A year ahead: Belgium lowers voting age to 16 for the European elections

Belgium and Germany have joined Austria, Greece and Malta in allowing 16 and 17-year-old to vote in the European elections.

Transcript

00:00 This time next year, these secondary school goers won't just use their pens for exams,

00:07 but also for voting.

00:09 In the 2024 European elections, Belgium and Germany join Austria, Greece and Malta in

00:16 allowing 16-year-olds to vote.

00:18 Pupils here are informed and motivated.

00:20 "I think it's a good idea because we're going to be adults soon and we have to take

00:27 care of our own lives, so we should give our opinion."

00:30 "I think it's a really good idea because it means that we can actually change what

00:35 we want to change and so the matters that we find important, we can actually have a voice

00:40 and so vote for parties or people that we think would carry these values.

00:44 For example, in our class, climate change is quite important, or women's rights, and

00:48 so people can actually use their voice to further these ideas."

00:52 Lowering the voting age means that 270,000 young people in Belgium will be able to cast

00:57 their ballot, the goal of many youth organisations here for years, a change they want to see

01:03 all over the continent.

01:05 Young people should be heard, and not just seen, they argue.

01:09 "It's true that some young people think that their voices and their votes don't matter,

01:14 and that's why we need a bigger political change.

01:17 Voting at 16 is a part of that change, it's one step to getting there, but we recognise

01:21 we need some more radical changes if we need young people to feel truly engaged in our

01:25 democracies.

01:26 That means having more young people in political parties, having more young people in positions

01:31 of political power, and having young people's opinions taken seriously in our politics."

01:36 But the big question now, will young people get registered for these elections and take

01:40 time out to go to vote, even in countries like Belgium, where voting is mandatory?

01:46 Previous EU elections show voter turnout among youth is dismally low.

01:50 The goal now is to change this tendency.

01:53 "And of course for us, the institution, the parliament, but maybe this should be even

01:58 bigger than just the parliament, this is a priority for many reasons, and maybe the first

02:03 reason is that these are probably the elections that are more clearly shaping future for these

02:09 new generations.

02:11 Because at the end of the day, what will happen at the European level will probably have a

02:16 bigger and a longer impact than national decisions, let's say year by year or in the short term."

02:22 Back in 2019, only 42% of first-time voters actually voted.

02:28 And only time will tell if they're motivated next year.

02:32 All eyes on politicians to see how they flirt with this generation.

02:36 Maeve McMahan, Euronews, Brussels.

02:39 [SWOOSH]