I was strange in the same way. I became a Liberal in Scotland in the 1970s, setting up a Liberal Club at University in Edinburgh when I was a student there. In 1977 I was asked to attend a LYMEC seminar in Bonn and one conference led to another and later that year I was elected a Vice President of the European Federation of Liberal and Radical Youth. From 1979-1981 I was General Secretary of IFLRY. In those same years I was a founding member of the European Union Youth Forum. I have rarely been far from politics since.

So it is a pleasure to have the chance to speak to you today - a nice mix of nostalgia and déja vu. It is also reassuring. Reassuring because in Europe we are suffering a dramatic deficit in political interest - let alone political activism - among young people. The problem is that there are not enough like you.

LYMEC takes a complete political outlook - it is now strongly established right across Europe and it has a coherent liberal political message. For obvious reasons you have also led the way in raising the question of youth participation in politics - and European elections in particular - and in asking how European politics can best serve young people. I wanted to offer a few thoughts on those two subjects today.

I recently saw a study done by the Instutut für Höhere Studien in Vienna. The study looked at about 8000 young people aged 18-25 across Europe, although most strongly represented are the Eastern states and Scandinavia. Of this group, only one person in three said they were at all interested in politics; only 10% said they "frequently" discussed politics with their friends; three quarters said politics are not important in their life; 93% did not participate in any political organisations; 72% don't participate actively in any civic organisation at all - churches, sports organisations, arts or music organisations.

Yet, ironically, nine out of every ten respondents in the Austrian study said that democracy was the best form of government. And 90% said they voted or would vote. So 90% would vote but 65% said they were not interested in politics and 75% think politics is not important to their life.

Now, as a matter of fact we know that at least some of these respondents are lying because youth turnout is never even close to that number where voting is not mandatory. Another study done by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in 1999 actually shows that young people between 18 and 29 are less likely to vote than any other age group in Europe. But even if we simply treat these results as indicative of a general pattern, they are troubling. Why? Because although these young people seem to have a vague sense of the value of democratic politics they don't seem to know why.

In a democracy the voter is as important as the vote. I think it's fair to say that for most of the last three hundred years of European history to be a democrat in Europe was an expression of deep political conviction. For a long time - up until recently in some parts of Europe - it would have you branded a radical and possibly tried for sedition. It often led to torture or death.

Your generation as a whole may be the first in the history of the reunited Europe to treat democratic politics like the water in the tap. Important, but needing no real explanation or attention and no maintenance beyond paying the bill, or dropping your vote in the box. Remarkably, this seems to be true even of those young people in Eastern Europe for whom democracy replaced totalitarianism just fifteen years ago. In fact, if figures for political and civic interest and participation are bad in western Europe they are even worse in the East.

The prospect of a Europe of these tapwater democrats is a worrying one. The health of a democracy lies in engaged citizens. In fact, because democratic politics is about popular sovereignty its very legitimacy hinges on the reality and perception of popular participation. Where almost every other form of historical politics in Europe was satisfied with - if it did not demand - quiescence from the governed, our democracies see the same silence as a threat, if not to their existence, then certainly to their legitimacy.

The problem of declining political participation in democracies is a universal phenomena. And it is particularly acute here in Brussels. No matter how competent the European Parliament becomes in acting as a check and balance in European politics, its critics will always point to the low turnout in European elections and question its mandate.

So what can we do? Part of the problem is that we have no experience in fixing this problem - we simply have not been democrats long enough to know how - or if it is even possible. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that the key to any possible solution will lie in changing the political habits and outlook of your generation.

This is true simply because young people grow up to be old people. No one is born to civic-mindedness, just as nobody is born a democrat. We are educated to become these things. If we don't learn the habits of civic participation early we are unlikely to learn them at all. This is particularly true of those who come from poorer backgrounds or those who do not have university educations. There is some evidence that people develop basic civic habits such as voting when they settle down in their late twenties or thirties but I am still convinced that citizens are essentially made much earlier than that. Many studies across the Western world show that the correlation of political orientation between parents and children is second only to religion. A generation of political apathetics will raise politically apathetic children. At some point the cycle has to be broken. Reversing the general crisis of political participation across the Western world means re-engaging young people - this generation, your crucial generation, with politics. How we do that is a good question: I hope you have some answers.

It is also of course the case that we need young people to be active in politics because the young have political concerns of their own that need recognition and representation. I do not believe that only young people can put this case - in the same way that I can tell you that one of the ELDR's most committed and effective shadows on the Women's Affairs Committee is a man. Young politicians are obviously an important conduit for youth affairs, but most young politicians get into politics for a whole range of reasons - not just to make the case for young people. We need young politicians for the same reason that we need a diverse outlook in general - because it is the only justifiable way you can make policy in a democracy. People need to see and hear politicians who look like them.

I think what matters is strengthening our access to the youth perspective in all aspects of our policy making. That means better and wider consultation, better awareness of youth advocacy groups, better links with young political activists. I would be interested in your suggestions in how we might do that better.

I realise that in some ways this is still expecting young people to come to politics rather than taking the politics to young people. I am sympathetic to the argument that we have to make politics more appealing to young people but I think we have to be very clear about what we mean by this. In some forms, this argument often sounds like a concession I would actually be reluctant to make. The more we try to market politics to young people as just another lifestyle choice the more we detract from its real nature. You all take your politics seriously for a good reason. And that reason is that politics is about seriousness and commitment and it takes civic and intellectual engagement. Everybody has a democratic right to be disinterested in politics, but I think there is a danger in flattering the disinterested too much. We already treat voters enough like fickle customers.

Could we make politics more local, more consultative and engaging? Yes. Could we elect and support more young politicians? Yes. Could we lead the political debate into areas where young people are often highly engaged such as the environment or - increasingly - trade and ethical consumerism? Yes. We are doing those things - the environment is one area where the European Parliament is blazing a trail - If you'll pardon the unfortunate metaphor. We have a strong record on consumer rights and the ELDR in particular is a determined critic of the current international trade regime. If we communicate these commitments better then interested young people will get involved. It is not as if the political agenda entirely excludes young people - the recent student fees debate in the UK mobilised thousands of students, as did the campaign against the war in Iraq.

Disinterested young people are more of a problem. I don't believe we can afford to dumb down - the issues are too important. Rather we have to raise the stakes more. You would think that the 75% of young people who think that politics is not important to their lives will never be taxpayers, never try to work in another European state, never go into business, never try to combine work and raising children, never try to recycle or make the move to public transport, never worry about the poor in Africa or Latin America, never - well you get the point. Anyone who says that politics has to made more appealing to young people needs to ask if your less politically-motivated peers couldn't maybe see the big picture occasionally.

But - and I know this is a bit of a commonplace - I do believe we can educate young people to be more politically aware and active. As a pro-European I happen to think that one of the most valuable educations you can get is the chance to travel and study throughout Europe. I think that the Youth Forum's call in its manifesto for the European elections for a new Junior Erasmus Programme for high school children is an excellent one.

The short answer is to get out there and practice a positive politics. Get yourselves elected. Make a difference where you can. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Set an example for your peers and the rest of us. I realise that I have raised more questions in a short speech like this than I have answered. Let me finish by saying that I really welcome the fact that LYMEC is here today, and I really welcome your intention to run an activist, engaged campaign for the European elections. If there is an alternative to tapwater democracy I honestly believe it lies in the engagement of people like you.