Eager not to be done down by surging anti-Brussels sentiment across the bloc, the EU is considering a grand populist gesture of its own: giving its citizens a free continental rail pass for their 18th birthday.

British teenagers, however, are unlikely to benefit. The move, which could cost up to €3bn, is not sure to win approval and could take years to come into effect. As far as free InterRail travel is concerned, Brexit really will mean Brexit.

Violeta Bulc, the transport commissioner, is at any rate impressed by the proposal, telling the European parliament on Tuesday: “We admire the boldness and the level of ambition, and we are ready to explore it further.”



Many MEPs believe free InterRail tickets – month-long passes costing up to €479 that allow young people under 26 to travel across Europe’s rail network at will – would rekindle enthusiasm for the bloc and help heal its divides.

“People all around Europe must get to know and learn to cherish each other. Our wish is that as many youngsters as possible ... get to know other countries and make new friends,” said Manfred Weber, a leading German conservative MEP.

“I am convinced the 18th birthday InterRail pass could become a true lighthouse project for the development of a common European identity in diversity. This may not sound like much, but sometimes it only takes a spark to light a fire that burns forever.”

The FreeInterrail campaign, which has been lobbying for the gift, promotes it in stirring terms: “Imagine it is your 18th birthday and you find a personalised letter from the European commission in your postbox. In it: a voucher to travel Europe. Your life will change.”

But although the proposal has broad backing from all the main political groups in the parliament, it will not be easy to achieve.

The Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi may have hailed it as “a good idea”, but the project is likely to run into early hurdles over its funding, feasibility and relevance to solving Europe’s most pressing problems, including high youth unemployment particularly in Greece, Spain and Italy.

A summer rite of passage for millions of Europeans since the 1970s, the InterRail system is now used by some 300,000 people a year. But Brussels estimates up to 6 million young people could benefit from the free pass annually, representing a significant extra cost for the EU budget.

Bulc said one option might be to limit the issue of the birthday passes via a lottery.

Brussels officials, however, have questioned even the point of that, noting that only 1,300 young people have signed a petition calling for the scheme and Euroscepticism is in any case far higher among older EU citizens than young people.