The UK-EU summit in London on the 19th May was an opportunity for European Movement UK (EM UK) to connect with the UK and international press on some of the main issues being discussed in the 'reset' of UK-EU relations - Labour's plan to improve business, trade and travel with its largest trading partner.
One of those issues was Youth Mobility, which now often goes under the name 'Youth Experience Scheme' (YES). Noises have been made about limited-term visas for younger people to work and study in the EU, and vice versa.
After EM UK's press office sent out a 'broadcast guest offer' a few days before the summit, Sky News approached us the end result was our new President of Young European Movement doing his first broadcast interview. You can watch that on the EM UK YouTube page here:
Another key issue was a proposed UK-EU defence pact. Our CEO, Sir Nick Harvey, is a former Armed Forces Minister and renowned expert on all defence-related issues. Again broadcasting before the summit, you can hear him here expounding on the various possibilities for a closer future relationship.
That was in fact our second 'hit' of the day on LBC. Our Chair Dr Mike Galsworthy had also done an earlier turn. You can see that here.
This by the way after Mike had done a full THREE HOUR slot on GB News, sitting on set, chatting through every possible issue that the reset could throw up. On days like May 19th, it is important to give people factual information - and sometimes you have to do that in the lion's den.
Our Head of Campaigns, Richard Kilpatrick, was also in the press mix, with one of the subjects that really seemed to dominate the headlines across the entire summit - fish. You can read Richard's thoughts in The Independent here.
Left Foot Forward requested a 'thoughts roundup' after the summit. That was a chance for our Public Affairs Manager, Joe Meighan, to put pen to paper (after earlier appearing on GB News as a guest). You can read Joe's article in full here.
Our Co-President Dominic Grieve was making international airwaves, meanwhile, as it seems even Australia was keeping an eye on what the UK-EU reset might mean globally. You can hear some of that interview here.
Sir Nick Harvey was also interviewed for City AM, again with a focus on the options for closer defence cooperation. You can read that piece in full here.
Sir Nick was having a busy day. He also appeared on BBC Radio 2. You can hear his interview with Ros Atkins here:
Why is this important? Because getting the movement into the press is essential for our campaign to take the UK back to the heart of Europe.
By securing widespread media coverage for our key messages and expert spokespeople, we are ensuring that informed, fact-based perspectives reach a broad and global audience. The more we do this, the more we are strengthening public understanding and the more support we are gaining in the campaign for a positive and ever-closer UK-EU relationship.