Youth Parliament Debates

Youth Parliament Debates across Europe

PlasticsEurope has launched in 2007 a series of European national debates gathering each time around 100 students to debate the pros and cons of plastics when it comes to energy and climate protection. The objective of PlasticsEurope is to provide youth with a democratic forum to freely debate the pros and cons of its product.

The programme has been running for two years in a row consisting of a yearly series of national debates and a Final European one. From each national debate, an independent jury fromed by politicians, NGOs, media and captains of the industry, selects 10 best debaters to participate to the Grand Finale.

In 2008, the Final debate gathered 150 students in the European Parliament premises in Brussels, under the patronage of the former president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering. Nations represented were Croatia, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK.

The debates follow the same pattern everywhere in Europe. They are opened by the host, a high profile politician, followed by a Pro and a Con speech from NGOs, renowned authors, captains of the industry etc. The students are then given the floor to match their verbal duelling skills while the jury considers the best performances. In 2009, the debates were held successivly in Spain, Belgium, Turkey, Czech Republic, Poland, France, Italy and Germany. The final took place in Rome on 13 November 2009 in the "Villa Borghese".

European national debates in 2007

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European national debates in 2008

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European national debates in 2009

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