This week Germany’s oldest competition in schools, the ‘European Pupils‘ Competition’, turned 60 – and European Movement Germany (EM Germany) celebrated this jubilee with around 300 guests. Vice-President of European Movement International (EMI), Jessica Chamba, welcomed laudators, laureats, students, experts and long-time supporters of the contest at Länder and federal level at our reception, emphasising the competition’s contribution to Europe in the course of its long history. The diverse group of guests helped to make this event a colourful, dynamic and informative occasion for us all to look back on 60 years of “Europe in schools”. 

Europe is not “just for nerds”, says EP President Martin Schulz 

The auditorium of Schiller-Oberschule in Berlin was brimming with enthusiasm that day, a spirit which perhaps you might not expect at school on a Monday morning. But when EP President Martin Schulz took the stage to discuss with students whether Europe is “only for nerds”, even those who may not be engaging with European affairs on a daily basis were listening and watching attentively. Schulz himself, declaring frankly that he had never done particularly well in school, may just be an example that European politics are more than a niche subject for overachievers. On the contrary, as Schulz urged his discussants and the audience, the European Union needs her young people to strive for our shared European values: democracy, tolerance, and freedom of expression. 

“Which Europe do we want to live in?” Schulz asked, alluding to the upcoming elections of the European Parliament in 2014. Only if we comprehend European elections as a political process akin to national elections can we start to deliberately shape the EU as we envision it, he argued. Schulz stressed that we must especially revive the common goals that have been occupying us: gender equality, a right to vote for EU citizens throughout the Member States, the right to strike, access to information, environmental protection, the prohibition of torture and equality of arms before the national courts, to name but a few. “We need to find new bases for the same old issues”, as he put it, garnering agreement from the four students joining his debate. 

The European Pupils’ Competition makes a significant contribution to inspiring this much-needed passion for the EU in young people – in ‘Euro-enthusiasts’, sceptics and those without any previous exposure to European issues alike. 

European education in schools: experts present innovative tools

Alongside the European Schools’ Competition, many EU-funded initiatives encourage students to engage in dialogue with students from other Member States. As Jessica Chamba stressed in her welcome address: “We must continue to fund exchange and educational programmes such as the European Pupils‘ Competition in order to safeguard Europe’s peace and unity.“ The sheer breadth of European educational programmes was the focus of an expert forum that afternoon. Speakers from the Educational Exchange Service (PAD) of the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and from the educational programme “Youth for Europe” presented innovative tools for students to discuss Europe and the EU in a transnational space, for instance through the virtual class room eTwinning. But also the Commission’s efforts to streamline strategies in the fields of youth, education and sports – now referred to as ERASMUS+ – promise to put cross-border cooperation at the fore of European education. The appeal voiced by Martin Schulz for a stronger politicisation of Europe also showed in strategies for extracurricular education, for instance in the form of EU-funded European youth politics: by young people, for everyone. 

In spite of new EU strategies and programmes being developed, the European Pupils’ Competition will remain a focal point for students to confront and debate European issues. Since 1953, each year students have been working on essays and art projects reflecting the problems that have moved Europe and its citizens. Awards are granted to the best works submitted, offering an incentive to students of all ages to actively engage with the European project. EM Germany has supported the contest from its very beginnings and is looking forward to next year’s competition when tens of thousands of students from all across Germany will again express their visions for Europe creatively.