Rising prices and climate crisis: This is what Malta’s young people want EU to focus on in next five years

We are living in unprecedented political times – and with the European Parliament elections passed in 2024, the bodies of the European Union are gearing up to shape the lives of the bloc in the next upcoming years. How do the EU’s young people – and Maltese youth – feel about it?

In terms of top three political priorities, Malta’s young people think rising costs of living, the climate crisis and the social protections need to be on top of the list in the next five years for the European Union. 

This echoes the general sentiment — rising prices and the cost of living are a concern for 40 per cent of the 16-30 year-olds in the EU. One third of respondents said they believed the EU should focus its attention on the environment and climate change over the next five years, while 31 per cent believe the economic situation and job creation should be a priority.

This comes from the recently published EP Youth Survey 2024, which examines the views of young people (aged 16-30) across the EU. It focuses on their political priorities, attitudes towards the European Union, sources of information, exposure to disinformation, political engagement, and voting behaviour in the 2024 European elections.

When asked about where they get their news from, social media is the main source of political and social issues for 42 per cent of respondents aged 16-30, with television second (39 per cent). 

In Malta, nearly half respondents (47 per cent) said social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram were their main source of news, with TV coming in second with 32 per cent.

However, the risk of fake news because increasingly difficult to avoid, especially with previous protections being removed by Instagram and Facebook’s mother company Meta.

In fact, 29 per cent Maltese young people revealed they think they encountered disinformation and fake news in the past week of the survey, exceeding the EU average of 15 per cent. 

In terms of voting behaviours of the previous EU elections, 37 per cent of non-voters opted out because they did not feel represented. This is more than double to EU average of 15 percent who said they did so because they didn’t find any relatable candidate or political party that represented their views. 

Other Maltese non-voters said they didn’t because they couldn’t because of other commitments (24 per cent), they didn’t have enough information to make a choice, (29 per cent) or they don’t trust politicians (25 per cent).

For those that did participate, most young voters in Malta did so to strategically avoid the electoral success of another party (29 per cent). The second highest reason was because they thought this party or candidate could change things (25 per cent) which matches the EU average. 

Overall, voting among Malta’s young people was lower than average. Just 28 per cent said they voted in a local, national or European election, in comparison to the EU average of 39 per cent. 

Find the full fact sheet here.