At the end of October, Annika Kroeller, project manager at the German association of large families (KRFD), attended the summit together with her daughter, who summarizes her impressions as follows:
“Hi, my name is Charly, I have four siblings and attend the 10thgrade at a Gymnasium (German high school).
My mother works as a project manager at KRFD, and lately,she got an invitation to join a summit at the European Parliament in Brussels. As my school was lecture-free at that time, I was happy to join her there.
We have really seen a lot during our two days in Brussels. The main topic of the summit was supporting the citizen commitment especially in rural areas. In our association there is a project in which large families can ‘rent’ a grandparent, mostly older people who would like to help out in large families. Especially, if these families have no relatives nearby, ‘renting’ a grandparent could be a smart solution above all for smaller children. But it is also a great opportunity for older people to get in contact with other generations and they all can help each other, e.g. learning to get along with their mobile phone.
I had the opportunity to talk to the MEPs Matthias Ecke (German party SPD) and Marc Angel (one of the Vice Presidents of the European Parliament and politician of the Luxembourg-based party LSAP). We chatted about living in a family with siblings and how daily life is like in a large family. Marc Angel told us about his work at the European Parliament and about the topics he would like to push forward. Matthias Ecke, newly sent member since spring, explained how it was like to do politics on European level, especially with two little children waiting for him back home in Saxony. Both were highly motivated and absolutely not bored – they even gave me the opportunity to take a picture for bereal.
Now, after my stay in Brussels, I am really looking forward to writing my exam concerning the EU when I get back to school, as I have finally understood what a trialogue is and what is meant by the European Committee of the Regions. What else as a very good result should I expect in this exam.”
