MEP ‘young guns’ set to take on traditional EU policymakers
German MEP Alexander Alvaro has launched a new parliament group aimed at addressing the concerns of MEPs under 40 years old.
The ALDE deputy hopes the informal network, called EU40, will galvanise the parliament’s 126 young deputies under the age of 40 into a cross-party political force capable of influencing future EU policy. The new group, which Alvaro has been developing over the last two years, was unveiled on Wednesday in the European parliament when members met with commission president José Manuel Barroso for a private question and answer session. Alvaro told this website following the ‘in camera’ meeting with Barroso that he hoped the network could develop an approach to European politics that was not solely focused on party politics or national issues, but generation-based and future-oriented.
“I had setting up this group in mind when I originally became an MEP aged 29,” he said. “I’m part of the generation that although born into a divided Europe, was brought up in a united Europe, so I along with many younger colleagues have a different perception of the world than someone aged 50-60.” Alvaro also heads the assembly’s campaign for parliament reform group. And he said the under-40 generation was more inclined to seek cross-party consensus to political issues. “We favour a more cooperative approach, rather than a stiff party approach, and we are more open to different communication tools and new technologies,” he said.
Alvaro, who was instrumental in setting up the one seat campaign calling for the scrapping of parliament’s Strasbourg seat, said the so-called ‘young guns’ network was an opportunity for younger MEPs to shape Europe’s future. “We are not setting up a committee, or a formal parliamentary group, but an informal network that we hope can influence parliament’s main political groups,” he said. “There is no guarantee that it will work, but we have had a strong response from parliament’s younger deputies.”
Alvaro said that MEPs were still in the process of coming together in parliament following the elections, and that he is yet to find out how many members want to become involved. But he added that he was “amazed” that over 40 members had confirmed their attendance at Wednesday’s reception following the meeting with Barroso, where more than 30 MEPs turned out to quiz the commission chief. “Today was the first time we got the network together in the parliament to discuss political issues,” he said. “Now we can look to develop EU led policy papers and other more long-term projects. We now have young ‘heads’ within the political groups.”
Former Dutch MEP Michiel van Hulten, now a Brussels-based consultant said he fully backed the principles behind the EU40 network. “My experience, joining the European parliament in 1999 aged 30, was that there was a big divide in the post war generation of politicians,” he said. “I don’t believe that traditional party sympathies are as relevant to the younger generation.”
Bulgarian MEP Metin Kazak, aged 37, also backed the EU40 initiative. “It’s a very good idea to bring together policy makers from different countries to give a youthful push to EU policy,” she said. Newly elected Dutch deputy Marietje Schaake, 31, agreed that the younger members “see politics in a different way” from the older generation, and welcomed the EU40 network as a “unique opportunity” to foster more political transparency and accountability.
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