European Youth Parliament
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EYP (The European Youth Parliament, Parlement Européen des Jeunes) is a non-profit, politically unaffiliated organization, which encourages European youth to participate in European politics. It was established in 1987.
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What is EYP?
Founded in 1987, the European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a truly unique organisation, reaching out to young people across Europe, and encouraging them to have their say in shaping the future of their continent. The EYP thus seeks to promote the European dimension in education and to give students in the 16-22 age group the opportunity to participate in a practical, positive learning experience. As the citizens of the future, the EYP experience encourages young people to be aware of the thoughts and characteristics of other nations, respect their differences, and learn to work together for a common good.
The EYP constitutes a forum in which these young people can express their own opinions, without any political connotations and without reverting to role play. Students are encouraged to take an interest in current affairs and the democratic process, practice independent thinking and take personal initiative.
National organizations
National EYP organizations can be found in:
- Template:ARM
- Template:AUT - EYP Austria (http://www.eyp.at/)
- Template:BLR - EYP Belarus (http://www.eyp.by.ru/)
- Template:BEL - EYP Belgium (http://www.eyp.be/)
- Template:BGR - EYP Bulgaria (http://www.eypbulgaria.org)
- Template:HRV
- Template:CYP
- Template:CZE - EYP Czech Republic (http://www.eyp.cz/)
- Template:DNK
- Template:EST - EYP Estonia (http://www.eypestonia.ee)
- Template:FIN - EYP Finland (http://www.eypfinland.org)
- Template:FRA - PEJ France (http://www.pejfrance.org/)
- Template:GEO
- Template:DEU - EYP Germany (http://www.eyp.de)
- Template:GRC
- Template:HUN
- Template:ISL
- Template:IRL - EYP Ireland (http://www.eypireland.com/)
- Template:ITA
- Template:LVA - EYP Lativa (http://www.eyp.lv/)
- Template:LTU - EYP Lithuania (http://www.eyplithuania.com)
- Template:LUX
- Template:MKD - EYP Macedonia (http://www.eyp.org.mk)
- Template:MLT
- Template:NLD - EYP Netherlands (http://www.eyp.nl)
- Template:NOR - EYP Norway (http://www.eyp.no)
- Template:POL - EYP Poland (http://www.eyp.republika.pl)
- Template:PRT
- Template:ROU
- Template:SCG
- Template:SVN
- Template:ESP
- Template:SWE
- Template:CHE - EYP Switzerland (http://www.eyp.ch)
- Template:TUR
- Template:UKR - EYP Ukraine (http://www.eyp-ua.org/)
- Template:UK - EYP UK (http://www.eypuk.com/)
Sessions
EYP organizes three international nine-day sessions each year. They are organized in different countries and all Europeans are invited to join, not just members of the EU. Each country's national organization selects a ten-member delegation to participate in each session. Each session is composed of committee work on current European political matters and the General Assembly in which the committee resolutions are looked through, altered and approved.
What makes a session?
Each session, though with its own unique character, is largely based on some core elements, which are detailed below. In all they help with the session's goal of giving the participants the opportunity to think about the challenges facing Europe as well as the chance to get to know each other and each other's cultures better.
Teambuilding
On the first weekend of an EYP session, between twelve and twenty students from all over Europe get together in a committee. These people who come from very different backgrounds and who have never met before, need by the end of the week to be functioning as a close-knit team pulling together and respecting each other.
And it is this task that is the aim of the Teambuilding. Under the direction of experienced team-builders, in conjunction with the committee Chair, the delegates in committees engage in a variety of indoor and outdoor activities, some physical, others creative, yet others more problem solving, but all of them fun, and all of them designed to get this disparate group of people working as a team.
The culmination of the teambuilding is the teambuilding presentations, a sketch which every committee has to put together to show to the other delegates, so bringing everyone back together at the end of the weekend, and giving the delegates a last fun creative team exercise before the serious business of Committee Work begins.
Committee Work
This is perhaps the central part of any session. The delegates of the committee come together, now working well as a team after the teambuilding weekend, and they sit down to discuss their particular topic. Their goal is to write a resolution on this topic on which they can all agree. This is no easy task. They come from very different perspectives, and will almost certainly have to reach compromises if they are to find agreement within the time required.
To help them in this, each committee has an experienced Chair, an older EYP alumnus, who ensures that everybody's ideas are heard and that the resolution reflects the ideas of the group - that every member of the committee can feel proud of it.
The discussion is always very heated, but the end result is that each of the delegates has learnt an incredible amount about the issue, and really thought about the implications, and has developed and redeveloped his or her own views, with a flexible approach paramount. The skills they learn here, in discussing, debating, persuading and negotiating, will stand them in good stead for the future.
