Support is lowest in France, Spain and Poland, while 21% back authoritarian rule under certain circumstances
Only half of young people in France and Spain believe that democracy is the best form of government, with support even lower among their Polish counterparts, a study has found.
A majority from Europe’s generation Z – 57% – prefer democracy to any other form of government. Rates of support varied significantly, however, reaching just 48% in Poland and only about 51-52% in Spain and France, with Germany highest at 71%.
More than one in five – 21% – would favour authoritarian rule under certain, unspecified circumstances. This was highest in Italy at 24% and lowest in Germany with 15%. In France, Spain and Poland the figure was 23%.
Nearly one in 10 across the nations said they did not care whether their government was democratic or not, while another 14% did not know or did not answer.
Thorsten Faas, a political scientist at Berlin’s Free University, who worked on the study, said: “Among people who see themselves as politically to the right of centre and feel economically disadvantaged, their support of democracy sinks to just one in three.
“Democracy is under pressure, from within and without.”
The study was carried out in April and May. More than 6,700 people between the ages of 16 and 26 in Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Greece and Poland responded to the ninth annual survey by the YouGov institute for the Tui Foundation, which funds projects dedicated to youth in Europe.
Forty-eight per cent worry that the democratic system in their own country is endangered, including 61% in Germany, where the economy – Europe’s biggest – is ailing and the far right has made significant inroads, fuelled in part by increased backing from young voters.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House, the rise of China, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine have shifted power away from Europe in the respondents’ perception, with just 42% counting the EU among the top three global players.
Despite – or perhaps because of – Brexit, the figure was highest among Britons at 50%. Of those surveyed in the UK, 73% wanted a return to the EU, while nearly half of young Europeans (47%) sought stronger ties between the EU and Britain.
The US was seen by 83% as part of the power trio, followed by China with 75% and Russia on 57%.
Rising polarisation is also driving young Europeans to the ideological fringes along with their elders, but a notable gender divide has emerged in the process.
Nearly one in five – 19% – described themselves as politically right of centre, up from 14% in 2021, while 33% called themselves centrists, 32% as leftist and 16% without any designation.
Women in Germany, France and Italy identified as progressive in higher numbers than four years ago, while young men in Poland and Greece have grown more conservative in the same period.
Support for tougher restrictions on migration has grown across the board since 2021, to 38% from 26%.
Most young Europeans expressed hope in the EU’s potential, and two in three overwhelmingly supported their country remaining in the bloc if it still was. But 39% described the EU as not particularly democratic and just 6% said their own national governments worked well, with little need for significant changes.
More than half – 53% – felt the EU was too focused on details and trivial matters. They would like the bloc to tackle the high cost of living, bolster defence against external threats and create better conditions for companies to improve the economy.
Elke Hlawatschek, the head of the Tui Foundation, said: “The European project, which has brought us peace, freedom of movement and economic progress for decades, is seen as unwieldy.”
Greek people see the strongest need for fundamental overhaul of their political system and are most sceptical about the EU, which Faas described as rooted in enduring trauma of the eurozone debt crisis that drove their country’s economy to the brink.
Despite stronger support for climate protection among young Europeans, just one in three said it should take priority over economic growth. The figure has slipped from 44% in 2021.
BREXIT, EUROPE, EUROPEAN UNION, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, NEWS, Young people
Schneider Electric, a leader in digital transformation in the field of energy management and automation, and the OKKO filling station network have implemented a large-scale project for uninterrupted power supply and infrastructure reliability – 290 out of 410 filling stations of the network will be equipped with uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) with modern powerful batteries in 2022-2024, and in 2025 it is planned to equip another 50 filling stations of the network with the same UPS.
The equipment chosen by OKKO is designed to protect the power supply in the most unstable conditions. Schneider Electric lithium-ion UPS has a long service life without battery replacement (up to 12-15 years), long autonomy time with its compact dimensions and ease of maintenance.
“Even before the large-scale blackouts, OKKO started implementing a plan to modernize the corporate data network. We realized that we needed efficient equipment that would ensure the smooth operation of all vital filling station systems – cash registers, fuel dispensers, equipment providing Wi-Fi and other customer services. We started looking for the right powerful equipment, analyzing the world’s experience. The solution from Schneider Electric provided the result we needed. In fact, regardless of power outages at OKKO filling stations, customers will not face delays in payments or lack of Wi-Fi,” said Sergiy Lesko, CIO of OKKO.
