A delicious opportunity for young Europeans who, if they fall within a certain age group, can take advantage of a dedicated ticket for travel to the old continent at no cost, almost. However, the tickets are far from enough to satisfy all requests and, to be honest, they are half of last year. Here’s how to apply.
DiscoverEU 2024
The European Commission has confirmed the program for 2024 DiscoverEU, which encourages very young people from EU countries to travel backpacking to discover the continent. A way to cement a community identity, allowing you to discover other people’s cultures.
The European Union should not be supported only by political, economic and military agreements, but also and above all by the human closeness of peoples. What the program offers is a set of 35 thousand free train ticketsin order to travel from one country to another.
No plane is included in the price, let’s be clear. You need to travel by train if you want to take full advantage of the economic advantage. This is a recently established program, dating back to 2018. It is part of the Erasmus+ program 2021-2027which aims to make its citizens better understand the history and cultures of the European Union.
The focus is on young people, obviously, because they represent the future of the old continent. The aim is therefore to create a different social fabric, also guaranteeing an experience to improve one’s linguistic skills and, why not, establish potentially fruitful relationships for one’s private and working life. To date, the program financed by Brussels has generated 287 thousand free passes.
Who is eligible and how to apply
The DiscoverEU 2024 program is aimed exclusively at citizens of the European Union born between 1 July 2005 and 30 June 2006. This is the first unquestionable requirement, while the second concerns the need to be resident in the EU or, alternatively, in one of the third countries associated with the Erasmus+ programme: Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Turkey.
The questions are open until 12.00 on Tuesday 30 April. No click days, therefore, which guarantees equal opportunities. No fast connection will prevail over others, so to speak. At the same time, there is no risk of being excluded from this opportunity because the servers, attacked on the same day, are blocked.
The release of the free pass is mainly subject to the number of availability, as well as the passing a quiz. The latter is made up of a total of six questions, which can be answered electronically. You can find everything on the European Youth Portal. Five questions are multiple choice, while the sixth is the decisive one to differentiate yourself from the others.
Once the results of the quizzes have been obtained, the European Commission will proceed to draw up a definitive ranking, basically rewarding the first 35 thousand candidates.
The details of the free trip
The 35 thousand European citizens who receive the free pass from the EU will have a maximum period of use equal to 30 days from first use. However, this does not mean packing your backpack and leaving immediately after receiving the confirmation email. There is time to use your travel ticket, starting from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2025.
However, the rail pass also includes the issue of a European card for young people. This offers discounts on food, sports, local transport and cultural visits around European Union countries. It’s possible too apply as a group, up to a maximum of 5 people, but appointing a figure among these who has the role of group leader. He/she will fill out the form and answer the quiz. You will then receive a code useful for the registration of data by other members.
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