The European Commission has completed the selection process for the 20,000 participants in the DiscoverEU initiative. According to figures released on 6 June, nearly 95,000 young people aged 18 applied between 2 and 16 May (see EUROPE 12246/17).
The 20,000 tickets were awarded according to specific allocation criteria and taking into account the quotas set for each EU Member State. Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy are the winners with more than 2,000 tickets each.
As a reminder, the DiscoverEU initiative allows 18-year-olds to travel free of charge in Europe, ideally by train, bus or ferry, or even, exceptionally, by plane. In addition to a ticket, they receive technical assistance and advice on topics such as sustainable travel and what it means to be a DiscoverEU ambassador.
So far, the European Commission has already organised three rounds of applications for 45,000 young people and plans to launch a fourth round before the end of the year. The Commission intends to continue this initiative after 2020, seeing as it has proposed to set aside €700 million of the Erasmus budget for DiscoverEU. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)