To celebrate Europe Day, EU institutions traditionally open their doors to the public in early May. Local EU offices in Europe and all over the world would organise a variety of activities and events for all ages. Due to the ongoing pandemic however, the EU invited citizens from across Europe and the world to attend virtual meetings.  

On Monday 10th May, EURADA was invited by AEBR to celebrate Europe Day together. Rosa Escamilla, an Interreg Youth Volunteer (IVY) who is working on the SCALE UP project, represented EURADA in this occasion where IVY volunteers, IVY host organisations and representatives of the European Commission’s DG REGIO exchanged thoughts and discussed territorial cooperation, the future of the IVY initiative and how to improve it.  

European cooperation is one of the fundamental axes of the development and growth of the EU. The 21st century is facing a technological revolution and an absolute environmental challenge. During this trialogue session, they debated about the empowerment of young people within territorial cooperation. During the debate, several aspects about IVY were analysed in-depth such as the possibility to lower the age (currently from 18 to 31) to be able to enrol in the programme. The youth have recently been very active especially on the theme of environment. Another crucial point concerned the IVY reimbursement: someone suggested to increase their monthly compensation but Agnes Monfret, representative of DG REGIO, said that Europe prefers to offer as many job-placements as possible in order to create a new generation who believes in Europe rather than giving a higher “salary” to a person already enrolled in the IVY programme. Moreover, the European Commission is working hard on the development of a new accommodation service for IVY volunteers in order to allow them to afford decent accommodation in the most expensive cities of Europe. 

From EURADA, we believe that European cooperation is the basis for advancing in this period, and young people must be a part of it. The future and the consolidation of this great project depend on the greater involvement of young people and the attention to each of their fundamental policies.  

Let´s continue working on projects that bring young people closer to the European Community!