Who are EPAS?

We are a school club for Sixth Form and Year 11 students, and a part of a much bigger network of school clubs across Europe. EPAS stands for the European Parliament Ambassador Scheme, which is a programme set up by the EU parliament to raise awareness and participation in European Parliamentary democracy for young people. You can recognise us by our shiny yellow badges!

 

What do we do?

Our goal is to engage students with European democracy, values, and culture, which we do through events. Every year we do something to celebrate Europe Day (9th May). This year we had everyone wear the European Colours of yellow and blue, with prizes for the most extravagant looks.

 

We also ran a big Christmas quiz, with trivia questions on European traditions!
EPAS students also go on school trips, the best of which is to the European Parliament. This year we spent a weekend in Strasbourg at Christmas, taking in the biggest Christmas market in the EU before taking on the parliament, where we spent a day representing the UK and debating with hundreds of other schools from across Europe.  This year’s debate was on human rights and the migrant crisis. (see more at https://youth.europarl.europa.eu/more-information/euroscola.html)

 

How can I join?

If you’re interested in becoming a European Parliament ambassador or just want to know more, speak to anyone wearing the yellow badge or contact Sam Robbins ([email protected]). Meetings are every Friday in E17.

 

Current focus

Our current focus in EPAS is on the Youth Mobility Scheme. In April this year, the European Commission put forward a proposal which would allow young people aged 18-30 to travel between the UK and the EU to study, work or live in another country for up to 4 years without a visa.  This was a right that all British people had when the UK was a member state of the EU. Since Brexit, however, British citizens can only stay in EU countries for up to 90 days (about 3 months) without a visa (and the same applies for EU citizens who wish to stay in the UK). The Commission’s proposal would remove these requirements for young people looking to go to the EU and vice versa.  Both the outgoing Conservative government and the current Labour government have stated their opposition to the Commission’s proposal. Some politicians see this as going against the spirit of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. There are also concerns that more EU students would come to the

UK than the other way around and that UK universities would run into funding difficulties as a result (because EU students would now be entitled to pay the same, lower fees that UK students pay). The offer remains on the table and the issue will be at the centre of discussions between the UK and the EU later this autumn. We would like to know your view on this proposal. This survey is being conducted by Queen Elizabeth’s EPAS ambassadors.