European Union: EYE, a week for young people online. Erasmus+, Solidarity Corps, school, work, but also COVID-19

This year’s edition of the traditional “European Youth Event 2020” (EYE) is taking place online. 13,000 young people had already registered and would have travelled to Strasbourg at the end of May to take part in a few days of discussion, learning and celebration around European issues. The online meetings, which kicked off in April, were spread over a longer period and have already received more than 500.000 views. Events for the European youth will reach their peak on the EYE Facebook page from Monday 25 to Friday 29, with a number of debates scheduled with leading EU policy makers, presentations and panels on a variety of issues. Topics to be discussed include the concerns of young people about the EU’s role in the COVID-19 crisis, its impact on youth mobility, particularly Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes, the job market, inequalities in health and health care, as well as the climate emergency. Discussion will also focus on the European Parliament’s #EuropeansAgainstCovid19 campaign. The programme features the names of EP President David Sassoli, ECB President Christine Lagarde, and several Commissioners and MEPs. In announcing his virtual meeting with young people on 29 May, President Sassoli said: “The EYE online is taking the European Youth Event to the next level by allowing even more young people from Europe and beyond to engage in the democratic debate and voice their ideas for the future of Europe”.
Valentina Bombelli