“Schneider Electric has deep experience in technologies and practices that can improve energy efficiency and sustainability, understands and carefully studies the specific needs of each Ukrainian customer,” said Volodymyr Dokhlenko, Head of Secure Power at Schneider Electric in Ukraine, Czech Republic and Slovakia, ”As part of this project, our client received uninterrupted power supply to the filling station for up to 5 hours, as well as the preservation of critical data and round-the-clock monitoring of the UPS network.”
The UPS network monitoring system is provided by the equipment supplier. Thanks to predictive analytics of the UPS operation status and notifications about the need to replace it soon, service work is carried out in a timely manner, minimizing the risk of downtime.
About OKKO
The OKKO filling station network is one of the largest filling station networks in Ukraine (as of the beginning of 2025 – 410 filling stations). The company also has a network of on-the-go catering establishments, stationary and mobile laboratories for quality control of petroleum products, etc.
The company is one of the largest taxpayers in the fuel market. Based on the results of operations in 2024, the companies of OKKO Group paid a total of UAH 21.1 billion in taxes to the budget and state funds. This is UAH 5.6 billion, or 36%, more than in 2023.
About Schneider Electric
Schneider’s purpose is to create impact by empowering everyone to make the most of our energy and resources, ensuring progress and sustainability for all. We call it Life Is On.
Our mission is to be a trusted partner in sustainability and efficiency.
We are a global technology leader, bringing world-class expertise in electrification, automation and digitalization to smart industries, reliable infrastructure, future-proof data centers, smart buildings and intuitive homes. Drawing on our deep industry expertise, we provide integrated end-to-end AI-enabled industrial IoT solutions with connected products, automation, software and services, creating digital twins to drive profitable growth for our customers.
Ourmain resource is our 150,000 employees and more than a million partners operating in more than 100 countries to ensure proximity to our customers and stakeholders. We support diversity and inclusion in everything we do, guided by our meaningful purpose of a sustainable future for all.
The supervisory board of PrJSC Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud (Kyiv) has decided to place book-entry targeted registered bonds in the amount of UAH 57.3 million for financing the construction of the Taryan Towers residential complex (RC) located at 12, Johannes Paul II Street in Pechersky district of Kyiv.
According to the company’s report in the information disclosure system of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, the decision to place K2 series bonds worth UAH 57.3 million was made on September 24, 2020.
When redeeming the bonds, the buyer has the right to receive apartments in the Taryan Towers residential complex in his or her ownership, the total area of which corresponds to the number of bonds: one bond is 0.01 square meter of housing.
The total number of shares placed equals to 88,161.
As reported, in March 2019 and June 2019, the supervisory board of Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud decided to place book-entry targeted registered bonds totaling UAH 282.7 million, and UAH 135.2 million in December.
According to the company, as of September 24, 2020, bonds of E2, F2, G2, I2 and J2 are in circulation.
The project envisages three 31-storey towers with 214 apartments in each. The area of the land plot for the project is one hectare, the residential area is 60,000 square meters, commercial area is 10.5 square meters, and the total area of the residential area with infrastructure is over 145,000 square meters.
According to the data on the project website, the first tower will be commissioned in the fourth quarter of 2020, and the entire complex will be completed in late 2023.
PrJSC Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud was established in 2002. Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud Corporation specializes in the construction of elite residential real estate, commercial real estate and social infrastructure.
Since December 2015, Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud Corporation has been a member of Taryan Group (Kyiv), an investment and development group of companies, established in 2011 by Arthur Mkhitaryan, the former president of PrJSC Pozniaky-Zhyl-Bud.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said in his telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky he said nothing wrong. “The Fake News Media and their partner, the Democrat Party, want to stay as far away as possible from the Joe Biden demand that the Ukrainian Government fire a prosecutor who was investigating his son, or they won’t get a very large amount of U.S. money, so they fabricate a story about me and a perfectly fine and routine conversation I had with the new President of Ukraine!” Trump said on Twitter on Saturday.
Trump said, “Nothing was said that was in any way wrong, but Biden’s demand, on the other hand, was a complete and total disaster.”
Biden earlier called on Trump to make public the transcript of the conversation with Zelensky. The call came after media reported that a U.S. intelligence officer complained about the U.S. president because of “troublesome promise” to the foreign leader (perhaps referencing Ukraine and its president).
Biden said in a statement, “[Trump] used the power and resources of the United States to pressure a sovereign nation—a partner that is still under direct assault from Russia—pushing Ukraine to subvert the rule of law in the express hope of extracting a political favor.”
