The European Youth Parliament (EYP) is a non-governmental organisation consisting of national committees and a central office (which is situated in Berlin, DE). The EYP has ever since 1987 organised conferences for young people from all over Europe and brought together tens of thousands of pupils and students from all corners of Europe.
EYP sees its major goals in promoting democracy, education, language skills and a European idea in Europe’s youth and tries to achiev this goal by means of international conferences, regional fora or national events.
The European Youth Parliament offers young people a platform on which to exchange their visions. Our conferences are extended parliamentary simulations including political debates, Europe enthusiastic exchange among young people.
Each conference is made up of Teambuilding, Committee Work and a General Assembly (parliamentary debate). Of course, our conferences also contain a supporting programme including musical entertainment, collective dinners as well as evening dancing.
What makes the EYP so unique is its general approach: rather than “teaching” the young people, EYP gives them as much freedom as they need to work at an EYP session. The students “get to know” rather than learn. They discover and find out.
EYP is based on several principals: understanding, respecting other people and their opinions, co-operating, compromising and, maybe most important, making new friends.
Aims and tasks
The European Youth parliament pursues two main goals: We want to create an added value for society as a whole and individuals. We aim at engaging young people in active discussion about current social and political issues as well as giving them a deeper understanding of politics at a European level. We hereby help them develop their personality further. We would like to contribute to the mutual understanding of different cultures and win our youth for the European idea.
The EYP thus seeks to promote a European dimension to education and to give students 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 current affairs and democratic processes conveying not only enthusiasm for active participation, but also a sense for social responsibility.
By challenging young people, we want to give them an opportunity to discover and realize their full potential as well as develop their personality further. We hope that the delegates at our diverse events can benefit from the joint work as much as the members of our association. The EYP constitutes a forum in which students can improve their social competences and communication skills.