If the European Parliament elections were held today, the clear favorite among Czech high school and university students would be the STAN movement, whose candidate list is led by Danuše Nerudová. One in four students would vote for it. They are followed by the Pirates (16.6%), and surprisingly in third place is the joint candidate list of Motorists for Themselves and Přísaha (13%), led by Filip Turek. This group enjoys strong support particularly among students of vocational high schools and training institutions. The Spolu coalition ranks only fourth with 11.4%. The ANO movement performed poorly among students (4.3%), as did SPD and Trikolora (1.2%). The Greens, on the other hand, would just barely cross the five-percent threshold. These results come from a survey conducted by GTS Alive, the issuer of ISIC student cards, at the end of April and beginning of May, among 1,726 students.
“In the survey, we asked not only about voting preferences but also about other issues related to the EU. Nearly 80% of students, for example, believe that twenty years of EU membership has rather benefited the Czech Republic than not. Students also want the euro, but most of them say there’s no need to rush its adoption,” commented Radek Schich, Director of GTS Alive, on the survey’s additional findings.
According to their own statements, 66.6% of students definitely plan to vote in the European elections. While actual turnout tends to be lower than declared intentions in surveys, this is still a high number. However, 15% of young people are still undecided about whom to support. And 10% don’t want to vote at all, most often citing a lack of information about European politics as the reason.
What will young people base their voting decisions on? They say mainly on European policy topics, specific parties or movements, and the personalities on the candidate lists. 40% of students say their voting aligns somewhat with their parents’, 18% say it aligns completely, and 19% say it doesn’t align at all.
60% of students support further European integration, 10% oppose it, and a quarter have a neutral or mixed view. Just under half of young people perceive decisions made at EU headquarters in Brussels and Strasbourg as having a significant impact on life in the Czech Republic.
Interestingly, students’ self-assessment of their knowledge about EU affairs varies. More than half consider it very high or rather high, but 38% see it as rather low, and 7% as very low.
Students get their EU-related information mainly from social media (over 70%), but also from written online or print media (over 68%). This is followed by TV or radio, podcasts, and official websites of institutions.
The survey was conducted under expert political science supervision between April 26 and May 14, 2024, among 1,726 high school and university students who will be at least 18 years old at the time of the European Parliament elections.
Notes for editors:
GTS Alive s.r.o. in the Czech Republic issues and manages ISIC student cards and ISIC Scholar pupil cards, ITIC teacher cards, and, to a lesser extent, other cards. The company was founded in August 2000. Its predecessor in the Czech Republic was GTS International. GTS Alive s.r.o. is part of the international GTS Alive Group, headquartered in Prague, with branches in seventeen countries on four continents.
GTS Alive, through the ISIC PORT chip identification system, also provides many elementary and secondary schools with secure access to their buildings and an electronic attendance system. The company also facilitates travel or accident insurance for students.
For more information, contact:
Jan Šimral, media representative of GTS Alive
Tel.: +420 737 944 370
E-mail: info@jansimral.com
