European Youth Parliament

OriginsFontainebleau, FranceEuropeAnya Suprunenko (Executive Director)50,000+Websitewww.eyp.org/

The European Youth Parliament is a politically unbound non-profit organisation, which encourages European youth to actively engage in citizenship and cultural understanding. It annually involves around 25,000 youth^[1] from across Europe in its events and has around 6,000 active members in the different countries. It was established in 1987 in Fontainebleau, France.

History

The European Youth Parliament was founded by Laurent Grégoire (FR) and Bettina Carr-Allinson (NL), initially, as a school project at the Lycée François-Ier in Fontainebleau, to the south of Paris.^[2] It is there that three of the first four International Sessions were held, starting in 1988, about a year after the idea took place.

It then developed steadily for a few years until it moved to Witney, Oxfordshire, in 1991, and was legally recognised as the European Youth Parliament International Ltd., a subsidiary of a charity created in 1992 for this purpose, the Fontainebleau Youth Foundation. The organisation experienced enduring growth for the next ten years, its network counting an increasing number of National Committees and its activities becoming both larger and more numerous. The National Committees stretch beyond the scope of countries within the European Union and try to encompass all European countries.

In the years 2001 to 2004, the EYP encountered various problems of financial nature. On 4 November 2004, however, the European Youth Parliament was reborn due to a mutual agreement between representatives of EYP's Board of National Committees, alumni and the Heinz-Schwarzkopf Foundation. The EYP's status since then has been a programme of the Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junges Europa, and is hosted in Berlin, Germany.

The actual activities of the EYP never faltered during this period.

Since 2004, the EYP has introduced several reforms to introduce more transparency in its institutions and further enlarged its activities.

Management

At the international level, the EYP is governed by an international board, the Governing Body. The Governing Body has six members elected by the National Committees and by the alumni of past sessions. A representative of the Schwarzkopf Foundation, as well as the EYP's executive director, are also members.^[3] The board is largely responsible for the quality assurance of the International Sessions but also takes responsibility for the overall direction of the organisation and the long-term sustainability and protection of the organisation. The day-to-day business of the organisation is administered by a hired manager at the International Office in Berlin. Philipp J. Scharff was the manager from 2004 until 2008, Jan Phillip Beck (DE) from 2008 until 2011, Ville Vasaramäki (FI) from 2011 until 2013, Krista Lagus (FI) from 2013 until 2017 and Lukas Fendel (DE) from 2017 to 2020. Anya Suprunenko was appointed as Executive Director in 2020. In 2022, Pauline Chetail (FR) was made acting Executive Director as Anya went on temporary leave.

At the national level, the National Committees are free to choose how to manage themselves, provided they comply with basic democratic principles. The National Committees are responsible for organising and funding their own national sessions. International Sessions can receive limited funding from EYP at the international level but are also largely responsible for their economy. Sessions are usually funded through sponsorship from various organisations or corporations.

Sessions

EYP organises three international sessions each year. They are organised in different countries and all European countries are invited to join, not just members of the EU. Each country's national committee selects a delegation to participate in each session, the size of which depends on various factors. The delegates are distributed to different committees, each tasked with addressing a particular topic.

Other sessions are organized under the supervision of national boards, including Regional Selection Sessions, National Selection Sessions, International Forums, Small Scale Events and Training Days. National Selection Conferences (sessions) are usually where the selection of the delegations sent to International Sessions takes place. The selection process in most countries (notably excluding France) is taken up by a team of Jurors, led by the Head Of Jury (HoJ), which objectively selects a number of delegates to "pass" on to the next stage.

Each international session starts with a two-day Teambuilding part, in which delegates get acquainted with each other and start improving the group dynamics of the committee. The delegates play different games which are meant to bring the delegates from an initial shyness stage to a comfortable, open atmosphere optimal for efficient Committee work.

