01/03/2018 (Agence Europe) – Reacting to the European Parliament's proposal to give free Interrail passes to 18-year-olds, the European Commission on Thursday 1 March laid the foundation for a pilot measure that will benefit at least 20,000 young Europeans from summer 2018. The idea of free Interrail passes for young people, which has been under investigation since 2016 (see EUROPE 11639), is therefore coming to fruition, at least partially. The Commission's decision to allocate €12 million is in any case a step towards a programme defended by the Christian Democrats. The chair of the EPP group in Parliament, Germany's Manfred Weber, said that this could “become a true flagship project for the development of a common European identity in diversity”. A competition will launch in the near future for young people hoping to be the first to take advantage of this opportunity. (MS)