“Growth that people cannot feel is not prosperity”: Camilleri Gambin tells European democrats in Athens

Europe’s institutions were not built for capital markets, social media or artificial intelligence, and young people are paying the price, Momentum Secretary General Mark Camilleri Gambin told the European Democratic Party Congress in Athens.

The two-day congress brings together EDP member parties from across Europe, including Momentum, to chart a common path to the 2029 European Parliament elections.

Camilleri Gambin, who also serves as Deputy Secretary General of the EDP, used Malta’s experience to make the case. “Our economy continues to grow fast. But growth that people cannot feel is not prosperity,” he said. “When a young Maltese couple cannot afford a home in the country they were born in, something has gone wrong.”

His address followed a week of youth protests across France, Italy, Belgium and Albania over housing, wages and the cost of living. Camilleri Gambin was clear that arson, looting and attacks on workers are not protest, and that no cause excuses violence. He, however, emphasised how the vast majority of those marching were peaceful, and exhausted. They study and work, yet cannot rent a room where they live, their wages trail prices, and the schools and hospitals they rely on are getting worse.

He set out three areas where Europe must act.

On capital, he called for European coordination on how capital is taxed, so that speculation has nowhere to hide and governments can invest that wealth in housing, schools and hospitals. “A home is a place to live before it is a financial asset,” he said.

On social media, he argued that platforms profit from algorithms that reward anger while facing only fines that they treat as a cost of doing business. He stressed that democracy depends on one person having one voice, not on money or on algorithms that push content to millions, and that platforms must be held accountable for the amplification they profit from.

On artificial intelligence, Camilleri Gambin, a software engineer by training, warned that entry-level jobs, the first step for young people, are already totally exposed. Europe must retrain workers before the disruption peaks, not after, and the companies profiting from AI must pay their fair share of the transition.

“The young people on our streets are not the enemies of democracy. They are its test,” he concluded. “If democrats cannot offer them hope, others will offer them anger. Our task is to make sure the next generation still believes their voice is stronger than violence.”

The full speech is reproduced below:

“Dear President, dear friends, fellow democrats,

This week, as we meet in the birthplace of democracy, the streets of Europe are full of young people. In Paris and Lyon. In Milan and Turin. In Brussels. In Tirana.

I have to emphasise that looting shops and attacking workers is not protest.  There is no cause, however just, that excuses violence. None.

But we would be failing young people if we do not dig deeper from our social media feeds.

Because the vast majority of people marching this week did not throw a single stone. They came out because they are exhausted. They studied, they work, and still they cannot rent a room in the city where they work or study. Their wages do not keep up with prices. They watch as the schools and hospitals they rely on get worse. And when they look at us, at politicians, they see people with more time for lobbyists than for them.

I know this feeling. I come from Malta where our economy continues to grow fast. But growth that people cannot feel is not prosperity. When a young Maltese couple cannot afford a home in the country they were born in, something has gone wrong.

So their question is fair: what future are you leaving us?

We owe them an honest answer. And the honest answer is that our institutions were not ready for global capital. They were not ready for social media. And now we face artificial intelligence with rules written for the last century.

First, capital. It crosses borders in seconds, while our tax systems stop at the frontier. And too much of it is buying up the homes young people should be living in. A home is a place to live before it is a financial asset. As Europeans we need to coordinate how we tax capital, so speculation has nowhere left to hide, so that nations can put that wealth into housing, schools and hospitals.

Second, our public square. Look at how these protests spread: on screens, through algorithms that reward anger. If a newspaper prints a lie, it faces a judge. When a platform pushes the same lie to ten million people, it pays a fine and calls it the cost of doing business. Democracy rests on one principle: one person, one voice. Not one euro. Not an algorithm that boosts certain content to reach millions. Platforms must answer for the amplification they profit from.

Third, AI. I have spent my career writing code. So believe me: AI is changing work faster than anything before it. And starting with entry-level jobs, the first step for young people, these are already totally exposed. Europe must retrain workers before the disruption peaks, not after, and make sure the companies profiting from this technology pay their fair share of the transition.

Friends, the theme of this congress is the Final Countdown. I believe it.

The young people on our streets are not the enemies of democracy. They are its test. If democrats cannot offer them hope, others will offer them anger. The populists and the authoritarians are ready, and they are patient.

Twenty-five centuries ago, in this city, citizens were given a voice in their own future. Our task is to make sure the next generation still believes their voice is stronger than violence.

The countdown has started. Let us not waste it.

Thank you”

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