This is followed by four or five days for Committee Work. During this time the delegates discuss a problematic topic on current European political matters and write a resolution on how to deal with the issue. A member of the European Parliament or some alternative expert will generally visit once to answer questions and quickly discuss the topic with the Committee.

The sessions end with a General Assembly, in which the committee resolutions are looked through, altered and approved (or if the resolution is found unacceptable, not approved). If a resolution is approved it is sent on to the European Parliament, for the consideration of MEPs. General Assembly is usually held in some honorary or prestigious location, such as the host country's Houses of Parliament or the main hall of the City Council.

Additionally, National Committees of EYP organise several national and regional sessions every year. National sessions are to select a delegation for one of the upcoming international sessions. These sessions are shorter, normally lasting three days and do not invite a member of the European Parliament to the committees. Regional sessions are of varying length, from 3 to 7 or 8 days, and in essence, imitate international sessions. They have, however, a more constrained budget and tend to be less formal than international sessions. For both national and regional sessions, resolutions are not sent to the European Parliament.

As of Spring 2019, 90 (taking into account the Extraordinary International Session of EYP in Lillehammer, Norway, Winter 2010) international EYP sessions have taken place:^[4]

• 1st International Session in Fontainebleau, France, 1988
• 2nd International Session in Fontainebleau, France, 1989
• 3rd International Session in Thessaloniki, Greece, 1989
• 4th International Session in Fontainebleau, France, 1990
• 5th International Session in Lisbon, Portugal, 1990
• 6th International Session in Kronberg, Germany, 1990
• 7th International Session in Prague, Czech Republic, 1991
• 8th International Session in Barcelona, Spain, 1991
• 9th International Session in Oxford, United Kingdom, 1992
• 10th International Session in Strasbourg, France, 1992
• 11th International Session in Ghent, Belgium, 1992
• 12th International Session in Budapest, Hungary, 1993
• 13th International Session in Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 1993
• 14th International Session in Fontainebleau, France, 1993
• 15th International Session in Berlin, Germany, 1994
• 16th International Session in Brussels, Belgium, 1994
• 17th International Session in Holstebro, Denmark, 1994
• 18th International Session in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1995
• 19th International Session in Dublin, Ireland, 1995
• 20th International Session in Milan, Italy, 1995
• 21st International Session in Helsinki, Finland, 1996
• 22nd International Session in Munich, Germany, 1996
• 23rd International Session in Nicosia, Cyprus, 1996
• 24th International Session in Thessaloniki, Greece, 1997
• 25th International Session in Barcelona, Spain, 1997
• 26th International Session in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 1997
• 27th International Session in Granada, Spain, 1998
• 28th International Session in Brussels, Belgium, 1998
• 29th International Session in Vienna, Austria, 1998
• 30th International Session in Rome, Italy, 1999
• 31st International Session in Weimar, Germany, 1999
• 32nd International Session in Hämeenlinna, Finland, 1999
• 33rd International Session in Athens, Greece, 2000
• 34th International Session in Bern, Switzerland, 2000
• 35th International Session in Oxford, United Kingdom, 2000
• 36th International Session in Stockholm, Sweden, 2001
• 37th International Session in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 2001
• 38th International Session in Porto, Portugal, 2001
• 39th International Session in Riga, Latvia, 2002
• 40th International Session in Ghent, Belgium, 2002
• 41st International Session in Turin, Italy, 2002
• 42nd International Session in Prague, Czech Republic, 2003
• 43rd International Session in Dublin, Ireland, 2003
• 44th International Session in Tallinn, Estonia, 2003
• 45th International Session in Durham, United Kingdom, 2004
