Eurobarometer survey of young Europeans
The European Commission has published a Eurobarometer survey of young Europeans' attitudes and lifestyles. The report examines young people's attitudes - on matters which affect them directly, and towards the European Union. The first part of the survey illustrates the lifestyle of young Europeans, looking at their religious beliefs, participation in community life, views on employment and unemployment, education, travel, knowledge of languages, etc. The second part focuses on the way they perceive the EU, and what it has achieved. The survey finds that the greatest concern of young people is employment. In their eyes, it must be the EU's first priority for action. They consider that the greatest asset for finding a job is a "good general education". A success for the EU is in increasing mobility for young people, with over half of the young people interviewed having travelled to another Member State in the past two years. For the young, the notion of "European citizenship" is linked to the ability to work, live and study in any Member State. Only 28% of the interviewees did not feel confident in speaking in a second European language, a great improvement since 1990, when some 40% were not confident of using a second language. In their free time, most young people participate in sports or watch television. Despite the fact that almost half the interviewees are not members of any organizations or associations, they still show themselves sensitive and open to handicap victims and willing to care for elderly people. The young people were particularly interested in the development of new technologies, seeing them as a key to the creation of employment. In this respect research and development was cited as the third priority for the EU, ahead of housing, the fight against crime and consumer protection. That said, half of the interviewees do not yet use computers or the Internet. A total of 9,400 young people aged between 15 and 24 were interviewed between April and June 1997. This represents an average of 600 per Member State, except Germany (1,200: 600 from former West Germany and 600 from former East Germany), the United Kingdom (800: 600 from Great Britain and 200 from Northern Ireland) and Luxembourg (200). The survey includes both new questions, and "old" ones which can be compared with a previous survey from 1990.