The Europe Direct Cuneo Piedmont South West area office and the Association for the Meeting of Cultures in Europe (APICE) are responsible, the first in an institutional form, the second independently, with informing citizens and students about the European Union, what happens within it and the opportunities it offers its citizens.
With a view to informing the young population and new voters as much as possible while waiting for the elections European elections of 8 and 9 Junewe proposed to 18 year olds in the area a survey with the aim of investigating the knowledge and awareness of new voters about their rights and duties as European citizens, with particular attention to the right to vote. In fact, we think it is essential to work on awareness of European democracy among young people and, in particular, among those who will find themselves voting for the first time, with the aim of creating the habit of voting and a strong civic sense in the new generations.
During the months of administration of the survey (between October 2023 and May 2024), they responded 1225 boys and girls from 19 Higher Education Institutes in the Province of Cuneo, of which 994 young new votersi.e. boys and girls who turned 18 in 2023 or will turn 18 by June 2024. From these responses, distributed equally across a large part of the territory of the province of Cuneo, it emerged that:
– 93.5% of those interviewed say they have already spoken and addressed the topic of the European Union in their school career. An excellent result, probably also due to the introduction of compulsory civic education within the educational programs of Italian schools
– However, 63.2% say they don’t know of any opportunities offered by the EU to young people. Among the best known, obviously, Erasmus+ (cited by 20% of those interviewed), the DiscoverEU pass (2.3%), and in general the opportunities to carry out internships and study periods abroad.
– 72% of the newly 18-year-olds who filled out the questionnaire were already aware of the fact that there will be European elections in June 2024. More than half, although the percentage of boys and girls who did not know they would be called to vote in the following months remains high.
– 90.1% of the total, however, declare that they intend to go to the polls to exercise their right to vote. In particular, a large part of the newly eighteen-year-olds consider it important to go and vote as they consider it a right (28.5% of yes) and a duty (20.3%) of the citizen. A good part (8.7% of the yes votes), again, report that they will go to vote as they consider voting a fundamental tool for expressing one’s opinion and keeping democracy alive, so that each citizen can feel represented at a European level as much as possible. national.
– 9.9% remaining, represented by those who reported have no intention of going to the pollsjustifies their decision by claiming that they are not sufficiently informed or interested in politics in general (53.1% of those who say no), that they do not have Italian citizenship (17.3%) or that they do not have confidence in the fact that their vote could really be worth something or make a difference (5.1%).
– With regard to the issues that are most important to young voters we find work and unemployment (490 votes), climate change (468 votes), healthcare (442 votes), peace (406 votes), mental health (355 votes), the economy (366 votes), gender equality (356 votes), security (335 votes), rights (323 votes), the fight against discrimination (299 votes), migration (246 votes) and democracy (151 votes). The themes of work, the fight against climate change and healthcare stand out in the foreground, probably also due to the pandemic experience, followed by the theme of peace, more central than ever given the recent developments in the international situation.
Starting from these data, which highlight a strong civic sense in new voters, but still little information about European issues and opportunities, in the first months of 2024 the Europe Direct Cuneo office and APICE worked in depth in schools in contact with newly eighteen-year-olds to deepen their preparation on European issues and work on democratic and civic awareness. About this, meetings were held on the topic of elections and European democracy in more than 50 classes, reaching over 1000 young voters.
This report will make it possible to verify with what distribution across the territory European issues are addressed and felt most, in order to be able to offer, also in the coming years, a useful and targeted service for the young citizens of Europe.
