Article by Carmen Sylva
Interview with M. Molinari, head of the E.U office in Milan.
The E.U has its own representatives in each of the member states. Have you ever wondered how these institutions work? Well, on February the 2nd, we had an interview with Signor Molinari, in which we proposed some questions, dealing with different topics, such as the activities which the Office in Milan does and many more.
- Could you explain to our readers what the Office you represent does?
The office in Milan is one of the agencies offices of the European Union parliament in all member states. In Italy, we have two, one in Milan, which is a regional office, as we call it, and one in Rome which is the main one. Basically, what we do: we try to raise awareness of the activities of the European Parliament and of the members of the European parliament, which we can call MEP, in short. We do some kind of outage work with the media, state owners, social partners, citizens, youth, schools, universities and the overall society at large to explain what the European parliament does, what the European Union values are and to try to give visibility to the main legislative files and the activities of the MEPs. In Milan specifically, we deal with the northeast and the northwest constituencies, so we have 35 MEPs overall out of the 76 that Italy has. Now we organize more webinars and online events. We do things with media, such as editorial products and projects. We give information to citizens when they want more information about the European Union and the European parliament. As I said, we are in touch with schools, universities as well as mayors of the northeast and northwest of Italy. In the Milan office, altogether we have seven regions: Val d’Aosta, Piemonte, Lombardia Liguria, Trentino –Alto Adice, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Veneto and Emilia Romagna.
- Which projects/activities you are carrying out for primary and secondary school, respectively?
We don’t do so much with primary school students, because they are little kids. I would love to start doing things with primary schools and we were talking about the possibility of starting to do something with primary school students, but then Covid struck and it was all delayed. It was already difficult to do normal activities with schools. Mainly we organize events for the secondary school students. We have a program which is called The Ambassadors’ Schools for the European Parliament (EPAS, in short). We have in Italy around 50 schools that they do classes about the European Union and then they organize Europe’s day together, take part in seminars together. Other than that, both of us, as the representatives of our office and MEPs are happy to go to schools or do online events, involving the school students. For instance, now we are doing a project with the media which is called The Post Internazionale and some children (aged 11-13) will interview MEPs and then these interviews will be published on the website of The Post Internazionale. There will be some Instagram games, because we are also active on social media, especially Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and a bit on YouTube. We are not allowed as the European parliament, to be on TikTok for example, but we know that some of the students that we work with are active on TikTok and we are happy when they share European parliament content.
- Do you also work with European schools, such as the one in Varese?
I’m in Milan since January 2020, and only a few months later, in March, the pandemic started. This has made us rethink the whole way we work. So far, we haven’t worked directly with the European schools, but we are really open to any kind of project which the European school wants to do with us and in the future we will surely organize an exchange to see how and on what ground we could work together.
- What are, according to you, the laws which were implemented by the European Parliament which will have the most impact on the education system, in the E.U?
Well, the whole Erasmus program, I think it’s the milestone of a true building of European citizenship. Basically, it allowed millions of students and young people, in general, like entrepreneurs, to go to European countries and experience a new cultural exchange with people from different member states and this is definitely the piece of legislation that has had a big impact.
I would say, to be a bit closer to our times, I would also stress that the European Commission, which isn’t directly affiliated with the European parliament, last week, has approved a relief on state aid for 300 million euros, to help Italy digitalize schools, so to help Italian schools be more technological, more connected etc. This is also another important measure that the European Union as a whole took to help students in Italy.
There was this other initiative, for which a certain number of 18-year-old students were given tickets for free, to go and travel around the E.U. Now, it’s weird talking about travelling this time around, but it was another important initiative.
More in general, the school systems are mainly competence of the member states, so I would say it’s very important in all member states, and in Italy in particular, that students can do, at least, some hours a week, of European citizenship education, because if young people and students don’t know much about the European Union, then they cannot form their opinions properly. No matter if you like the E.U as it is, or you don’t like it, they should come up with ideas and suggestions while knowing what the E.U does.
Now, the conference on the future of Europe will start, which is a huge series of events that will take from 18 months to a couple of years and all European citizens are encouraged to make their voices heard and to form an idea for the future of Europe. This is another very important initiative, despite it not being connected to schools, specifically, but it does relate to schools, certainly.
- Does the European parliament, in any way, promote the teaching of mother tongue to non-European schools, in a stable manner?
Well, these things are mainly down to the member states and municipalities and regions, but what the European parliament does, by approving the multi-annual budget of the European Union, what is called the Multi-Annual Financial Framework and all the programs including the European Social Fund, for instance. With this money, the European Parliament and the European Union, at large, finances a wide range of projects that include teaching a language of a country to immigrants and foreigners. So, directly, you know, the European Parliament doesn’t chime into this sort of measures, but, via the European Union Budget and the European Union Funded Projects, it certainly does. In fact, in Italy, for instance, several communities and several institutions that promote teaching Italian for immigrants are also co-financed by the European Union.
- I have read about the "Drinking Water Directive" project on your website. Could you briefly tell us what is its objective and what impact it has had by adopting it?
In short, it’s to make sure that there are harmonized standards and better standards in all of Europe for more drinkable water, with better quality, less pollution and fewer substances. We have to remember that directives are hard to transposed in national legislation. This directive wants to ensure that in all of Europe the water is of better quality. This is one example of the reasons why the E.U is, and I’m saying it without fear of being proven wrong, the space in the world of better environmental and social standards. We’re not perfect, of course, but the environmental and social working right’s legislation and consumer’s rights, in this respect, the European Union is by far, the place in the world where those standards are higher. I would challenge anyone to tell me they want to live in another country, or in another geographical area, rather than in the European Union, where its social and environmental standards are better respected.
- During this particular pandemic, how do the legislative jobs proceed in the European parliament?
The European parliament never stopped working, of course, we had to readapt with teleworking systems, of course, we are doing endless meetings, just like now with Teams, WebEx, Zoom and all the platforms. The European Parliament made it possible for the MEPs to vote and participate remotely from the Offices. Basically, the European parliament readapted so that democracy, which is what the European Parliament represents, has never stopped. Not only this, but the European parliament also hosted some vulnerable women, around 100 vulnerable women and also prepared meals for people in need, so for homeless people and other people in need. The European parliament also served as a vaccination testing centre for Covid. Not only did the parliament kept up its working but also proved its ability to be useful as a social institution.
- Would it ever be possible to organise an online meeting between the pupils of the schools which participate in the Eureka newspaper or the European schools and the Office in Milan, regarding their relations with the European parliament?
Sure, not only it’s possible, but I will be in touch if your teacher and we can organize it fairly soon if you are interested. It would be a pleasure and I would be really happy to do it as soon as possible.
