The youth peril : the rebellion of the French misunderstood young voters

Sophie Pedder : continue sa série sur le référendum et moi à innonder la BAL de mes amis de questions politiques, un autre bon souvenir :) Par contre, aucune idée de qui est ce Tristan !

The youth peril : the rebellion of the French misunderstood young voters

On Thursday April 14th took place on the biggest French national channel, TF1, a complete political disaster: the debate about the European referendum between the French president, Jacques Chirac and a panel of 83 young adults, aged between 18 and 30.

Whereas the TV show was supposed to boost the chance of a “yes vote”, it emphasised the incomprehension between the head of state and young citizens enabling the no to gain a few more points. 56% in total according to a Paris Match’s survey on Saturday 16thAn Ipsos survey published in Le Figaro on April 11th gave the first alarm. It indicates that 53,8% of young voters are opposed to the Constitution.

Not only it is the first time that young people, who has been growing up with the EU, swing to the Euroskeptical’s side but also it’s among young voters that is to be found the highest voting certainty (around 44,7%) and the weakest mobilisation rate (no more than 40,5%). In other words finding a lot of new “yes followers” among them is rather unlikely.

But this refusal is paradoxical. Young voters are not Europhobe but indifferent Europhile. Le Figaro’s survey shows that an overwhelming majority (71,4%) approves Eastern enlargement. They take the EU’s existence for granted. For instance, they don’t believe in an apocalyptical scenario if the no wins. 69,1% suggest that the Constitution shall be renegotiated.

The reasons behind the no-vote of the youth? First ignorance. Like on TF1’s set where a third of the panel confessed they had not read the Constitution, young people ignore what the text is about and which changes it could bring.

According to le Figaro, only 19% have tried to discover the text on their own. Julien Bizet, 23 ans, a computer analyst from Nantes explains “I have to be responsible. Since I won’t have enough time to discover the treaty and nobody makes the effort to explain me what all the fuss is about, I won’t vote yes for a text that I have no idea about. There is too much at stake. To say no is to buy some time to think calmly upon it”.

The complexity of the text is not helping. Young voters like Mickael Cluzel, a 24 years-old engineer, feel deserted and misunderstood by politicians, who don’t hear their fears and leave them in the dark. The Constitution scares him. “it’s so big and illegible. Whereas the French or the American constitutions are 20 pages long, the treaty runs over 700 pages. You can’t help wondering if politicians are not deceiving you, trying to dissimulate in this constitutional saga some hidden meaning”.

Besides, young people believe that the Constitution is an irrelevant solution to their problems. With an unemployment rate of 20% - the double of the rest of the population- the economic crisis is hitting them hard. Young adults fear the liberal treaty will worsen their precarious situation by favouring Eastern competition and delocalization.

“With the enlargement, what are my chances to get a decent job, if it is two times cheaper in Poland? It was already hard enough before! What good will this text do to us when there are no social guaranties and not a mention of the word “public services” ?” Virginie Gonel, a 24 years-old student who is about to finish her literature degree, laments. Age influences the no-vote. If a majority of students (40%) vote yes, once they begin their working life, only 27% support the text.


An ultimate cause of refusal lies in the quality of the debate. Ronald Narcisse, 24, a job-seeker is going to vote no to protest against the weakness of the campaign

The president’s vague responses on secularisation , his wobbling over man/woman equality, his open display of arrogance and aggressiveness –“It saddens me to see how much young people are afraid, It’s something I don’t understand”- his lukewarm enthusiasm have only strengthened his no-vote.

For Ronald, Thursday’s show demonstrated how mediocre the campaign is. There are too few precise references (like articles quoted from the Constitution). Politicians do not bother to ground their arguments; they prefer that debates remain shallow so as to spread more easily confusion and false contradictory ideas.

He’s proved right by Tristan, a 20 years-old engineer-to-be. “I’ll vote no. With all the stuff I’ve heard about the Bolkenstein directive written down in the Constitution, my mind is set!”

This comment shows the extent of the task that awaits the yes-followers. In less than six weeks, they’ll have to kill many unfounded received ideas. It will be all the more difficult than they will not only have to convince young people but merely first to interest them in the issue. A delicate wager: on Thursday a majority of young people (27,9% according to rating figures) decided to watch the TV reality show “la Nouvelle Star” instead of Chirac’s performance.