Breaking: EU Council of Ministers to discuss EUYO

In a major success for those trying to save the European Union Youth Orchestra from summary defunding by the EU commission, the Council of Ministers has agreed to review the issue at their meeting next Tuesday in Brussels.

Campaigners had been told it was impossible to get the item on the Council’s agenda at short notice, but the subject of the meeting is education, culture and sport and we understand that pressure from the Italian government, first and foremost, forced the topic onto the table.

There is no guarantee the ministers will reverse the commission’s decision or, if they do, that they commission won’t find some devious way to prevaricate. But this is an important step forward, a small glimmer of hope.