VISIT OF THE COLEGIO MAYOR SOMOSIERRA DE MADRID

Last Friday, October 27, Javier Zarzalejos received in the European Parliament a group of residents of the Colegio Mayor Somosierra de Madrid, students of various degrees.

 The MEP gave a talk to the students explaining the main functions of the European Parliament and its relevance to many of the concerns that they themselves, as European citizens, may have.

Zarzalejos began his speech by stressing that the European Parliament is the largest democratic chamber in the world, as well as its importance for Spanish citizens as a whole, pointing out that 60% of the law applied in our country comes from the European Union.

On the other hand, the MEP emphasized that the European Union is in a new era, characterized mainly by a period in which the crisis is not the exception to normality, but the new normality. However, Zarzalejos stressed, the European Union has been able to manage the various crises it has had to face in recent decades, with the pandemic as the most recent example. Likewise, the MEP underlined the great achievement of the European recovery funds, although he also questioned how they are being managed in Spain, and stressed that these funds should be allocated to real projects for the modernization of the economy. Likewise, Zarzalejos reiterated, it will be necessary to put a stop to an indebtedness that no longer has any justification.

 The MEP ended his speech by appealing to the concept of resilience, a term which, he stressed, the European Union and its citizens will have to apply in order to face the digital war, protect ourselves against disinformation, move towards a decarbonized economy with a more balanced use of energy and which takes advantage of the Union’s resources, or the enlargement of the Union to other States.

Afterwards, the MEP gave way to a question and answer session, where the students expressed their interest in the control of spending of European funds and the level of influence of the European Union in the decisions of each of its member states. The visit ended, as usual, with a visit to the hemicycle of the European Parliament.