Brussels, 16/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission published a Eurobarometre survey on 10 October on "Young people in the candidate countries". The questions focused on the young people's concerns on work and unemployment, their values, and their perceptions about the EU and what it will bring. The survey shows that the technology most used by young people of the future Member States is the mobile telephone, and that they travel less than young people in the EU of 15, but have greater language skills. Furthermore, they are more financially dependent on their families, and expect much of the EU.
1. Success of the mobile 'phone, but limited involvement in associations: according to Eurobarometer, a) in their free time, the three most common activities for all young Europeans are: watching television, listening to music and meeting friends. Twice as many young people in the accession and candidate countries (51%) as in the EU (25%) help with the housework, but they go to the cinema, concerts or the theatre less (30% of young people in the accession and candidate countries compared to 45% in the EU of Fifteen). They also read slightly more (48%, as against 40% in the EU of 15); b) membership of societies and associations among young people in the candidate and the member countries is quite low, with over half of them belonging to no societies. Of the means of making their involvement in society or politics easier, the first choice of young people is the education system; c) young people in the acceding countries use information technology more than those in the EU: 63% of young people use a computer at least once a week (56% in the EU of Fifteen and 47% among all candidates); 50% of young people use the Internet (37% in the EU of 15); 34% send and receive e-mails (31% in the EU of 15). The most widely-used technology is the mobile 'phone: 80% of young people in the EU of 15, 75% in the countries joining next year and 66% in the candidate countries overall use a mobile every week.
2. Less travel, but greater mastery of foreign languages: 56% of young people in the future Member States and the candidate countries (compared to 63% of young people in the EU of 15) have visited a foreign country in the last two years, mostly for holidays. Language is an obstacle to mobility, but the survey shows that more young people in the accession and candidate countries speak several foreign languages than those in the EU of Fifteen. English is by far the most widely-spoken foreign language, followed by German, Russian and French.
3. Differing views on social issues: more young people of the age of majority in the accession and candidate countries than in the EU feel their generation is in favour of obligatory Aids tests (66%, 61% in the EU), obligatory medical treatment for paedophiles (74% versus 60%), limiting the birth-rate among the poor (32% against 28%) and the death penalty (47% compared to 27%). However, fewer of them feel their generation supports euthanasia (39% versus 54%), same-sex marriages (38% compared to 59%), and homosexual couples adopting children (20% as against 41%).
4. Greater family dependence, especially from a financial point of view: 72% of young people from the accession and candidate countries say this is because they cannot afford to move out (as against 67% of young people in the EU).
5. Expectations from the EU: 61% of young people in the 13 acceding and candidate countries feel the EU spells a better future (as opposed to 21% in the EU of 15) because it offers more job opportunities, freedom of movement, and a better quality of life due to an improved economic situation. The significance they attach to the notion of European citizenship are (in order) the right to work anywhere in the EU (75%), the right to settle anywhere in the EU (70%), and the right to study anywhere in the EU (69%). Lastly, 2/3 of the young respondents thought the EU's priorities should be 1) education and training, 2) the freedom to go and study, live and work anywhere in the EU.