EU Commissioner, Glenn MICALLEF, stressed his commitment to stimulate the Erasmus + Student Exchange of the EU during an exchange on the commitment of young people in the Policy on the Bruxels My Love love program of Euronews.
Micallef holds the portfolio for intergenerational equity, youth, culture and sport and joined Samira Rafaela, invited scholarship holder at Cornell University and former deputy deputy, and rareș Voicu, president of the European youth forum of the program, which will be broadcast this weekend.
The Commissioner stressed the importance of the flagship exchange of students, Erasmus +, to shape a shared European identity and develop key skills.
“The intention is to strengthen the Erasmus Plus program, and I want to be quite clear on this subject,” he told the Méabh McMahon host when questioning a possible budget reports Cut proposed by EU member statesReaffirming its intention to protect the program.
Micallef also said that the increase in mental health challenges among young people in Europe was “worrying”.
“In the European Union, 50% of our young people present themselves to face or have faced mental health challenges ranging from solitude to stress anxiety,” he said. He highlighted several causes, noting that the number of cases has increased since the COVVI-19 crisis.
One of its main priorities, he said, would be to examine “the relationship between digital environments and the effects on young people”, with a particular accent on social media.
He announced his intention to launch an “EU level survey on the wider effects of social media”, which will be followed by an “action plan on cyberbullying”.
The Commissioner suggested that part of the solution could reside in encouragement more physical activity: “Sport can be a fairly important remedy,” he said. Culture, too, plays a vital role by “giving young people space to express themselves really”.
On the cultural front, Micallef spoke about the next “Cultural Compass” initiative, which should be revealed later this year.
“We are a global cultural power,” he said, citing the reopening of Notre Dame as an opportunity for world leaders to meet, adding: “Culture is an area where we have to continue to concentrate our priorities.”
Addressing the commitment of young people, Micallef underlined the need to ensure that young people have a platform to share their point of view. “Young opinions help go from this more force. We must continue to improve the level of participation of young people through all our development of policies, “he said.
You can look at the full debate with Glenn Micallef, Samira Rafaela and Rareș Voicu in the next episode of Brussels, My Love all on weekends on Euronews TV or Euronews.com.
