See what European candidates pledge to support education

BRUSSELS – Candidates for the upcoming European elections will be asked to show their support to higher education in a new campaign launched by the European Students’ Union (ESU) on 4 February.

National unions of students in Europe have agreed on a manifesto enlisting ten key actions or values that they want the European candidates to fight for or safeguard in the coming years.

A special taskforce was appointed to take care of this campaign that will present a new slogan and a website, where students and other stakeholders can see directly what candidates will support the manifesto.

The aim of this campaign is to bring the issue of higher education to the forefront of the European election debate and to present students’ expectations in relation to the development of higher education in Europe.

“We need to get the students’ voice heard in the parliament. For this reason, we have created a manifesto with the ten most important things that we would like to see the new parliament work for,” says Elin Blomqvist, a member of ESU’s Executive Committee who is the main organiser of the campaign.

Vote to make a difference

ESU hopes that the campaign will not only raise the issue of higher education in the election debate, but also encourage students to register and participate in the EU elections. Only by voting can they make an actual difference.

“Young people are the future of Europe and decisions that are taken now will affect their lives in the years to come. This is why it is important that the students’ thoughts and demands are heard in the parliament,” says Blomqvist.

People are strongly encouraged to follow news from ESU on 4 February as the campaign will be announced on its Facebook and Twitter pages and to help spread the word!

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For more information, please contact:

Rok Primozic, ESU’s Chairperson: +32/479.126.390 // rok@esu-online.org or Robert Hlynur Baldursson, ESU Communications Manager: +32/473.669.894 // robert@esu-online.org