Maastricht Debate 2024 | POLITICO & Studio Europa Maastricht

The 2024 Maastricht Debate was the political moment of the spring for European voters. We put eight candidates in line to lead Europe onstage to answer your questions – to help voters decide how to cast their ballot.

Each contender for the office of chief policymaker of the European Union represented their own political party on the podium in Maastricht, the birthplace of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty that established the European Union. Candidates answered questions from our expert moderators on the themes chosen by European youth.

We were live on April 29 at 7:00 p.m. CET for the third edition of the Maastricht debate.

Brought to you by Studio Europa Maastricht & POLITICO.

The Maastricht Debate is supported by Maastricht University, Province of Limburg, City of Maastricht and the European Parliament.

EBU’s Eurovision News Exchange distributed the feed of the Maastricht Debate live to its public service media network of members.

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[green-hope]

Why has this Not been broadcasted in Public Television of the Europe Union member Staates?! Old ones will Not search the Internet and watch this. Thats a real pity.

[DonDaef]

It'd really have helped if the stands the candidates stood behind had their parties and names on it instead of STUDIO EUROPA maastricht and POLITICO.

[TheLesiu]

24 hours after the debate only 26 000 people across Europe watched it (at least in part). That is the real state of how much society gives a shit about people operating within the European Commission. They are still treated largely as a no-name technocrats, and the elections are run mostly on domestic issues.

[ThimZ]

Wow, the Dutch green & progressive wins the poll hosted before an audience of Dutch students; how surprising!
Regardless of the preformance of candidates, it really doesn't take a lot of skill to predict who was going to win such a poll.

[elden]

This should've been named "Questions time with Ursula"

[sernine]

C'est dommage que ce débat n'ait pas été diffusé sur des médias nationaux comme TF1 ou France 2 car on ne les entend pas beaucoup sur les chaines nationales, on n'entends que les candidats nationaux.

[psylee]

It’s heartbreaking to see how Ursula made it abundantly clear that, while the rights of Jews to live and have a place in the EU are rightfully acknowledged, Palestinian lives seem to be tragically overlooked. Their suffering, the destruction of their homes, and the blatant humanitarian crimes happening before our eyes are seemingly ignored. It’s as if their existence and their pain don’t matter, as if their humanity is disposable in the face of political convenience. This disregard for their lives is a wound that cuts deep, leaving many to wonder how justice and compassion can be so selectively applied.

[LeDraaier]

Things for the next debate, remove the adds you guys have enough money, and add names+party by the person who is talking would make for a person who doesn’t follow European politics much easier

[MSDosPrompt]

So they have a debate about something of which the public has no say over?
Nothing but theatrics.

[jordisanz]

if you need masterclass in talking but not saying anything, watch this

[antonio]

Having this debate is great and all but the themes chosen are really not the most important. We need to talk about demographics/migration, economic growth/energy independence, developing our own military industrial complex so that we can stand on our own.

[sonny]

how is it possible that i find out about this only two weeks later?! This needs to be broadcasted everywhere in Europe. Are there any other debates in the next weeks? Please do better at marketing and publicity.

[olynmus]

Ursula said something! Everyone clap quickly!!

[iam.damian]

What I find strange is that everyone has a mouth full of energy independence from Russia and renewable energy. I have not heard one mention of nuclear energy, which is the best way to get low-carbon and cheap energy.

[cisco]

1:17:11 so everyone’s just gonna ignore that

[TommyCarstensen]

Maybe you should consider showing the name and party of the candidate, so one knows who is speaking? 🤷

[FerreiMarques]

The debate lasted for 90 minutes, half of those were spent clapping

[alexandrugheorghe]

1:07:00 we need to be careful: if majority of EU states elect extremists then the last democratic EU member state won't be able to stop the derailment of EU; not sure what one state could do in that case, though it'll resist

[alelan]

Really troubling how poorly run the democratic process in the EU commission is; most citizens don’t know how the electoral process work, who the lead candidates are, and nobody saw this debate. We need to do a lot better 👎🏻

[lk]

It must be broadcasted on national TV to a good time.