A 13th edition of Universidade Europa starts this Friday in Curia (Aveiro) and will bring together several AD ministers over the weekend, with interventions on Sunday by Luís Montenegro and the head of the European list, Sebastião Bugalho.
Europa University is a political training initiative aimed at young people on European topics organized by the PSD since 2008, and in this edition the program includes topics such as the environment, defense, the future of Europe or the financing and functioning of the EU, among others.
This Friday, the speaker at the dinner on the theme “The EU of Defense and Security” will be the Minister of National Defense and leader of the CDS-PP, Nuno Melo.
Before, in the opening session, the general secretaries of the PSD, Hugo Soares, and the CDS-PP, Pedro Morais Soares, and the leaders of the party youth, Alexandre Poço (JSD) and Francisco Camacho (JP), will speak, in addition to the director from the University of Europe and coordinator of the PSD Training Academy, MEP Carlos Coelho.
On Saturday, in addition to a “class” with Carlos Coelho – who was left out of AD’s lists for the Europeans on June 9th – on the functioning of the European Union and a conference lunch with journalist and commentator Nuno Rogeiro, the program will feature interventions from the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, and MEP Lídia Pereira on the priority of the environment and climate.
At the conference dinner, with the theme “The challenges of the EU today”, speakers will be the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, and the deputy of the Spanish PP Esteban González Pons, former vice-president of the Popular Party group European.
Closing by Montenegro and Bugalho
The last day of the initiative, Sunday, will be opened by the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, José Manuel Fernandes, and former coordinator of the PPE of the Budgets Committee, who will speak about “Who pays for the EU?”.
The closure will be in charge of the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, and the head of the AD list for the Europeans, the journalist and commentator Sebastião Bugalho, in the first intervention in a party initiative since his name was approved by the PSD National Council, in Monday.
On that occasion, the president of the PSD justified the choice of independent Sebastião Bugalho, aged 28, for being “a talented young man” and, at times, disruptive.
“A talented young man, a young man that the country knows, here and there even controversial, who is affronting, disruptive, encourages confrontation with democratic respect. He is an example of what we want: that it is worth being in Portugal, fighting for Portugal and go to Europe to defend Portugal’s interests and colors”, said Luís Montenegro, saying he was convinced that Bugalho “will make a difference in the next European elections”.
In the last European elections, in June 2019, the PSD ran alone and had its worst result ever, less than 22% of the votes, and elected six MEPs.
The Europa University is, along with the Summer University, which takes place at the end of August in Castelo de Vide (Portalegre) one of the PSD’s two annual initiatives focused on the political training of young people.
