In a Europe dominated by quick-fire crisis response, it is increasingly important that the voices of European citizens be heard. The EU’s channel for citizens to make suggestions for the future of Europe, the Conference on the Future of Europe, has recently concluded. We want to continue amplifying young citizens’ voices!
The Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) held the EP4U Final Conference: “Youth Perspectives on the Future of Europe” online on June 16.
Since January 2021, European Policies for You (EP4U) has implemented activities to raise awareness of EU policy-making and increase political participation of young European citizens. Building on university debates, high school talks, videos explainers engaging various MEPs, student paper competitions and social media campaigns, the Final Conference “Youth Perspectives on the Future of Europe” concluded the project by offering cross-cutting insights into four policy areas: climate and environment; employment and social policies; migration and asylum; and non-discrimination and protection of fundamental rights.
The conference was composed of two main panel discussions, which explored the interconnections between, respectively, social policies and fundamental rights, and climate and migration. These open dialogues brought academics and practitioners together with the four EP4U Student Contest winners to discuss young people’s vision for the future of Europe. The conference provided a space for the public to actively participate in discussing the work of the EU and sharing their views with decision-makers.
In the Opening Remarks, TEPSA Executive Director Mariam Khotenashvili welcomed Dr. Benjamin Tallis (The Hertie School) for a dynamic exchange on the impact of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine on the future of Europe. Arguing that the EU ought to change it’s attitude from one of ‘protective security’ to one of ‘progressive security’, Tallis called for the Heads of State and Government to display true vision for the future of the European project in his impassioned speech.
The first panel of the conference was entitled “EU Non-Discrimination Policies in the Western Balkans: the Case of LGBTQI+ Rights” and was built around the two winning EP4U Student Contest papers by Stevan Đurić and Niccoló de Vita. The panel was moderated jointly by Tom Chevalier (Sciences Po) and Michaela Dénešová (Comenius University in Bratislava). Stevan and Niccoló discussed their papers with Myrthe Bovendeaard, European Parliamentary Assistant to Kim van Sparrentak MEP.
The conference’s second panel was entitled “Migration and Climate Change: Crosscutting Effects and Potential Synergies for EU Policies” and was built around the two winning EP4U Student Contest papers by Aron Bosman and Lilybell Evergreen. The panel was moderated jointly by Emma Hakala (Finnish Institute of International Affairs) and Evelina Staikova (New Bulgarian University). Aron and Lilybell discussed their papers with David Prpa and Valentin Dupont, both from the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
The EP4U Online Final Conference was formally closed by TEPSA Chairperson Lucia Mokrá and TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos. Their remarks focused on the role of youth engagement in building a bright future for the European project. Both were encouraged by the ideas presented by the EP4U Student Contest winners at the conference, and praised the warm reaction the papers received from policy-makers.
