Climate change and migration will be the most important issues in the EU elections and national elections in Europe in 2024. The problem for parties is that the issues are seen completely differently depending on the age group.
Vienna. Five crises affect the European population. Two of them – climate change and migration – will dominate the mobilization for the European elections in June and other elections in Europe, according to a study by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), which is available exclusively to the “Press” moving forward. The study is based on surveys carried out in nine EU countries (DK, Est, F, D, I, Pol, Por, Rum, Sp), as well as in Great Britain and Switzerland.
The problem for parties running in the 2024 elections, as the two authors, Ivan Krastev and Mark Leonard, discovered is the fragmentation of voter groups. They cannot be manipulated solely with left or right ideology, but require concrete political plans to resolve current crises.
The five dominant crises voters expect answers to this year are climate change, immigration, the Covid pandemic, Russia's war with Ukraine and global economic turmoil. But these crises have different preferences depending on the country and age group.