Report on the Youth Summit in Rome

On the occasion of the EU's 50th birthday the European Commission in collaboration with the European Youth Forum organised a youth summit in Rome at the place where the roman treaties, foundation stone of the EU as we know it today, where signed 50 years ago. However, the core topics were different to the ones talked about at the meeting of the heads of government in Berlin. While the top politicians aimed to get closer to the people and act jovial the Rome summit was dealing with the future, more precisely the next 50 years, of the European Union. Each EU nation sent six delegates who spent a weekend discussing the perspectives of the EU constitution, future development and foreign policy, civic commitment, nature and environment issues and economic politics in different workshops. To make sure that the opinion of preferably many adolescents was reflected in the discussions, the national youth associations organised national discussion workshops in the run-up whose conclusions were summed up and mailed to us so we could get a survey on the respective nation's attitude.

In the beginning, it was hard for me to leaf through dozens of pages filled with national statements written in English or French. My French and English lessons which I never really liked anyway took place a long time ago. But when I was on the plane to Rome reading the last few pages, I felt prepared for the summit. Funnily enough, two other delegates were seated right next to me which we did not realise before all three of us took out our documents with the logo of the jubilee. Thus I got to know the first two participants before even arriving. After landing in Rome with two hours delay, an Italian waited for us in the terminal welcoming us with a loud "Ciao!" before leading us to a taxi that brought us to our hotel. The European Commission’s travelling agency had booked a flight on Thursday because none were left at Friday morning. This gave me the opportunity to get to know some more participants in the course of the evening.

Friday was affected by organisational issues, where as Saturday morning saw the official dedication take place at the University of Rome where numerous politicians delivered speeches as well. In the afternoon, the aforementioned workshops took place. In between – typically Italian –, ample meals and coffee breaks took place. These turned out to be the most interesting "program items" because it was a handy opportunity to socialise and enter into conversation with the other 250 participants.

Saturday night a huge gala took place providing an opportunity to ask politicians questions and listen to their anecdotes. Meanwhile, selected workshop representatives summed up the statements written down in the afternoon and in the national discussions in advance of the summit and so they cut more than 100 pages down to a four-paged closing report – our message to the heads of government. It was a task that kept them busy until late at night and I was glad that I was not a member of the committee because certain passages were discussed down to mere formulations. On Sunday, in the course of a ceremonial act at the Capitol of Rome, this document was given to EU parliament, EU commission and government representatives who, of course, promised to study it intensely.

All in all, I found it a great experience to participate in a European political summit and take a look behind the scenes of continental politics. The youth formulated and expressed its visions for the future. It is up to the politcians what they make of it now.