EUobserver.com

Some 350 Dutch civil servants who work for the European institutions and MEPs are returning to their former secondary schools for a day to talk with school pupils about their work and the European Union.

The operation, 'EU: Back to School', will see Dutch EU employees deliver guest lessons to around 11,000 schoolchildren today (14 April) on a variety of European topics, but also talk to students about how their own education relates to Europe and what they can achieve with it at the European level.

"EU Back to School is an excellent chance to bring Europe closer to daily life," said Ludolf van Hasselt, director of the Representation of the European Commission in the Netherlands, "and to young people in particular, who will be dealing with Europe more and more in the future."

The aim is to make 'Europe' – often seen as remote and inscrutable, but also potentially a future employer – more tangible to school students. The scheme hopes that the visits from former pupils will bring closer to their world the daily practice of the EU.

The Dutch secretary of state for European affairs, Frans Timmermans, is to visit his former school, Bernardinus College in Heerlen, as well as the SG Zuidwest in the Hague.

"Young Europeans are eager to discuss their future in Europe," he said. They are hungry for knowledge but also want to express their wishes."

MEPs from the Netherlands are also participating in the scheme, as are officials with the Dutch permanent representation to the EU institutions.

The project is an initiative of the Representation of the European Commission in the Netherlands and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the country's education ministry.

The same initiative was carried out in Germany last year and is part of an overall drive by Brussels to connect with EU citizens.

Dutch EU officials go back to their high schools