European Student Assembly 2026: Work that was worth it

I had the opportunity to represent the University of Szeged through the EUGLOH alliance at the European Student Assembly, organised by EUC Voices. It turned out to be one of the more demanding and rewarding experiences of my time as a student.

I coordinated the Strengthening Democracy and Civil Participation in Europe panel for nearly four months. The work was more hands-on than I expected. We ran weekly working sessions with 30 students from across Europe, designed and delivered trainings ourselves, and invited external experts to help our delegates engage seriously with the substance. Keeping a group of 30 people from different countries, academic backgrounds, and political traditions focused and productive over that period of time is its own skill, and one I did not know I was going to have to develop.

The topic itself was specifically tricky. Democratic participation in the EU is not short of tools: the European Citizens' Initiative exists, youth advisory bodies exist, civic engagement frameworks exist. The problem is that most of them underdeliver. Our panel was not tasked with inventing solutions from scratch. We were trying to identify why existing mechanisms fall short and what it would take to make them functional, alongside a few additions where genuine gaps remain. That framing made the work harder in a good way. It forced delegates to move past general statements about democracy and get into the detail of institutional design.

The final sessions took place at the European Parliament. I presented our panel's problem statement to an assembly of around 250 people. I will be honest, standing in that room, making the case for why the EU's participation gap is a structural problem and not just a communication failure, felt like the work had been worth it.

I came away with a much clearer understanding of EU democratic policy, a real appreciation for what cross-border student collaboration can produce when it is taken seriously, and a long list of things I would do differently next time. Grateful to EUGLOH for supporting this kind of engagement, to EUC Voices for organising it, and to everyone who was part of the panel.