© EU Delegation to the Council of Europe

Marking the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, uttered on 9 May, 73 years ago, the EU Delegation to the Council of Europe organised a dynamic, open-door learning event called “European Discovery Game”. For that occasion, the EU Delegation joined forces with the Council of Europe, 10 Permanent Representations of EU Member States to the Council of Europe, the Grand-Est Region, Europe Direct Strasbourg, The European Parliamentary Association, the City of Strasbourg and Goethe-Institut.

During the day, about 150 students from five high schools based in Strasbourg and in the Grand Est region toured the European district in Strasbourg, going from one diplomatic mission or institution to another, taking on challenges from the partners, including quizzes, videos and other interactive games, thus exploring the EU-CoE history and shared values.

At the EU Delegation, we asked the pupils to record a short message for European leaders, highlighting what young people expect from the Fourth Council of Europe Summit in Reykjavik. Some of them mentioned gender equality, in particular the gender pay gap, and the protection of women against domestic violence. They also emphasised the importance of involving European citizens in the exercise of political power at the European level, especially in the European elections of 2024.

On top of that, climate change was another topic that the young people mentioned several times: they warned against the risk of CO2, gas and coal emissions, and encouraged leaders to support organic farmers and promote cooperation between States for environmental protection. As for the Ukrainian crisis, the students called on leaders to offer language courses to Ukrainian refugees and to ensure the recognition of their diplomas so that they could work in all EU member states. Finally, they addressed developments in Artificial Intelligence and expressed concern about the challenges it poses to the protection of human rights.

In the afternoon, the students participated in an exchange with European Ambassadors to the Council of Europe, namely the EU Ambassador Vesna Batistić Kos and the Swedish Ambassador Mårten Ehnberg, and the Member of the European Parliament Fabienne Keller, former Major of Strasbourg and vice-president of the European Parliamentary Association. The high schoolers took the opportunity to debate topics of interest to their – and therefore Europe’s – future, such as instance Artificial Intelligence, democratic participation of European citizens, corporate sustainability, and gender equality.

This important outreach effort was met with enthusiasm by the students and their teachers, who could deepen their knowledge of the EU and the Council of Europe joint work.