“Brussels, my love?” Young & anxious – Europe’s silent crisis

We are joined this week by the EU Commissioner Glenn Micallef, responsible for Inter generational Fairness, Youth, Culture & Sport, Samira Rafaela, Former Dutch MEP, now Visiting Fellow at Cornell University in NYC and Rareș Voicu, the President of the European Youth Forum – an organisation representing 100 youth groups from all over Europe.

In this special edition, we take a look and what it is like to young in Europe on the same week the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told the German paper Zeit that “the West as we knew it no longer exists“.

From cyber bullying to mental health concerns, geopolitical disorder to climate anxiety, young people are drifting away from mainstream politicians, feeling unheard.

Glenn Micallef, the EU Commissioner in charge of youth, told the panel that the EU is a ‘fantastic reality that millions of Europeans live every day’ but more needs to be done to improve the lives of all.

“We have already many European Union citizens who indeed identify as being European. But I acknowledge we can do more”, he said.

The Commissioner, who hails from Malta, also stressed how important the well known student exchange programme, Erasmus+ was when it comes to shaping a real European identity.

“The intention is to strengthen the Erasmus Plus programme, and I want to be quite clear on that,” he said putting rumours possible budget cuts to bed.

Panelists debated the importance of making these programmes more accessible.

Watch the full episode in the player above!