BRUSSELS – The president of the Portuguese parliament suggested today to his counterparts from other European Union (EU) countries the replication of the Youth Parliament project to bring young people closer to democratic participation and combat the voices that want to diminish it.
“I made a suggestion to create at the European level, when there is currently a lot of difficulty – which is recognized – in having debates with younger people, who are very subject to social media and the way messages are conveyed through social media, what we already have in Portugal, which is the Youth Parliament,” said José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
The president of the parliament was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting at the European Parliament in Brussels, among representatives of the parliaments of the 27 EU countries.
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco argued that the idea is to create “a whole process that takes place throughout the year,” more than “one day in a session,” with “rules associated with representative democracy” that bring young people closer to European political discussion.
“Apparently, this situation does not exist with this concept at the European level; I had the opportunity to convey it, both in the personal contacts I had with the president of the European Parliament [Roberta Metsola] and also with my Danish colleague, who currently holds the presidency at the level of national parliaments, and it was a well-received idea that we will develop,” he commented, adding that the goal is to combat “the attacks that the European project itself suffers today.”
In the intervention he made before his counterparts, which Lusa had access to, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco said that the idea comes from a “successful practice in the Assembly of the Republic, simulating political discussions around a specific theme, with the participation of school-aged youth.”
“Many young people who participated in exercises of this nature later chose to engage in politics. Some became deputies! Imagine an exercise of this nature in different capitals, in different Parliaments, combining efforts with existing programs of this nature in the European Parliament,” he added, before his peers from other parliaments of the European Union.
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco added that it is necessary to “create spaces for people to debate” and, although he recognizes the role of social media in this intention, “that does not erase the importance of human contact.”
“The confrontation of ideas also has to be in person. This leads to the importance of creating debate spaces with citizens. Including European themes,” he advocated. (19/11/25)
