Hard wake up at 6 o’clock! We had breakfast in our youth hostel, then we took the bus to go to the European parliament (EP) in Strasbourg, some people took advantage of the trip to sleep, others rehearsed their debate.

At 8 o’clock, we arrived to our destination; we waited for a long, long time outside in a chilly atmosphere. There were a lot of security regulations before we could enter the EP. We visited the EP and stopped in a room where EURO-NP GB debates on national subjects took place . We took some pictures and a member of the EP gave us some information about the Parliament and how it works.

At 10 o’clock we started to debate on our projects;

How the debates work: a group presents its project, then questions about the specific vocabulary can be asked. Later on, the debate starts with an “attack speech” from a member of another group, the people presenting their project can reply with a “defence speech”. After that, questions, arguments and opinions are presented .  The group can defend itself and answer the questions. The debate ends with a “sum up speech” from the people presenting their project to convince us to vote for their resolution. Finally, a vote is organised by each group to know if their resolution is accepted or not.

So at 10 am we started the debates with:

ENVI:  Commission on environment, public health and food safety

The subject was: “which measures should the European union take to reduce the ecological disasters threats and their consequences upon the environment and public health?"

Then, with

ACRI: Commission a agriculture

The subject was: “how can the European union promote circular economy initiatives and encourage sustainable development measures on the entirety of its territory in order to improve its common agricultural policy?”

At 11 a.m: time for a little coffee break!

DEVE: Commission on development

The subject was: “freedom of made protection versus development goals: at the time of increasing globalization and liberalization of markets. The foreign trade policy of the EU plays a key role in maintaining European competitiveness. How can the EU do to promote a fair / equitable integration of developing countries into the global trading system, benefiting both Europe and its trading partners?”

Then at 12 a.m, we had lunch in the restaurant of the European parliament!

Sandra Zeres

Manon Zingarelli