This meeting, which is part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue, will offer the young political leaders a unique occasion to exchange political and individual experiences and establish interpersonal relationships in a neutral environment, the EU parliament said Wednesday.

 

The participants will actively contribute to shaping the contents of the event.

 

Several MEPs will join the group to share their own experiences and engage in dialogue.

 

The broad relationship between identities and politics will be at the core of the discussions.

 

 

Participants will be given the opportunity at the end of the event to draft a joint message to be discussed with the president of the European Parliament, including their recommendations to the European Union and their respective political leadership.

 

To organize the gathering, Poettering has used the 20,000 euro prize money he received in November 2007 when he was awarded the Hallstein Prize from the city of Frankfurt, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Univeristy and the Dresdner Bank.

 

The head of the European Parliament had announced during the prize-giving ceremony that he intended to use the prize for this purpose.

 

The European Parliament, which is a body elected directly by the citizens of the European Union, is composed of 785 MEPs from 27 countries.