ThinkYoung's survey on how to put Europe back on track is

finally online!

Click here to access the full report.

Results European Future Leaders survey
The vision of young Europeans on how to get Europe back on track

ThinkYoung asked over 250 European Future Leaders how to put Europe back on track. Their answers express their visions for tomorrow's Europe and contain useful recommendations for today's decision markers.

The 8th European Business Summit (EBS) took place in Brussels on June 30th and July 1st 2010, bringing together business, government and opinion leaders
to discuss what is needed to get Europe’s economy and businesses back on track. To feed into the debate and drive the EBS agenda,
a survey of CEOs in Europe has been carried out jointly by EBS, INSEAD Business School and Accenture, a global management consulting company.

In cooperation with these organizations, ThinkYoung, an independent think tank for and by young people, decided to ask the same questions to a sample of
a select group of promising under 35 year old Europeans. This European Future Leaders survey sheds light on the way they want to see
the future they will have to live in. With an average age of 25.6, the respondents are young entrepreneurs, businessmen and -women, politicians
and members of civil society from all EU member states, as well as a number of non-EU countries.

According to the European Future Leaders, it is crucial that all the actors involved work towards a commonly identified goal and that the EU speaks with a single voice.
Their concerns are of various matters: among them is the excessive bureaucracy which reduces success opportunities for small and medium enterprises.
They also want the EU to keep its place as a pioneer in addressing climate change issues. Furthermore, in order to be competitive,
Europe should become a knowledge economy which is based also on talent from outside Europe.

The results have been presented at the EBS, in the form of an interactive panel discussion with European Future Leaders:

ThinkYoung's panel discussion at the European Business Summit 2010:
European Future Leaders: is the young generation ready to take the lead?
Brussels, 1 July 2010
At this year's European Business Summit, ThinkYoung presented the results of its
survey Putting Europe back on track - What European Future Leaders think and led an interactive panel
discussion based on the main outcomes. Referring to the questions used in the survey by INSEAD Business School and Accenture on how CEOs think
Europe should be put back on track, the survey emphasizes what the young leading generation thinks - which issues Europe has to address in the future,
and how these need to be addressed.

Main Recommendations
Attitude: European Future Leaders have an open attitude towards the world and towards migrants.
Young people are not afraid of skilled and unskilled persons coming to Europe – Europeans can learn from
them and they should not be considered a threat.

Bureaucracy is a barrier to success, especially for young entrepreneurs. Politicians need to take action in
order to reduce the burdens.

Credit needs to be made more accessible, especially for start-ups; put your money where your mouth is!

Development, sustainability, fighting climate change and focusing on green innovation and renewable
energy sources is a central issue.

Education: it is crucial to invest in the future. New skills are required in the digital world – schools need to
catch up with it and new ways of learning, such as e-learning, need to be increasingly used.

The speakers and their opinions
Antonia Sariyska (22), is the president of JADE, the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises and an expert on socially responsible entrepreneurship.
She defines leadership as “responsibility, accountability; a mindset”.
In her opinion, true European leadership does not exist because most people in Europe do not feel European.

Hugo Pereira (24), the president of AIESEC, the world’s largest student association, stated that ”we should use this chance not only to put Europe back on track,
as the EBS and the survey titles mention, but actually use this opportunity and carry out a more fundamental change”.
As a real European Future Leader he is determined to ”act today for a better tomorrow”.

Cosmin Malureanu (29), refers to himself as a “product of Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe
(JA-YE)” that taught him how to become an entrepreneur.
At a very young age, this entrepreneurial education encouraged him to found Ascendia Design, of which he is now CEO and owner.


All the speakers agree that action needs to be taken immediately in order to tackle the problems caused by the crisis.
Education is considered to be the most crucial element; students should also be educated in taking on responsibility and developing entrepreneurial spirit.
Asked if they would be ready to go to another continent to pursue their goals, the panellists made clear that it is enriching to leave Europe for some time,
however, in the long run they say they want to play an active role in the future development of Europe. This shows that the speakers are true European leaders.