The first appointment took place 14th December at the Friedrich Schiller Gymnasium in Pirna. Here the students talked with politicians of the European Parliament, politicians from the German Federal States, representatives of the business world and with Mr Jiří Burianek, Secretary General of the European Committee of the Regions. The aim was to find out how EU money is invested and from where it comes from, what Europe offers to young people and how the European idea can be shaped and encouraged at local level.
"It is not only about exchanging technical views, but primarily to celebrate Europe. As the example of "Pulse of Europe", a civic movement that, after the Brexit vote in UK, did not only showed disappointment, but took the streets. Stand up for Europe, showing Enthusiasm and Heart", explained Jiří Burianek.
A passionate appeal was made by Heinz Lehmann to the young people: "Make the European project your project. You must take it over".
The second talk took place 18th December at the Martin-Luther Gymnasium in Frankenburg. There the debate became particularly topical thanks to the presence of Michael Murphy, delegate of the county council of Tipperary (Ireland) and CoR member, who discussed about Brexit.
The Forum at the Dr-Wilhelm-André-Gymnasium Chemnitz will conclude the event on 20th December 2018. There, among others, Oliver Schenk, Head of the State Chancellery and Minister for the EU-Federal Affairs of Saxony, local and national politician and substitute CoR member, as well as Christian Schweiger, Professor of "Comparative European government systems" at the Technical University of Chemnitz, will answer to the student's questions.
Each of the three school forums consists of a panel discussion and four group discussions on various European policy issues. Students, who asked their classmates to formulate their most urgent questions in advance, will moderate the discussions. Then, the groups will present their results to the plenary.
On the initiative of Heinz Lehmann, CoR Vice-President, the Chancellery of Saxony and the Saxon Ministry of Culture, together with the European Committee of the Regions, have been organizing these European policy forums at Saxon schools since 2017.