While the EP celebrates the successes of 20 years of co-decision and showcases the new Erasmus+, Conference of Presidents is guided by the October Summit outcomes.

Erasmus+ / 20 years of co-decision / Conference of Presidents

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/16423048/n001-131105-002-enx.srt

Long seen as just for the elite few,  the Erasmus overhaul is in the pipeline

The almost 15 billion euro Erasmus+,  aims to be more efficient

and give up to 5 million people  the chance to study or train abroad.

But will the changes MEPs voted through  on Tuesday do enough?

with the right skills to get jobs  and help alleviate youth unemployment?

The only criticism may be that the money  we give to people to go is not very much.

Studying and having fun  is not excluding each other.

And I think it is helpful, having been  in another environment -

cultural and linguistic -  if you want to get a job.

The EP celebrated 20 years  of the Co-decision procedure

Since the Maastricht treaty, Co-decision  gives the EP, the democratic arm of the EU,

the right to accept or reject legislation,

making it a very powerful tool to wield.

From July 2009 to October this year,  the Parliament, together with the Council

which represents Member States,  signed off on 317 laws.

It's the EP that is elected by citizens,  and therefore it has popular legitimacy.

It is on the same level as the Council  which in turn represents governments.

Agriculture, which previously was  the prerogative of the Council,

is another sector in which  the EP now co-decides.

From Co-decision to co-appearance as  EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy

came to the EP on Tuesday  for the bi-monthly Conference of Presidents

Up for discussion was the outcome of the  European Council at the end of October.

But if he was expecting good crowd,  he didn’t get it.

The language you and the Commission use  is not the way ordinary people speak.

Concerning how far the NSA and other  intelligence services, including in the UK,

dared to go, the question is who is  defending individuals' rights to freedom.