| Young voters in Western Europe turned out surprisingly in favour of a ‘United States of Europe’ in the European elections, paving the way for passing the torch in the EU’s dusty federalist circles. At 3am on Monday (10 June), the dregs of an EU election party hosted at a hipster co-working space in Berlin tumbled towards their taxis. The venue ended a historic night for the pan-European federalist party Volt – which grew five-fold across Europe – by kicking them out. The EU elections had revealed a small but stunning trend: Youngsters in Western Europe were suddenly throwing in their lot with parties championing a “United States of Europe” – a dusty old concept of transcending Europe’s nations, vehemently opposed by many traditional parties. In Germany, one million voters made their tick with Volt – giving the party some 2.6% of the vote. Among the 16 to 24 year-olds, the party had 9% of the vote. In the Netherlands, the party scored 5%. Around 17% of Austrians in the sub-29 group voted NEOS – a liberal party openly championing an EU superstate, eclipsing their previous v10% total share. Yes, those are not huge numbers, but the trend is clear, as is the accompanying message: These parties were rewarded for promoting the ‘USE’. There are various theories on offer to explain this surge, albeit minor, in electoral support. Some attribute it to disenchanted green voters changing ship for another party with progressive climate policies. Others point to the fact that their rather positive programme saw election helper schemes, like the German Wahl-O-Mat, frequently point young voters to these parties – often alongside the Greens. | 