E.U. considers giving free InterRail passes to 18-year-olds
[A visitor descends from Austria into Switzerland while hiking from the Tilisunahuette to the Carschinahuette mountain huts in the Raetikon mountain range on August 3, 2016 near St. Antoenien, Switzerland. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)]
Backpacking in your youth has become a bit of a cliché, with university-age travelers from around the world voyaging off to distant countries in attempts to “find themselves.”
But the European Union is hoping to tap into this wanderlust for different reasons: to combat the region’s staggeringly high youth unemployment and its deepening divisions along national and political borders, especially in light of Britain’s recent decision to leave the union.
That’s why Brussels is proposing giving away free one-month InterRail passes, which allow European residents unlimited travel in 30 countries across the continent, to teens on their 18th birthday.
According to Quartz, the proposal was discussed at the European Parliament’s session in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
Manfred Weber, a centre-right member of European Parliament who brought the issue up for debate at the plenary session, said the free pass could “become a true lighthouse project for the development of a common European identity in diversity.”
Transport commissioner Violeta Bulc voiced her support of the “excellent idea,” saying she would explore it further.
Giving away free InterRail passes was first proposed by two German campaigners who hoped to repair some of the continent’s growing fissures in identity by fostering “international relations and cultural exchange,” and strengthening a “unified European community.”
The E.U. has seen a rise in skepticism towards the union among its citizens, with 47 per cent having “unfavourable views” and a further 42 per cent saying some powers should be returned to national governments, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center, prior to Brexit.
There has also been a resurgence of ultra-nationalist, right-wing populist parties, which often have strong anti-immigrant and Euroskeptic views, across the continent.
In Denmark, Switzerland, Hungary and Austria these types of parties received more than 20 per cent of votes, with the latter’s Freedom Party leading the pack with 35.1 per cent.
The free InterRail initiative is also designed to tackle the Eurozone’s floundering economy, in particular, the lingering issue of youth unemployment.
In countries such as Greece and Spain about 50 per cent of citizens under 25 are out of a job, while Italy’s youth are in similarly dire straits with 40 per cent of them being unemployed.