Social protection is very impor­tant to young people.

A Eurobarometer survey of EU citizens aged between 16 and 30 has shown that: social protection is "in". Just under a third of all respondents (29 per cent) want the EU to prioritise access to healthcare, social protection and social welfare. This puts social protection ahead of issues such as education (27 per cent), housing (23 per cent) as well as defence and security (21 per cent).

Biggest concern, most impor­tant value

However, the biggest concerns of young people are high prices and the cost of living. On the other hand, the protection of democracy, human rights and peace are the most important values for young people (45 per cent), followed by freedom of speech and thought (41 per cent).

Regional differ­ences

As with almost every survey, there are regional deviations both upwards and downwards. European defence is of particular importance in Eastern European countries, which is probably directly related to their proximity to warring Russia. When it comes to obtaining information, television is (still) the number one information source in countries such as France, Italy, Portugal and Slovenia.

Social media is the main infor­ma­tion source

Nevertheless, television is steadily losing its function as an information source. It is still popular amongst those aged 25 to 30. Young people in the 16 to 18 age group rely more on social media (45 per cent) - especially Instagram - as well as colleagues, family and friends. And - only eight per cent do not use social media to obtain information. The bottom line: In the EU, social media has already overtaken television in terms of gathering information, that is 42 against 39 per cent.

The disin­for­ma­tion problem

With regard to the information landscape changing towards social media, Roberta Metsola, the president of the EU Parliament, stressed that politics and social media platforms have a special responsibility towards combating the increasing level of disinformation. It is helpful that there is a strong awareness of the dangers involved among young people. 76 per cent stated that they came into contact with disinformation during the previous seven days. Though almost as many (70 per cent) believe they can cope with this problem.