ZAGREB, May 1, 2019 – A panel discussion involving young people and candidates for European Parliament was held in Zagreb on Tuesday to raise awareness of the importance of EU membership and building the European identity as well as encouraging critical and independent thinking among young people.
The questions asked at the panel, which was organised by the European Movement Croatia and Europe House Zagreb, focused mostly on education, youth employment, reasons for lack of interest in politics, ecology, etc.
Sandra Benčić of the We Can platform said citizens’ everyday life and livelihoods were in the platform’s focus as statistics showed that young Croatians live with their parents the longest as they cannot afford to live on their own.
She supported job security and dignity, and opposed further liberalisation, noting that Croatia was in the lead in the EU in terms of precarious work, which affected young people the most.
Young people are not interested in politics because they lack experience, they have problems finding a job without a party membership card and that is why they are leaving the country, she said.
Independent candidate Tome Antičić, who is on the Croatian People’s Party (HNS) slate, criticised the EU for excessive red tape and lack of competitiveness, which, he said, was the reason why young people were leaving it.
The most successful companies in the world are not from the EU, which shows that something in it is wrong, the system of education is uneven, uncompetitive and inflexible, and mobility is poor, he said.
Tomislav Sokol of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) supported the principle of subsidiarity, saying that Croatia had so far absorbed 14 billion kuna more from the EU budget than it had paid into it.
Young people should be given a chance to gain experience and should be enabled to take over duties, notably those who have proven themselves in their field of expertise, he said.
Sonja Čikotić of the MOST party said that young people in Croatia and the rest of the EU had similar problems. They should be given higher scholarships and should be helped to find a job through specific employment programmes, she said.
Independent candidate Bojan Glavašević, a candidate on the START slate, underlined the need to connect Croatian regions by a high-speed railway to be built with the help of EU funds and to fight social dumping by creating a social shield and setting a mechanism to determine the minimum wage.
Member of the European Parliament Marijana Petir, who is running for another term as an independent candidate, warned that only 31% of the available funding had been absorbed from EU funds for rural development.
Saša Polanec Borić of the Croatian Social Liberal Party (HSLS) stressed the importance of Croatia’s entry into the Schengen area for the even development of Croatian regions, warning that money from EU funds was being used to encourage insecure forms of employment.
Independent candidate Mirela Holy, who is running in the EU election on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) slate, called for greater mobility of students, quality education, better youth employment and legalisation of marijuana.
Ivica Puljak of the Pametno party stressed the importance of dealing with problems and challenges, noting that that required competence and hard work and that money from EU funds should be used for development rather than as welfare.
Ana Vlahov of the Work and Solidarity Party said that she would promote the interests of young people wishing to enter the world of enterprise and innovation.
More European Parliament election news can be found in the Politics section.