• 46th International Session in Tábor, Czech Republic, 2004
• 47th International Session in Berlin, Germany, 2004
• 48th International Session in Stavanger, Norway, Spring 2005
• 49th International Session in Basel, Switzerland, Summer 2005
• 50th International Session^{[permanent dead link]} in Bari, Italy, Autumn 2005
• 51st International Session in Paris, France, Spring 2006
• 52nd International Session in Ventspils-Riga, Latvia, Summer 2006
• 53rd International Session in Kyiv, Ukraine, Autumn 2006
• 54th International Session in Potsdam, Germany, Spring 2007
• 55th International Session in Białystok, Poland, Summer 2007
• 56th International Session in Dublin, Ireland, Autumn 2007
• 57th International Session in Prague, Czech Republic Spring 2008
• 58th International Session in Liverpool, United Kingdom, Summer 2008
• 59th International Session Archived 2008-10-20 at the Wayback Machine in Rennes, France, Autumn 2008
• 60th International Session in Stockholm, Sweden, Spring 2009
• 61st International Session in Leuven, Belgium, Summer 2009
• 62nd International Session in Helsinki, Finland, Autumn 2009
• 63rd International Session in Tromsø, Norway, Spring 2010
• 64th International Session in Frankfurt, Germany, Summer 2010
• 65th International Session in Lviv, Ukraine, Autumn 2010
• Extraordinary International Session in Lillehammer, Norway, Winter 2010
• 66th International Session in Athens, Greece, Spring 2011
• 67th International Session in Grenoble, France, Summer 2011
• 68th International Session in Zagreb, Croatia, Autumn 2011
• 69th International Session in Istanbul, Turkey, Spring 2012
• 70th International Session in Tallinn, Estonia, Summer 2012
• 71st International Session in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Autumn 2012
• 72nd International Session in Munich, Germany, Spring 2013
• 73rd International Session in Zürich, Switzerland, Summer 2013
• 74th International Session in Tbilisi, Georgia, Autumn 2013
• 75th International Session in Riga, Latvia, Spring 2014
• 76th International Session in Barcelona, Spain, Summer 2014
• 77th International Session in Kyiv, Ukraine, Autumn 2014 (cancelled for political instability)
• 78th International Session in İzmir, Turkey, Spring 2015
• 79th International Session in Tampere, Finland, Summer 2015
• 80th International Session in Leipzig, Germany, Autumn 2015
• 81st International Session in Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, United Kingdom, Spring 2016
• 82nd International Session in Rennes, France, Summer 2016
• 83rd International Session in Laax, Switzerland, Autumn 2016
• 84th International Session in Trondheim, Norway, Spring 2017
• 85th International Session in Brno, Czech Republic, Summer 2017
• 86th International Session in Tbilisi, Georgia, Autumn 2017
• 87th International Session in Vilnius, Lithuania, Summer 2018
• 88th International Session in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Autumn 2018
• 89th International Session in Yerevan, Armenia, Spring 2019
• 90th International Session in Valencia, Spain, Summer 2019
• 91st International Session in Hamburg, Germany, Autumn 2019
• 92nd International Session in Milan, Italy, Spring 2021 (planned for Spring 2020, but due to Covid postponed to 2021)
• 93rd International Session in Warsaw, Poland, Summer 2021
• 94th International Session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Summer 2021
• 95th International Session in Novi Sad, Serbia, Spring 2022
• 96th International Session in Riga, Latvia, Summer 2022
• 97th International Session in Kortrijk, Belgium, Autumn 2022
• 98th International Session in Tromsø, Norway, Spring 2023
• 99th International Session in Baku, Azerbaijan, Summer 2023

Future sessions will include:

• 100th International Session in Thessaloniki, Greece, Summer 2024^[5]
• 101st International Session in The Hague, The Netherlands, Spring 2025^[6]
• 102nd International Session in Turku, Finland, Summer 2025^[7]
• 103rd International Session in Málaga, Spain, Autumn 2025^[8]

See also

• European Youth Parliament – Armenia
• European Youth Parliament - Ireland
• European Youth Parliament – The Netherlands
• European Youth Parliament – Ukraine

References

External links

• European Youth Parliament – official website