Greens establish youth advisory board: Forever Young

Without wanting to offend the Greens: They have somewhat lost the shine of youth. This can be seen from the election results: in the 2021 federal election, they were still the strongest force among young voters. In the 2025 federal election they slipped behind the Left, AfD, Union and SPD. Recently the trend has reversed slightly, for example in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. However, the Greens continue to fail to appeal to young people, especially against the left.

A new institution is now intended to help restore connection: The Green parliamentary group in the Bundestag has convened a youth advisory board that will meet for the first time next Wednesday. According to Denise Loop, the group's youth policy spokesperson, the aim is to “structurally anchor” young perspectives in parliamentary work.

After the crash in the last federal election, there was a lot of discussion among MPs about what went wrong. "The answer that we just have to get better on social media would be under-complex and doesn't do justice to young people. It's about really making politics for them," says Loop.

The intention behind the youth advisory board is not just to improve green election results. The committee is also an answer to a general problem in political operations. "In the military service debate, for example, young people were quite rightly criticized for not being listened to. We want to do something about that."

Models for the youth advisory board are existing faction committees such as the economic advisory board, in which representatives regularly exchange ideas with entrepreneurs, or the trade union and social advisory board, which works according to a similar principle.

The group wrote to 30 youth organizations and asked for potential participants under the age of 27. 23 of them responded and named representatives. Some are close to the Greens, such as the BUNDjugend, others less so, such as the German Rural Youth. Also taking part are scouts, trade union youth and youth representatives from large religious communities.

An initial meeting in person in Berlin is planned per year, plus at least one further digital appointment. Each session is dedicated to a predetermined topic. At the start on Wednesday in the Bundestag it is all about compulsory military service. "There will be further government decisions in the autumn and we Greens have to position ourselves on this. So this is a good opportunity to raise the issue and listen to young people." However, the advisory board is only intended to advise the MPs and not make its own decisions. He will also not meet in public.

What would look different today if the committee had existed for ten years? “Good question,” Loop replies. “Perhaps: that youth policy would be less often perceived as a separate area, but that the effects on young people would also be directly taken into account when it comes to issues such as housing.”

In terms of housing policy, the federal government is currently planning, among other things, cuts in housing benefit - of which, according to statistics, 37.5 percent would affect children and young people and a further 5 percent would affect adults in school or training. So it looks like the Greens' youth advisory board wouldn't fail because of one thing: a lack of topics.