Thousands of young Europeans who just turned 18 could win a pass to travel across the continent for free for more than a year.
The European Commission today opened applications for a total of 35,500 such travel passes. Every year, it offers thousands of free travel passes to young people from countries associated with the Erasmus+ student mobility programme (the European Union (EU) and Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia and Türkiye).
On Wednesday 2 October, it opened applications for the latest round of this DiscoverEU initiative, an initiative launched six years ago to give young Europeans the opportunity to discover Europe.
Until 16 October at noon Belgian time, young people born between 1 January and 31 December 2006 can apply to win a pass. They must answer a quiz about the EU and its European Youth Portal. "Candidates will be ranked based on their responses and travel passes will be distributed based on this ranking," a Commission statement read.
Winning applicants receive a free pass to travel, predominantly by rail, across Europe for up to 30 days between 1 March 2025 and 31 May 2026. They can either plan their own route or get inspiration from existing ones suggested by the Commission, including the DiscoverEU Culture Route connecting various cultural destinations.
To ensure wide access across the EU, participants can also use alternative modes of transport, such as coaches or ferries, or exceptionally, aeroplanes.
1.3 million candidates
Winners also receive a discount card with over 40,000 deals on public transport, culture, accommodation, food, sport and other services. Pre-departure information sessions will also be set up, with special support made available for participants with disabilities or health conditions.
Since its launch in 2018, more than 1.3 million candidates have applied for 319,000 available travel passes. "Over two-thirds said that they would not have been able to finance their travel pass without DiscoverEU," the Commission noted.
Every Member State is allocated a number of travel passes, based on its population, as a proportion of the overall EU population. During the last round, 1,200 young people in Belgium won a pass, but because the total number available is now lower, travel passes will likely be awarded to fewer young Belgians this year.
