European Youth Parliament


The European Youth Parliament is the youth parliament for Europe. Legally an independent educational charity, it 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 from across Europe in its events and has around 6,000 active members in 40 countries. It was established in 1987 in Fontainebleau, France, as the first youth parliament in the world.
The EYP operates in 40 European countries, both inside and outside the European Union. A member of the organisation may be known as a Member of the European Youth Parliament. MEYPs are aged 14 to 28 and are elected by their peers to represent their schools, regions or countries as delegates in debates.
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History

The European Youth Parliament was founded by Laurent Grégoire and Bettina Carr-Allinson, initially, as a school project at the Lycée François-Ier in Fontainebleau, to the south of Paris. 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.
The COVID-19 pandemic lead to many EYP events moving to a digital platform.
Currently the Charity has two patrons that are members of the Comité d’Honneur of the European Youth Parliament, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament.

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. 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 from 2008 until 2011, Ville Vasaramäki from 2011 until 2013, Krista Lagus from 2013 until 2017 and Lukas Fendel from 2017 to 2020. Anya Suprunenko was appointed as Executive Director in 2020. In 2022, Pauline Chetail was made acting Executive Director as Anya went on temporary leave.
The branch of EYP in each country is known as its National Committee. 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 sessions of the EYP within their jurisdictions, this includes both regional and national sessions. International Sessions, however, can receive limited funding from the international office. Sessions finances are usually supplemented through partnerships with companies and other organisations.
Apart from the National Committees, there can be Autonomous Committees as well, which represent Autonomous European Territory which has been recognized by a majority of the member states of the Council of Europe.
The National Committees meet twice a year for the Board of National Committees. There they discuss and vote on implementation of proposals put forward by members of the EYP. The event is moderated by the BNC board, consisting of three members of different National Committees elected to the role.

List of National/Autonomous Committees and Initiatives

National Committees

  • Albania
  • Armenia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France
  • Georgia
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Serbia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Türkiye
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom

National Initiatives

  • Hungary
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • North Macedonia

Candidate Autonomous Committees

  • Kosovo

Former National Committees

  • Belarus
  • Russia

Former Candidate National Committees

  • Iceland
- this national committee has a different name of Active young people of Estonia, Tegusad Eesti Noored in estonian, to the regular EYP format but is still connected to the wider network.
- this national committee is described as dormant on the official network website.
- this national committee is still described as a candidate.
- this national committee was shut down by the government of Belarus sighting anti nationalist sentiment of the charity.
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Events

There are a number of different types of events organised across the network.

