Why the ‘European dream’ was lost on university students in Maastricht | DW News

voters across Europe will elect a new
European Parliament in June and the
polls and predictions show a shift in
the balance of power far-right parties
could emerge as the strongest political
force in several European Union
countries including France and the
Netherlands and they’re predicted to
come in second in many countries such as
Germany now turnout among young voters
is expected to be higher than in the
last election five years ago and that’s
a demographic all political parties want
to win over tonight the leaders of major
European political parties including
European commission president Ursula
felion faced off in a debate in the
Dutch city of M the audience hundreds of
University
studentsa and DW’s Terry Schultz she had
a front row seat to tonight’s debate she
joins me now from m in the Netherlands
Terry good to see you so this was an
event full of University students and
right now as I understand it you were
supposed to be at an after party but
instead you’re standing well I’m looking
there um in an empty Square what
happened H that’s right Brent um after
this major kickoff event with Ursula
vandon and seven other political leaders
there were supposed to be a big festive
party where students could discuss what
they had heard you there were DJs
planned there were bars set up but as it
perhaps is appropriate uh the real world
intruded on these plans and a a group of
pro Palestinian students held a a
protest across the street from the from
the venue and police decided to kick
them out and shut the whole thing down
hours early so now instead of a bunch of
partying students you can see workers
taking down their pro- European Union
posters hours early so uh yeah this is
not exactly the way that things were
expected to end uh but you know we’re
the only ones here now actually worrying
about getting kicked out ourselves
wellow at least you don’t have to worry
about finding anyone to dance um let’s
go back inside after listening to the
eight candidates debate you know what
there was for debate I mean was there a
clear
winner well there was one way to measure
that and that is because the organizers
which were MRI University and Politico
asked students on their way in and there
were some 900 students watching live so
this was really a big event ask them who
they would choose for European
commission president whether Ursula
Vander liion should be replaced and by
the end the leader of the greens boss
utot who is a Dutchman um he led he won
uh as to who the the people here in this
audience would have selected but I came
out and spoke to the students before
they got kicked out of this square and
asked them how they felt and basically
what I heard was that nobody was really
happy with what they heard the candidate
say they didn’t feel like they had
geared their answers toward the youth
let’s have a listen I guess I felt that
um a lot of the debate was more about uh
what others were not doing attacking one
another rather than focusing on what
each candidate wanted to do for you know
continuing this European dream so it’s
it’s it’s interesting to say the least
so I’m a member of the green party
myself however I thought that our green
candidate well he was a bit
disappointing tonight I mean he defended
the green deal really well however I
didn’t I I didn’t think that he brought
his point across in a way that he could
have done or that maybe other people
could have done I think he could have
squeezed oela feline a little bit more
on what she promised and didn’t deliver
I would have wanted them to be more
Brave into taking up on some issues that
are important I think for Europe in
general they didn’t take any risks up
there no and that’s a
shame so students would have really
liked to see some dramatic positions I
think more fighting more arguments and
basically candidates delivered the same
kind of talking points we would hear in
Brussels and so really we didn’t hear
anybody coming out really cheering their
candidates and you know Terry this re
reminds us of what we’ve heard time and
time again about this democracy deficit
in Europe people tell pollsters that
they connect much more to national
elections National politicians it’s a
NeverEnding Story how to convince voters
that what happens in Brussels in
strawsburg matters just as much as what
happens in Berlin Paris or Rome I guess
no success
tonight that’s true I mean admittedly
these were eight leaders of of groupings
that are paneuropean um and and so you
know you could be expected that that
they wouldn’t speak so so clearly to
national interests and uh bosu again
came in first among the voters for
European commission president he
admitted that he may have had somewhat
of a HomeTown Advantage being from the
Netherlands but a lot of these students
would have liked to hear them uh speak
more to Youth and they really didn’t
feel that and this was one of the themes
the Democratic deficit was in fact one
of the three themes that candidates were
supposed to address one was environment
two was defense and security and three
was the state of EU democracy but again
if you listen to the to uh the students
coming out after the debate none of them
really felt inspired of course what
happened here in this Square Los their
Afterparty may have had something to do
with that it certainly didn’t help yeah
and the irony here is that um the events
that happened outside and with
everything being shut down that will
actually get more media attention than
the actual debate itself
right this is true and this is what a
lot of students were saying like this is
supposed to be an event about European
Union democracy why can’t we talk about
Gaza the war between Israel and Gaza was
not a major event in the debate and some
students really felt strongly about that
many of them were very disappointed to
see the police very forcefully actually
tearing the Palestinian Flags out of the
protesters hands and kicking them out
with dogs and you know kicking out the
journalists as well so this was not a
good scene this was not the way you want
a pro-democracy event to end yeah of
course not but we’re glad that you were
not um injured in all of that DW’s Terry
Schulz in no chance for that I’m lucky I
didn’t get kicked out yeah
okay thank you thank you