General Assembly
The General Assembly reunites all the participants of the session, to consider the results of committee work. Each committee presents and defends their motion for resolution, which is then debated for approximately 40 minutes by the Assembly. Thus delegates have to be familiar not only with their own topic but also to some extent with all the resolutions.
At the end of each debate there is a vote - based solely on the personal concscience of each delegate. Those resolutions which are passed are subsequently presented to the European Parliament and National Governments, and other such bodies. While it is true that the European Parliament has gone on to discuss issues brought up by EYP resolutions, the main aim of EYP is not so much to exert political influence as to provide an educational experience for the individual participants.
Evening Activities
Like all young people, the participants at an EYP session value the chance to relax from the very hectic pace of the session schedule, and the evening programme is designed with this mind. That is not to say that it does not continue the emphasis of the other elements of the session, providing delegates with a unique opportunity to learn about each other and the diversity of our continent in general. Beyond the time given over to general socialising, a number of more formal events take place:
- Eurovillage: Each of the countries represented puts together a small stall with items from their country, a flag in the background, souvenirs and information brochures in the foreground, and lots and lots of national food (and sometimes drink!) to be sampled.
- Committee Dinner: Midway through the week, this is a chance for the committee members to get to know each other better during a relaxed evening in one of the host city's many restaurants.
- Euroconcert: The talents of EYPers are various, and in recognition of the many musically gifted among the delegates, this event is a chance for these musicians to show their abilities, playing a variety of instruments, singing and dancing.
- Expert Debate: This evening event is a opportunity for the delegates to get into the debating spirit in the run-up to General Assembly, with a number of invited speakers make speeches on a given topical subject before engaging in heated debate with the assembled delegates.
- Farewell Party: This is the party that marks the end to an incredible week, the last act of the session. Inevitably it is both a happy and sad occasion, happy because the delgates have had so much fun, but sad in the knowledge that the morning after they all return to their home countries, changed people nonetheless.
Participants
Those taking part in the Sessions attend in one of a number of roles, which are detailed below:
Delegates
The vast majority of those attending the session attend as delegates. They are the group for whom the session is organised. In the Autumn/Winter and Spring Sessions, the delegates are new to EYP (having been selected by their National Committee). On the other hand, the Summer Session is an opportunity for those who've already taken part in a session to return to EYP. To find out what the delegates do, visit "What makes a Session".
Chairs
The chairs play a very important role in the session. They are there to guide the delegates, one chair leading each of the Committees, through Teambuilding and Committee Work through to the General Assembly. Being experienced EYPers, they are in a good position to empathise with the delegates, helping them along but not being too obtrusive - for example, they do not contribute their own ideas to Committee Work, but rather encourage and motivate the delegates to come up with and develop their own ideas. The team of chairs is in turn chaired by a 'Board' normally consisting of a President and two Vice-Presidents.
Journalists
Sessions are as intense as 9 days possibly could be, and often leave little time to reflect and absorb. That is where the "Session Newspaper" comes in - it is produced every day of the Session by a committed team of journalists ("journos" for short) who are also former EYP delegates. Normally one journo is dedicated to each committee, and they will write articles on the Committee's working, as well as more general articles about different aspects of the session, not to mention the wider world outside. The team of journos is headed by an Editor, who chairs the team and is ultimately responsible for putting together the newspaper - which is then freely distributed to all the session participants. The articles, ranging from the sensible to the silly, both factual and funny, always make for an entertaining read.
Teachers
At the Autumn/Winter and Spring Sessions, where the delegates are coming to EYP for the first time, having been selected as a school team, they will often be accompanied by one or two teachers. However from Arrivals onwards, the teachers have minimal interaction with their students, beyond periodically checking on their well-being. But it is no holiday for the teachers, who have a full Teachers' Programme, with workshops on areas of interest such as 'citizenship', interspersed with opportunities to explore the culture and ambience of the Session city and its environs.
Organisers
Without the organisers, there would, of course, be no session - they are the ones who have been making preparations for months, even years, to ensure the 9 days of the Session go as smoothly as possible for all the participants. Their work continues right up until the last delegate has left, and they work tirelessly and without reward, other than the knowledge of what their efforts have achieved over the course of the Session. The organising team consists of those who've been to a previous session in one of the above roles, and is often augmented by 'adults', normally members of the National EYP Committee in that country.
Upcoming Sessions
These are the next international EYP sessions:
- 49th International Session (http://www.basel05.ch) in Basel (Switzerland), in summer 2005
External link
- European Youth Parliament (http://www.eyp.org) – More information