Types of Events

Sessions

Debate Events within the EYP are generally known as a 'session'. Theses are the main events the charity puts on to help develop skills of citizenship participation.
Regional Selection Conferences (RSC)
These are sessions organised in local areas, these are generally smaller and select delegates to progress to a National Selection Conference. They can vary in length from 3 to 8 days. However, notably, in the United Kingdom the vast majority of regional sessions are only one day and more similar in format to a Small Scale Session. Selection can take place at these conferences.
National Selection Conferences (NSC)
These sessions typically take delegates selected from RSCs and gathers them in one session. These sessions can vary from anywhere between 4 and 8 days. They are typically more upscale and prestigious than a country's regional sessions. Some sessions also field for individual delegates. The National Committee of the United Kingdom is an outlier in that they have two National Sessions.
International Sessions (IS)
International Sessions are often referred to as the EYP's flagship sessions. They are the most prestigious events that the network runs. They are hosted by a country but unlike the others involve help from the International Office and Delegates from a range of other countries that have been chosen from there NSC.
Each international session starts with a two-day Teambuilding part. This is followed by four or five days for Committee Work. 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.
As of Summer 2025, 103 international EYP sessions have taken place.
Past International Sessions include:
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • in Ghent, Belgium, 2002
  • 41st International Session in Turin, Italy, 2002
  • in Prague, Czech Republic, 2003
  • 43rd International Session in Dublin, Ireland, 2003
  • in Tallinn, Estonia, 2003
  • 45th International Session in Durham, United Kingdom, 2004
  • in Tábor, Czech Republic, 2004
  • in Berlin, Germany, 2004
  • in Stavanger, Norway, Spring 2005
  • in Basel, Switzerland, Summer 2005
  • in Bari, Italy, Autumn 2005
  • in Paris, France, Spring 2006
  • in Ventspils-Riga, Latvia, Summer 2006
  • in Kyiv, Ukraine, Autumn 2006
  • in Potsdam, Germany, Spring 2007
  • in Białystok, Poland, Summer 2007
  • in Dublin, Ireland, Autumn 2007
  • in Prague, Czech Republic Spring 2008
  • in Liverpool, United Kingdom, Summer 2008
  • in Rennes, France, Autumn 2008
  • in Stockholm, Sweden, Spring 2009
  • in Leuven, Belgium, Summer 2009
  • in Helsinki, Finland, Autumn 2009
  • in Tromsø, Norway, Spring 2010
  • in Frankfurt, Germany, Summer 2010
  • in Lviv, Ukraine, Autumn 2010
  • in Lillehammer, Norway, Winter 2010
  • in Athens, Greece, Spring 2011
  • in Grenoble, France, Summer 2011
  • in Zagreb, Croatia, Autumn 2011
  • in Istanbul, Turkey, Spring 2012
  • in Tallinn, Estonia, Summer 2012
  • in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Autumn 2012
  • in Munich, Germany, Spring 2013
  • in Zürich, Switzerland, Summer 2013
  • in Tbilisi, Georgia, Autumn 2013
  • in Riga, Latvia, Spring 2014
  • in Barcelona, Spain, Summer 2014
  • in Kyiv, Ukraine, Autumn 2014
  • in İzmir, Turkey, Spring 2015
  • in Tampere, Finland, Summer 2015
  • in Leipzig, Germany, Autumn 2015
  • in Dublin, Ireland and Belfast, United Kingdom, Spring 2016
  • in Rennes, France, Summer 2016
  • in Laax, Switzerland, Autumn 2016
  • in Trondheim, Norway, Spring 2017
  • in Brno, Czech Republic, Summer 2017
  • 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
  • in Milan, Italy, Spring 2021
  • 93rd International Session in Warsaw, Poland, Summer 2021
  • 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
  • 100th International Session in Thessaloniki, Greece, Summer 2024
  • 101st International Session in The Hague, The Netherlands, Spring 2025
  • 102nd International Session in Turku, Finland, Summer 2025
  • 103rd International Session in Málaga, Spain, Autumn 2025
Future sessions will include:
  • 104th International Session in Pordenone, Italy, Spring 2026
  • 105th International Session in Niš & Novi Sad, Serbia, Summer 2026
  • 106th International Session in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Summer 2027

Other

Training Events
Usually taking place internally, training events help members to develop there skills to become better Officials at Sessions. Theses are usually more casual and involve modules by more senior Officials. Theses can be called Member Training Weekends or Training Academies.

International Forums (IF)

International Forums typically model themselves after an International Session, focusing on fielding delegates from abroad as well as their host country; however, they receive limited funding from the International Office. These are typically six to eight days long.

Structure

Sessions

There are a number of general components that make up multi-day sessions. The exact length of each of the sections can vary according to the session type and organising National Committee. For One day sessions only the General Assembly is put on.
Chairpersons, Media, Organisers, and Jury (CMOJ) Day
On this day facilitators, or officials, of the event come together to engage in a short programme of team building activities then followed by a longer section of modules, delivered by more experienced facilitators to their juniors.
Team building (TB)
This is generally the day which delegates arrive to the session. The entire group of officials and delegates then typically come together to engage in 'general teambuilding' where officials are introduced to the delegates and large group games are played. The delegates are then split off into their committees and begin to get acquainted with each other. 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.
Committee Work (CW)
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. These resolutions are modelled after real life examples from the European Parliament, however, they may be simplified. At certain events delegates may also engage in a workshop, talk or seminar with experts from the field during this phase.
General Assembly (GA)
This is the time in which committee resolutions are debated on by the delegates. Exact debate procedure can vary slightly and amendments may or may not be allowed. Delegates can generally vote for, against or to abstain.
Selection
Jury Members at the end of a session after will select delegates that have performed the best to be delegates in another session above the one they are in.

Training

Theses events usually involve Trainers putting on modules to help educate other junior members. Other than this there may be some social or teambuilding modules dependant on the NC.