Voters across Europe will elect a new European Parliament in June.
Turnout among young voters is expected to be higher than the last election five years ago, and that’s a demographic all political parties want to win over. The leaders of eight major European political parties, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, faced off in a debate in the Dutch city of Maastricht on Monday.

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28 comments

  3. Sorry to share this, but it seems that you think young people care or value more what happened to the party, rather than the outcomes of the debate.

    It would be rather encouraging, seeing rather the post-debate situation as an opportunity to reflect on the young people's criticisms, political engagement and diversity of expressing it, by
    a) being present at such an event, advocating for the policies they value,
    b) remaining hopeful and able to reflect on their concerns – especially when throughout the debate, those concerns were either not addressed adequately or seen to be issues that matter and
    b) some of them seeing this event as a channel to call for action, risking of being mistreated by authorities or peers, while using their right to protest. To pass their message concerning the need for immediate action on a matter they can't no more be witnesses in silence….

    It would be rather encouraging, yet we have a lot to learn.

  4. Something is really wrong with Western youth if they think that killing young and old Israelis in cold blood such as on Oct 7th and many other terrorist attacks before, is somehow an expression of Freedom by Palestinians.😢
    Some have the gall to wear Hamas uniform and symbols on their t shirt while protesting. I wonder who's brainwashing these kids?

  11. Pro-democracy is not equal to pro-palestine. Pro-palestine is not equal to pro-hamas. Pro-hamas should be condemned and any such action should be prohibited.

  13. EP elections 2024: our chance to stop the war, to stop the illegal migration, to stop the gender-lobby. Let's drive Europe back to our common sense and our precious cultural roots again!

  16. The greatest mystery in the universe, the most brilliant minds in the mighty leadership of the European Union are not able to decipher the reason why Europeans are voting for anti immigration parties.

  18. I like pen of anchor…and sometimes I think EU as empire as roman empire with democracy and all parliament members as senators..and they pass laws

  19. In Europe, there's a growing sense of neglect towards the younger generation. They face lower salaries, longer work hours, and increased responsibilities while witnessing a surge in billionaires, particularly in countries like Germany.

    The housing market adds to their woes, as property prices soar, making it difficult to afford homes, let alone start families. To compensate, cheap labor from abroad is often favored, leading to frustration among the youth, who feel betrayed.

    People aren't inherently racist, but this frustration arises when governments prioritize external labor over addressing domestic issues. It's high time politicians acknowledge and tackle these pressing concerns rather than resorting to distractions. The younger generation deserves meaningful change. STOP playing with house inflation and reduce the prices. Its ridiculous the explotation of our generation.

  23. There is no European dream. EU is a nightmare. Undemocratic, authoritarian, and committed to making our lives miserable. Margaret Thatcher had seen what the EU meant for Britain and said no. Thats why Brexit was the best that could happen to them

  25. How would EU officials claim themselves as partegon of democrats? Even you can't bear young people to highlight what happens in Gaza! Please be consistent on democracy!

  26. Wasn't democracy supposed to let people protest and be tolerant towards different opinions?
    This is not a good look for the establshment. They may have wanted to lure the new generation in with candy, but the new generation gave them the middlefinger. Not surprising with someone like von der Leyen who was not democraticly elected, with still industry and commerce having more say on europe than the interests of civilians. Don't even get me started on the fringe right, that seems more successfull with bad faith intollerance than the estiblishment with their endless growth maxime.

  27. Odd that people relate more to national elections…
    I'm having trouble voting for EU elections this year exactly because none of the locals deserve even a chance.
    And as far as I can tell the muddy uselessness of national elections is spilling into the EU candidates and their lack of usefulness, not the other way around.

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