Ursula Von der Leyen urged to listen to Europe's protesters by Limerick youth leader

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, File picture: Pascal Bastien/AP

The Limerick head of a major European youth group has asked Ursula von der Leyen to engage with young people amid the protests breaking out across Europe.

Caillum Hedderman, aged 24, from Ballybricken, who was elected president of the European Youth Forum in May, wrote to the European Commission chief last week as youth-led protests spread across the continent.

He said that hundreds of thousands of young people had taken to the streets across Europe in recent weeks to call for “urgent” action on challenges facing young people such as housing, "quality" jobs, education, and the climate.

Protests began in France in mid-September over a lack of investment in its education system, raising concerns about staff absences, long hours and dilapidated classrooms.

These sparked other youth-led protests in several other European countries, including Spain, Germany, and Portugal, over issues such as the rising cost of living, affordable housing, and a lack of employment opportunities.

Hedderman wrote in his letter to Ms von der Leyen that young people’s concerns are “not privileges to be negotiated” but rights authorities should be delivering upon.

While condemning violence that had broken out in France and elsewhere, he said this must “never become an excuse to silence the peaceful majority”.

He said one in four young people in the EU are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, while youth unemployment is at twice the overall rate.

He also said that house prices in Europe have increased by 60% since 2021, while rents have increased by almost 30%.

“For many, the promise that each generation will live better than the last no longer holds,” he wrote to Ms von der Leyen.

He asked that the president's Youth Advisory Board be convened, which advises the Commission on youth affairs, before the European Council on December 17 and 18.

“Such a meeting would allow you to hear directly from young people, including those from countries where protests are taking place, through their national youth councils,” he said.

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“It would also let us discuss how the European Union's tools on housing, quality jobs, education, climate and the rule of law should respond.” 

He added: “Young people deserve a present they can live in and a future worth hoping for. They are asking whether Europe's institutions are listening. A meeting now would show that you are.” 

The letter was co-signed by 31 European youth groups, including the National Youth Council of Ireland.

Hedderman said he has not yet received a reply from the Commission; the Irish Examiner has contacted the Commission for comment.