"Brussels, my love?" Young & anxious - Europe's silent crisis
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We are joined this week by the EU Commissioner Glenn Micallef, responsible for Inter generational Fairness, Youth, Culture & Sport, Samira Rafaela, Former Dutch MEP, now Visiting Fellow at Cornell University in NYC and Rareș Voicu, the President of the European Youth Forum - an organisation representing 100 youth groups from all over Europe.
In this special edition, we take a look and what it is like to young in Europe on the same week the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen told the German paper Zeit that "
the West as we knew it no longer exists
".
From cyber bullying to mental health concerns, geopolitical disorder to climate anxiety, young people are drifting away from mainstream politicians, feeling unheard.
Glenn Micallef, the EU Commissioner in charge of youth, told the panel that the EU is a 'fantastic reality that millions of Europeans live every day' but more needs to be done to improve the lives of all.
"We have already many European Union citizens who indeed identify as being European. But I acknowledge we can do more", he said.
The Commissioner, who hails from Malta, also stressed how important the well known student exchange programme, Erasmus+ was when it comes to shaping a real European identity.
'The intention is to strengthen the Erasmus Plus programme, and I want to be quite clear on that,' he said putting rumours possible budget cuts to bed.
Panelists debated the importance of making these programmes more accessible.
Watch the full episode in the player above!
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China says it is working with France on trade differnces, no sign yet of a cognac deal
China and France have agreed to resolve their trade disputes through dialogue, China's foreign ministry said on Friday, though there was no indication that agreement had been reached in talks on lifting Chinese levies on European brandy. Talks to resolve the cognac dispute accelerated this week with China's commerce minister Wang Wentao meeting his French counterpart in Paris on the sidelines of an OECD conference, and technical talks on the matter taking place in Beijing. The latest round of negotiations have raised hopes of a settlement, two industry sources with knowledge of the discussions said. "The two sides have reached consensus on resolving economic and trade issues through dialogue and consultation", the Chinese foreign ministry said after a call between the Chinese and French foreign ministers. Chinese anti-dumping measures that applied duties of up to 39% on imports of European brandy - with French cognac bearing the brunt - have strained relations between Paris and Beijing. The brandy duties were enforced days after the European Union took action against Chinese-made electric vehicle imports to shield its local industry, prompting France's President Emmanuel Macron to accuse Beijing of "pure retaliation". The Chinese duties have dented sales of brands including LVMH 's Hennessy, Pernod Ricard 's Martell and Remy Cointreau. Beijing was initially meant to make a final decision on the duties by January, but extended the deadline to April and then again to July 5. China is seeking to strengthen trade ties with the 27-member bloc as relations with the United States have soured in the escalating trade war. "France will not compromise on ... the protection of its industries, such as cognac," French trade minister Laurent Saint-Martin said after talks with Wang on Wednesday. Chinese officials, meanwhile, signalled to industry officials during three rounds of technical meetings in Beijing this week they wanted to settle the matter, one of the sources said, but added some sticking points remained. With annual imports of around $1.7 billion last year, China is the French brandy industry's most important measured by value and the second-largest by volume after the United States.
