18 years old? Get a chance to travel around Europe with DiscoverEU!
A great European Union initiative which will be giving, for the fourth time, at least to 20.000 young people the opportunity to travel across Europe.
Almost 50.000 young people have been awarded a travel pass since the first application round of DiscoverEU in June 2018. For this round, all EU Member state nationals who are 18 years old on 31 December 2019 (born between 1st January 2001, included, and 31st December 2001 included) are eligible to participate, provided they did not win in a previous round of applications. Unsuccessful applicants from previous round may apply again, provided that they are still eligible (still 18 years old).
The next round will take place between Thursday 7 November 2019 at 12:00 (CET) and Thursday 28 November 2019 at 12:00 (CET).
It’s both for individuals and groups (of maximum 5 people) and in case of groups a group leader needing to be appointed; he will fill in the application form and participates in the quiz and tie-breaker question on behalf of the group members. Any individual is a potential group leader and can invite up to 4 people to join him.
Application procedure:
- From November 7th to November 28th (both 12 noon CET), entrants can fill in their ID or passport number on the online application form;
- If they win they need to start their journey in one of the EU Member States (can be a different country than their home country).
- Plan to travel from 1 day and up to one month;
- Plan to travel minimum 1 day and up to 30 days between 1 April 2020 and 31 October 2020 (last return date);
- Participants must be willing to become a DiscoverEU Ambassador and report back on their travel experiences, for example through social media tools like Instagram, Facebook or Twitter using #DiscoverEU. They may also contribute within their communities, through events such as presentations in local schools.
The basic rule is that each participant will be entitled to a travel pass worth EUR 258. Travel will only be in 2nd class.
However, this amount can be higher in the exceptional cases referred to below:
- For participants travelling from the outermost regions to mainland Europe. Once the participants land on the continent, the basic rule applies;
- For participants outside the above-mentioned outermost regions who are entitled to travel by plane to mainland Europe. Once on the continent, the basic rule applies;
- In some specific situations to be assessed on a case-by-case basis an extra journey by train/ferry/coach, might be covered;
- For participants with reduced mobility and/or special needs. Costs of special assistance (accompanying person, dog for visually impaired participants, etc.) might be covered based on the appropriate documents for justifying their special needs, as required under the national law of the residence Member State. All costs will be assessed on a case by case basis according to their needs.
You can also organise meet-ups and combine travel plans with other DiscoverEU travellers via the DiscoverEU Facebook Group.
Successful applicants will be notified in mid-January 2020.
As in the previous calls, Eurodesk will provide first-level assistance for young people in their application process through the European Youth Portal, while also promoting DiscoverEU via all communication channels. Travel arrangements/technical issues will be handled by an external contractor and the European Commission.
For more information:
– Eurodesk Opportunity Finder
– Eurodesk Profile Directory
– European Youth Portal
– European Commission – Press release
