The event was hosted by Debreceni Egyetem Gazdaságtudományi Kar Világgazdasági és Nemzetközi Kapcsolatok Intézete [Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Debrecen] together with the Europe Direct office of Debrecen. The audience at the Böszörményi úticampus consisted primarily of sophomores and third-year BA-students of the faculty, who have already studied the structure of the European Union for a semester in the framework of a subject called EU Studies.
“On the basis of the information acquired so far, our students have a general idea about the European Union, its history, its system of institutions, and its legislative operation but, this time, they could ask questions from and share their views and opinions with an expert of the highest level of authority on these issues,” said Tibor Tőkés, Assistant Professor of FEB UD.
In the presentation titled “Párbeszéd a hallgatókkal Európa jövőjéről” [Dialog with the Students on the Future of Europe], Gábor Zupkó, Head of The European Commission Representation in Hungary, talked about the mechanics of the operation of EU institutions and the processes of decision making in them.
“The European Union exerts its influence on the life of all of us. It is mostly due to the European community that there is peace reigning in the territory of Europe and to the unified single market that our economy continues to grow. We have an array of financial support from a variety of funds coming to Hungary and to Debrecen, more specifically, to facilitate the development of the university, too. At the same time, there is always an elected Hungarian politician participating in the respective decisions and legislative procedures of the EU. Nevertheless, we still find that this whole system seems to be a bit too distant for most Hungarians. It is this distance that we keep trying to bridge by meeting more and more citizens and students face to face, so as to have discussions with them about our work and to listen to what they have to say,” said Gábor Zupkó.
Following the interactive presentation, the students could also learn some details about the operation of the county center of the organization Europe Direct.
Press Office, unideb.hu
