Inside the EU institutions during the European Year of Youth
An institutional visit to Brussels, participation in the European Commission's Open Doors Day, an interview as a youth ambassador, and a Youth Talks session on solidarity and European values.
On 6 and 7 May 2022, my role as a European Year of Youth Ambassador took me to Brussels for an institutional visit to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the European Council.
The visit offered a close view of how the European institutions communicate with citizens and how youth participation can move from a policy objective into a direct conversation.
Open Doors at the European Commission
The central event was the European Commission’s Open Doors Day on 7 May at the Berlaymont building. The programme was designed around the European Year of Youth and organised its activities into three areas: the Youth Village, the Green Village, and the Digital Village.
Visitors could explore European opportunities and initiatives including the European Solidarity Corps, Erasmus+ Youth Participation Activities, DiscoverEU, traineeships, Europass, EURES, and the European Youth Portal. The format made the institutions feel less distant: information was accompanied by conversations, interactive activities, and spaces where young people could speak for themselves.
Sharing my experience in the interview corner
I took part in the interview corner as one of the youth ambassador testimonials. The format invited ambassadors to share stories connected with active citizenship, participation, solidarity, democracy, intercultural learning, and community building.
Being interviewed inside the Commission gave me the opportunity to connect my own experience of European mobility and volunteering with a wider message: these programmes are not abstract policies. They become real through the people who participate in them, bring what they learn home, and encourage others to get involved.
The interview is preserved in an Instagram highlight from the visit.
Youth Talks on solidarity and European values
I also participated in the Youth Talks, a facilitated discussion that brought young people together around solidarity, democracy, European values, identity, and intercultural learning.
What made the session useful was the movement between the institutional and the personal. Ideas such as solidarity and European identity can sound very broad; the discussion asked us to connect them with lived experience, different national perspectives, and the choices communities make when responding to shared challenges.
Seeing the institutions from the inside
The wider visit included the European Parliament and the European Council. Moving through these institutions in person gave context to the decisions, programmes, and public debates that had shaped many of my previous experiences across Europe.
I left Brussels with a clearer understanding of institutional communication and with an even stronger conviction that young people should not be treated only as an audience. They should be invited to contribute stories, questions, criticism, and ideas—and be given visible places in which to do so.
Explore the European Year of Youth Ambassador Network.