Rochdale Youth Cabinet member, Christopher Marland, attends European Youth Event

Rochdale representative Christopher Marland with Oldham representative Mariam Waseem at the EYE event

Christopher Marland, Rochdale’s Youth Cabinet member, was chosen to represent Rochdale as one of fourteen British delegates at the European Youth Event (EYE) at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Christopher attended the event from Friday 9 May to Saturday 11 May, which saw him getting involved with debates, lectures and cultural events.

During his first day on the trip, Christopher and the rest of the British Youth Council team attended the ‘Its Up to You(th)’ workshop. This had a focus on the EU, the European Parliament and how it works. The group also discussed how the European Parliament influences everyday lives and the impact that the 2014 election will have on the EU.

Christopher said: “This gave us an insight into the differences and similarities between the British political system and the European political system.”

The second day of the trip saw Christopher attend a workshop on entrepreneurship and what Europe can do to encourage it. During the workshop, Christopher gave his opinions on European Values, was consulted on equal opportunities and hate speech, gathered advice and opinions on the League of Young Voters and was filmed promoting a traveller’s social media platform.

“The whole day was very educational and inspiring as I was reminded of how many brilliant things the youth of today are involved in. That day I also attended a debate around Youth Unemployment. Young people from member states shared their experiences and best practice on how to tackle the issue together,” said Christopher.

On the final day of his trip, Christopher attended the closing plenary session of the EYE 2014. The event was held in the European Parliament Hemicyle and consisted of speakers and a question and answer session around the EYE.

Young people also contributed ideas regarding Europe and conclusions offered included youth unemployment was an endemic problem, the EU should do more to protect young people’s data and that Europe should be open to reform as well as many other ideas.

The young people involved were then given a piece of paper to write down their ideas for a better Europe. The ideas were then placed into a glass box with all feedback received from the event to be presented at the next European Parliament, European Commission and to the next European President.

Christopher added: “We were immensely lucky to have this opportunity. We managed to meet at least one person from each member state of the EU (and Turkey). If anything, we have been assured that the EU truly appreciates the voice of young people and I was honoured to represent Rochdale at the event.”