Political youth debate “The EU in the world”

On Friday (4 November), JEF – with support of the European Youth Forum - hosted the 3rd in a series of Political Party Youth Organisation (PPYO) debates, in Cologne. The debate featured many of the most pressing issues for both our political leaders and young people today, and took place in the framework of the New Narrative for Europe project.

During the two-part event, which was held in as part of the Autumn 2016 Federal Committee Meeting, there were breakout focused workshops which went into detail on the topics and came up with challenges, recommendations and questions. This paved the way for the second part of the event: a panel debate featuring representatives from the PPYOs: Sissel Kvist from LYMEC, Tomasz Kaniecki from EDS, Laura Sliming from YES, Sebastiaan Rood from FYEG and Christopher Gluck from JEF.

The debate, entitled “The EU in the World”, particularly focused on the EU’s role as a primarily normative power. An emphasis was placed on EU policies regarding trade, migration and how to defend human rights and freedoms in general. Most of the participants agreed that a more united and stronger EU defending its values is needed today more than ever, considering the numerous global challenges that the continent is facing.