Inside the Institutions: from Local Communities to Europe. European Commission Executive Vice-President Raffaele Fitto meets students from the School of Civic Education

Europe and its future were at the heart of Raffaele Fitto’s meeting with 50 students in their final year of secondary school. “I found these young people to be knowledgeable, well-informed and eager to participate. This is the path we must continue to follow to build a stronger Europe.”

A dialogue lasting more than an hour focused on the most important challenges on the European agenda, the importance of political participation among young people and the need for policies capable of protecting and strengthening Europe’s peripheral areas. Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, met this morning at Villa del Gombo, the former residence of the President of the Italian Republic in the San Rossore Park, with 50 students in their final year of secondary school from across Italy. They are taking part in the fourth edition of the School of Civic Education, an initiative conceived by students of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa to help younger generations to understand a changing world and to promote civic awareness and active participation in public life.

Answering questions from the students, Raffaele Fitto called for stronger cohesion among European Union Member States and reiterated the need for greater flexibility in political decision-making processes, which must adapt to an ever-changing reality. His remarks also addressed the development of Europe’s inner and peripheral areas through policies capable of creating opportunities for new generations and ensuring that young people have the right to remain in the places where they were born and raised.

Fitto then addressed a message of confidence directly to young people: “They can achieve things that would have been unimaginable only a few years ago. I found them to be knowledgeable, well-informed and eager to participate. The fact that the School of Civic Education addresses the key challenges we will face in the coming years, while creating a dialogue with the different levels of government and institutions, is extremely important. This is the path we must continue to follow to build a stronger Europe.”

Raffaele Fitto’s participation was part of the Youth Dialogue, a framework for consultation and dialogue between young people and European policymakers.