The president of the National Youth Council, Liam Bremer, appeared on RTL Radio on Friday morning to discuss the outlook for Luxembourg's young people.

There have been positive developments in recent years, with more opportunities for young people to get involved, Bremer said, but it was not sufficient.

Often decisions are made which do not reflect the views of young people, such as the recent pension reforms. The public consultation did not directly involve the younger generation, nor does the draft bill meet their demands. Bremer said the discussions now are much more a result of the social negotiations between government and unions, in which young people were not represented.

The Youth Council would like to see further changes to the pension reforms in order to guarantee the system's security in the long term. Their proposals will be conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Social Security Minister in a discussion on Monday. Young people need guarantees that they will be eligible for a decent pension in 30 years, stressed Bremer.

An ageing society: Youth Council calls for voting age to be lowered to 16 

Bremer believes it is vital for young people to get more involved in politics to avoid political disenchantment. Recent studies show many young people are fed up with politics and lack hope that politics can have a positive effect on their lives.

Currently, there are just two MPs under 30 in Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies. Young people must be encouraged to become politically active, said Bremer. The issue of lowering the voting age to 16 is therefore crucial. Society is ageing and older people will have increasing sway, which is another reason why young people's interests are less likely to be represented. In Austria, the lower voting age has worked well, Bremer highlighted.

Pension reform is "disappointing"

Bremer said he felt the government had good intentions when it came to discussing pension reforms, but that the resulting implementation was "disappointing" and naturally people were dissatisfied with the options on the table. The government's attempt to increase the retirement age from 60.4 years to 65 years is not a bad idea, but the means it has given itself are far from sufficient.