The European Youth Parliament celebrates its 35th anniversary

Since 1987, the European Youth Parliament has empowered hundreds of thousands of Europeans to be active citizens and currently involves around 30,000 young people from more than 40 European countries in its activities every year. The EYP connects youth across borders and provides space for political debate, personal development and exchange of ideas. In this way, the EYP makes an important contribution to European understanding. All activities are organized by young people for young people.

From June 24 – 26, active EYP members, alumni, the international Board of the EYP and the team of the Schwarzkopf Foundation Young Europe will celebrate the 35th anniversary of our youth network together in Berlin. The event is also the occasion for the launch of the History Book. The publication
presents the EYP’s impact on European youth and the development of the network throughout the past 35 years.

With the celebrations and in the spirit of the European Year of Youth, which puts the young generation in a particular spotlight, we honour the voluntary commitment of EYP members who work for the vision of a democratic, peaceful, sustainable, and open society.

Pauline Chetail, Executive Director of the EYP reflects: “I am beyond thrilled to be celebrating three and a half decades of the European Youth Parliament with so many dear friends and colleagues from my time as a volunteer. When I think of the horrible events that are shaking Europe currently – a global pandemic
and a horrific war in Ukraine to name a “few”, I’m reminded of the importance of strong civic spaces across Europe. This weekend is a humbling opportunity to reflect on the role we play there and to celebrate our volunteers from 1987 to 2022. Happy birthday, EYP!”

Leonor from Portugal, who has been involved with the organisation for six years, describes the effect that the EYP community had on her life: “The EYP impacted my personal, academic, and professional path to a great degree, mostly through personal connections and empowerment. I am very grateful that some of the most important people to me were brought into my life thanks to the EYP. As I take my first steps in my professional life, I constantly reflect and draw knowledge from my EYP background.”

There will be an opportunity for interviews with key figures of the EYP network during the festivities in Berlin, Saturday, June 25th, between 17:45 – 20:30 CEST. We are also happy to arrange interviews after the event. For more information and an informal accreditation please get in touch communications@eyp.org.

You can find more information about the 35th anniversary of the EYP here.