Editor's note
We are pleased to republish, in English, this interview originally conducted by Laura Clara Grandi for Radio Bicocca with Irene Comelli, one of the students selected to participate in the European Student Assembly (ESA) 2026. Through her experience, the interview offers a first-hand perspective on what it means to contribute to shaping policy recommendations inside the European Parliament as part of this unique European initiative.
All photographs featured in this article are courtesy of Irene Comelli
How are European policies created? Who decides the priorities for the future of the Union? And above all, is there room for the voices of young people?
The answer is yes.
From 20 to 22 April 2026, the European Parliament in Strasbourg hosted the fifth edition of the European Student Assembly (ESA), one of the most important initiatives dedicated to the participation of university students in the debate on European policies. For three days, the hemicycle that usually hosts Members of the European Parliament from the 27 Member States also welcomed 250 students selected from almost 3,000 applications, coming from 196 universities and representing 54 different nationalities. Among them was Irene Comelli, a graduate in Sociology and now a student in the Master's degree programme PROGEST (Planning and Management of Social Policies and Services) at the University of Milano-Bicocca.
What is the European Student Assembly?
The European Student Assembly was created within the Erasmus+ EUC Voices project with an objective that is as simple as it is ambitious: to give European university students the opportunity to contribute to the reflection on the major challenges facing the European Union. The experience is not limited to the three days spent in Strasbourg. In the months preceding the assembly, students work online in international groups, supported by experts and coordinators, exploring topics ranging from sustainability to health, from digital transformation to social policies, and transport. The result of this work is a set of actual policy recommendations, which are then presented, discussed and voted on within the European Parliament through a procedure that mirrors that of parliamentary assemblies. It is an opportunity to understand from the inside how European democratic dialogue is built and how complex it is to develop shared proposals among people from very different backgrounds.
How can the way we travel in Europe be rethought?
Irene was selected for the panel "Europe Moving Together: How Can Public Transport Benefit Everyone?", dedicated to sustainable and inclusive mobility. Together with the other members of the group, she worked for several months on developing concrete proposals to make European public transport more accessible and integrated: from the idea of a single platform to organise international travel, to greater integration of the European railway system, more intuitive digital tools for purchasing tickets, and more efficient cross-border connections. These are issues that today no longer belong only to the imagination of students. In recent weeks, in fact, the European Commission has relaunched the principle of "One Journey, One Ticket", with the aim of making it possible to plan and purchase international rail journeys through increasingly integrated and transparent systems. This direction shows how many of the ideas discussed during ESA are perfectly aligned with the European debate on the future of mobility.
What is it like to experience Europe up close?
One of the most valuable aspects of the experience, Irene explains, was not only working on European policies, but also engaging with students from dozens of different countries. Everyone brought their own point of view. The same problem was observed from different perspectives, bringing to light different priorities linked to each country's experiences and realities. It was precisely this exchange that made the work so rich and unique. The experience demonstrated in concrete terms what it means to build a European compromise: listening, discussing, revising one's own ideas and finding common ground. Naturally, not everything was easy. For about three months, the work took place entirely online. Organising a meeting meant reconciling time zones, academic calendars, examination periods and different personal commitments. It was a demanding coordination exercise, considering that all participants were carrying out the project alongside their studies and, in some cases, other educational or professional activities.
What happens when politics moves beyond the halls of Parliament?
The assembly, however, did not end with the remote working sessions. For three days, the 250 participants shared the same spaces, staying in the same hostel, having lunch together and continuing their discussions even outside the meeting rooms of the European Parliament. Until then, they had mostly been names on a screen and boxes on Google Meet. In Strasbourg, those names finally became people. Friendships, collaborations and an alumni network were born from that experience, allowing participants to remain in contact even today. For Irene, this was one of the most important lessons: discovering that cultural, linguistic and academic differences are not an obstacle, but a resource.
What remains after an experience like ESA?
ESA demonstrates that youth participation is not just a slogan. It means giving space to new ideas, bringing different skills into dialogue and allowing students from across Europe to experience first-hand how European democracy works. For Irene, the experience in Strasbourg was much more than a trip or a university project. It was an opportunity to understand how public policies are developed, engage with international perspectives and discover how it is possible to build common solutions starting from very different experiences. At a time when Europe is often perceived as something distant, initiatives such as ESA remind us that the future of the Union is also built by listening to those who will live that future the longest: the younger generations. And who knows, among those 250 students seated inside the European Parliament, there may well have been some of the protagonists of tomorrow's Europe.
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