Students at the University of Luxembourg got together on 17 March to discuss the future of Europe and contribute to the drafting of a new manifesto for the EU, 60 years after the signature of the Treaty of Rome.

The workshop was hosted in collaboration with Making Europe Again, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at engaging citizens EU-wide in a debate about the future of the EU. For several months, Making Europe Again collected input for a new manifesto online, with the final document to be presented to a representative of the European Commission at a special event in May.

Turning online into offline participation, junior researchers at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance organized a workshop for students during which they discussed different aspects of the manifesto. Divided into five groups, they debated issues surrounding cooperation and development, the environment, democracy, citizenship and foreign policy.

The results of the individual workshops were later discussed by the whole group and the proposals elaborated by the students and workshop facilitators were finally uploaded to the online manifesto.

Students concluded, for example, that education should be guaranteed to all citizens regardless of their financial situation; that the EU should foster and promote cultural diversity; that the European institutions should ensure access to information for EU citizens as well as raising more awareness about its work; and that it should put forward a roadmap to help Europeans embrace their differences along with their similarities.

We would like to thank our PhD candidates Olivier Voordeckers and Dimitrios Kafteranis on their initiative to develop the workshop together with Emiliano Del Vecchio, a former University of Luxembourg law student and Making Europe Again Vice-President.

Photos: University of Luxembourg