European elections 2009

Youngsters and political experts discussed the future of the European Union

By Verena Schiefer. Translated by Stefan Fersterer and Alexandra Skwara.

The Austrian Euro-scepticism cannot be considered  a well-kept secret. A person transforms into the star of  business small talk and the hero of regulars’ tables as soon as he/she rails against “those people in Brussels” and shows an indifference towards  common European policies. Moreover, you will never run out of topics of conversation since there is always something to complain about.

The panel discussion “With drive for Europe” ("Mit Schwung für Europa", an event organized by the Austrian public TV channel ORF and the newspaper STANDARD) aimed to listen to  youngsters’ attitudes towards the EU and to get a sense of their primary questions and contents. The Austrian Benita Ferrero-Waldner, EU-Commissioner for External Relations, and the political scientist Peter Filzmaier responded to the critical questions of young panal participants and the audience.