EU Launches DiscoverEU Spring Call For 35,000 Young People to Receive Free Rail Tickets

The Commission of the European Union has officially launched the DiscoverEU spring call, which will make it possible for 35,000 young people to receive a free rail ticket to explore Europe.

The application cycle for the DiscoverEU spring call starts today, March 15, at noon, and it will end two weeks from now, March 29, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Applicants interested in the call, which must prove that they were born between July 1, 2004, and June 30, 2025, need to apply on the European Youth Portal to win a free transport ticket.

In the portal, they are required to answer five questionnaires, and a subsidiary question and successful applicants will be able to travel to Europe for a period of up to 30 days from June 15, 2023, to September 30, 2024.

The call for young people to win a free transport ticket is open to all applicants from the EU and third countries associated with the Erasmus+ programme, such as Liechtenstein, Iceland, North Macedonia, Serbia, Norway, and Türkiye.

Commenting on the call, the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said that they expect a high number of applications and the same stressed that the DiscoverEU initiative is becoming more and more inclusive each year.

“We are pleased to announce the opening of the eighth application round of DiscoverEU. Every year, more and more young people join the DiscoverEU community. At the end of this cycle, the initiative will have received more than 1 million applications, which is quite an impressive number,” Gabriel stated.

This year’s applicants will be able to discover the route of the new European Bauhaus, which was developed in January 2023, and they will also be able to benefit from initiatives launched in 2023, such as the DiscoverEU cultural route.

The DiscoverEU cultural route brings together different destinations and cultural branches, including theatre, architecture, music, fashion, and fine arts, among others.

Moreover, those granted the free train ticket will also be able to visit destinations awarded the European Heritage Label and stop at cities that have made an effort to become more accessible for everyone.

In addition to the above-mentioned, participants will also benefit from a discount card offering over 40,000 discount possibilities on public transport, accommodations, culture, sports activities, catering, and other services available in the countries they are travelling to.

Before leaving to explore Europe, all young people who receive the free ticket will be prepared for their trip by Erasmus+ National Agencies, which organise pre-departure information meetings.