(Brussels) “The event provided young people with a great chance to have their say on issues that concern the future of Europe”, sharing their views with 47 MEPs along with president Antonio Tajani and six deputy presidents as well. “What impressed us most is the high level of involvement of these young people and the enthusiasm and optimism they expressed”. Jaume Duch is general manager for communication and the spokesperson of the European Parliament: he comments with SIR Eye2018, the European Youth Event that took place in Strasbourg on June 1^st and 2^nd, with 8,500 boys and girls aged 16 to 30 from 40 countries across Europe and from other continents. “The Eye programme included over 400 events” in and around the headquarters of the European Parliament: “Over 250 speakers were involved, most of them less than 30 years old. About 70 events had been organised by the European Parliament, while over one half of the events – Duch explains – had been designed and planned by the young people themselves through youth associations and groups”.

Jaume Duch emphasises the importance of having “young people who are motivated to be shaping the future of Europe” and the role “they can have in affecting it, by voting at the forthcoming European election”. The follow-up on the event “includes the submission of the most meaningful ideas expressed during those days in Strasbourg to the parliamentary committees of the European Parliament” next autumn.