Insight a plenary week in the EP - from Anika

From peace doves and celebrity spotting in the European Parliament 

Hello and greetings from the European Parliament! In April, I traveled from Brussels to Strasbourg as a trainee in the European Parliament. There was a lot going on there: from heated debates on the Green Deal, meetings with climate activists, spotting Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola to a dove of peace in the plenary chamber. The days I spent taking minutes of parliamentary group meetings, preparing social media posts and other organizational activities were extremely long. No wonder: as it was the last plenary week of the current legislative period, a lot of bills were passed: be it a directive against violence against women, a new EU disability card or the law on the right to repair. It’s hardly surprising that I fell into bed completely overstimulated and dead tired after various evening events and didn't make it into the city center once. The Strasbourg week was extremely instructive for me. It showed me once again how many people there are who don't believe in common European solutions and want to undermine them - something that is sometimes forgotten in our European Studies bubble. So here's a little appeal for the European elections on the weekend of June 9 - even though I'm sure you've already been aware of this.

Anika, from the 9th Generation