European Parliament

– Friday the 14th December we were lucky to take part in the Euroscola programme 2012 in the European Parliament of Strasbourg together with students from other European schools. We were twenty-four students with our lovely teachers Mrs Charrieau & Mrs Dominois. Most of us belong to the European Section of our Lycée, as speaking foreign languages were important during this day. Speaking for myself, I was very excited about meeting students from all the European countries !
Our day was organized in four steps.
– First Josephine Gay, a classmate, presented our High School in the plenary meeting room like each speaker of every European school.
– Then a German member of European Parliament came to answer our questions about our preoccupations concerning Europe. It was the time to test our ability to discuss current EU issues. I found it was really interesting because a lot of topics were broached and many students were very well informed and brought up some riveting issues.
– Around 12 o’clock we went to the Parliament Restaurant. After eating a delicious meal we had to find three other students who hadn’t the same nationality as ours in order to answer a questionnaire called “Eurogame” to test our knowledge of the EU. This moment allowed us to speak with other students because the questions were written in several different languages. It also enabled me to meet a very nice Austrian girl with whom I’m keeping in touch.
– Sometime later we were separated in several groups. I chose to take part to the group which dealt with environment and sustainable energies because I care about this topic. We were around eighty people per group and I was with three classmates. At the beginning we had to elect two persons to represent our group. I was chosen as the “president” of the environment committee with Marco, a German student, who was chosen as speaker. This moment was my favourite of the day because it was very enriching to speak about this subject with students from all backgrounds. We spoke a lot about renewable energies, public transports to reduce the carbon dioxide emission & pollution of factory farming. We have also agreed to say that we have to teach young generations to take care of our planet.
– At the end of the day, each group summed up its ideas and propositions before we took the bus to go back home.
– So it was a red-letter day and I think we all were aware that we are really lucky to have taken part in this programme which made us feel more European citizen than ever !

by Wanda BOURRAS