“I hope that in the future we will talk more with and about young people.”

On Tuesday, 6 December 2022, MEP Irena Joveva took part in a stream organised by Euranet Plus, a network of professional media companies, on youth participation in politics. In the first part, she and two fellow MEPs talked mainly about the involvement of young people in decision-making processes, while in the second part, they played a mini-golf video game with online influencers while answering their questions.

MEP Joveva said that she tries to explain things that also concern young people as clearly as possible to them: “I try to explain to young people the challenges I am facing or all of us are facing in a short and as understandable way as possible. I try to bring my work closer to them so that they understand that politics does not have to be an inexplicable and complicated business. Therefore, I tend to use simpler language and sometimes humour, in moderation, and combine that with personal circumstances to involve young people more in issues that affect them, too.”

Erasmus+ and ALMA are just two of the many programmes that young people can use to see and feel Europe. This is one of the direct benefits of the Union for them. There was a question from a young participant in the debate about what currently interests young people the most. The three MEPs agreed that it is jobs, environmental challenges and security.

As the debate moderator rightly mentioned, young people have been given a central role in the Conference on the Future of Europe. In this regard, Joveva pointed out:

“I hope that in the future we will talk more with and about young people than we have done so far. MEPs do not always sufficiently ask young people what their views are when we are drafting legislation. For myself, I communicate with them, meet them regularly and encourage them to share their thoughts, ideas and fears with me, so that I can answer certain questions Imyself have. I believe that this year, which is not over yet, only marked the beginning of a debate that will make our work even more youth-centred.”

In addition to Joveva, two other MEPs, Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA) and Dace Melbarde (EPP), participated in the debate. In the second part of the stream, they were joined by online influencers Marcos Moschovidis, Karim Hallal Peche and Luke Fry.

The debate was moderated by Quentin Deschandelliers, a former assistant in the European Parliament and online content creator who runs the MEPassistant profile on Instagram and Twitch.

You can watch the recording of the event HERE.