What sounded like a marvellous 18th birthday present for EU teens has been altered to become a full-blown programme, involving participants paying their way.
Brussels has rejected the European Parliament’s idea to open the community up to over-18s with a year’s free rail pass in favour of the Move2Learn, Learn2Move initiative, in which as many as 5000 16-19-year-olds will be offered free travel as long as they pay for accommodation.
National rail company CP, and Azores’ airline company SATA are involved in the plan
which will be open to teens taking part in the eTwinning programme, explains Dinheiro Vivo, from August this year till December 2018.
Last October, the way ahead looked very different (click here).
EU leaders claimed they were planning to give 18-year-olds a free rail pass to 30 European countries, in order to reinforce the ‘sense of belonging’, shaken in the aftermath of the Brexit referendum result.
It was a €1.5 billion initiative presented as designed to “give the opportunity to all young people regardless of their social and educational background to discover Europe’s diversity and promote Interrail travel as a pragmatic way to reduce carbon footprint”.
