as health).

4. Cohesion and solidarity in the EU: assessment of cohesion and solidarity between EU member states; influence of the Corona pandemic and the Ukraine war on the development of cohesion and solidarity between EU member states; biggest challenges for the EU (e.g. social inequalities, environmental issues and climate change, unemployment, etc.); opinion on future cooperation in the EU; opinion on Germany´s EU membership (good thing, bad thing, neither good nor bad); attitude towards EU enlargement to the East with regard to the following countries: Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova; attitude towards the EU (because of the EU we live in Europe more safely vs. through the EU Germany is dragged into international conflicts, membership in the EU ensures that we in Germany are doing well economically vs. Germany pays too much money to the EU and the other EU countries and is thus weakened economically, the EU can react better than individual countries to global problems such as climate change or pandemics vs. the EU is too slow and sluggish to react sufficiently quickly to global problems such as climate change or pandemics, we need a strong EU to stand up to other major powers such as Russia, China and the U.S. vs. Germany can negotiate and form alliances with other major powers better on its own, I feel primarily European vs. I feel primarily German).

5. Political participation in Europe: types of personal political participation (e.g. voted in the last state or federal election, voted in the last European election, etc.); perceived participation: assessment of opportunities for political participation at different levels (in own city/county, federal state, Federal Republic of Germany, European Union); desired political participation (meaningful vs. non-sensible measures to better take into account the political interests of young people in Europe in politics (creation of a youth council to advise the European Union from the point of view of young people, voting in European elections from the age of 16, family voting rights (parents can additionally cast a vote for their children who are not yet eligible to vote), more young politicians in Europe, more participation opportunities away from elections such as citizens´ referendums at the European level, regular consultation hours for young people with politicians, more digital participation opportunities, e.g. online discussions or online petitions, the possibility to vote online in European elections, e.g. via an app); beyond that, desired political participation (open); evaluation of lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 for federal elections and for European elections; discussions about lowering the voting age to 16 for European elections; agreement with various statements on lowering the voting age (many 16-year-olds do not yet have sufficient personal maturity and political knowledge to be able to make an electoral decision, 16-year-olds should also be allowed to vote because they will later also have to bear the consequences of current political decisions, politicians would take 16- and 17-year-olds more seriously as potential voters and represent their interests better, if 16-year-olds could vote, they would also be more interested in EU policies, 16- and 17-year-olds should not yet be allowed to vote because they are also not yet of full legal capacity and age of criminal responsibility, 16- and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote so that the votes of older generations do not carry even more weight).

Demography: sex; age; education: current school attendance; type of school currently attended; highest school degree obtained to date; employment; self-assessed social class; housing situation; household size; party sympathies; migration background.

In addition, the following was coded: current respondent number; federal state; municipality size; weighting factor.