53rd International session

The 53rd International Session of the European Youth Parliament is supported by: DATES: OCTOBER 13-22, 2006
PLACE: KYIV, UKRAINE

Mr. Borys Tarayuk, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
Mr. Yuri Pavlenko, Minister of Youth and Sport Affairs of Ukraine
Mr. Ian Boag, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine
Mr. Marek Siewec, Chairperson, European Parliament delegation to Ukraine
Mr. Charles Tannock, Vice chairperson, European Parliament delegation to Ukraine
Dr. Ralf-Rene Weingartner, Director, Directorate of Youth and Sport, Council of Europe

The International Session of the European Youth Parliament enables young people to share their thoughts, to get closely acquainted with issues of European and international concern, to make friendships that pass all boundaries, nationalities and religions. In the course of ten days, session participants are involved in committee work where they design solutions for the urgent political, economic, social and cultural issues in the EU and internationally. They produce a resolution with ideas and decisions, discussed and approved by the committee. Every committee presents and defends its resolution at the General Assembly. The resolutions which pass by the simple majority vote at the General Assembly are sent to the European Parliament as the voice of the European youth. This simulation provides young people with invaluable experience of parliamentary decision-making and equips them with teamwork, presentation and persuasion skills.


Resolution booklet from the Session can be viewed   here.

From its inception in 1987, international sessions of EYP have always enjoyed generous support of the national and international top officials, members of the Royal Families, Members of Parliament, and City Mayors. Previous sessions were attended by Adolf Ogi President of Switzerland, Her Royal Highness Princess Victoria of Sweden and many other distinguished individuals. Sessions are often conducted under the auspices of the Heads of State of the hosting country. For example, last session in Paris was organized under the aegis of Jacques Chirac, President of France, while the 52nd session in Riga is supported by Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia.

On the occasion of the International Session opening in Berlin Gerhardt Schroeder noted:

“European integration must be a matter of the heart and not merely the head. That calls for a greater involvement in this enterprise by the European public. In this respect the European Youth Parliament is making a valuable contribution. It brings young people from across Europe together for a dialogue that transcends national frontiers and it helps those who will shortly shoulder responsibility in Europe and actively shape its future to understand what the process of European integration is all about”.

In March 2005 the European Youth Parliament Leadership announced the results of the bid for holding the 53rd International Session. Having considered EYP-Ukraine’s contribution into development of the European Youth Parliament in the post-communist region as well as having taken note of the recent political changes in Ukraine, it was decided to grant EYP-Ukraine with an opportunity to organize international session in Kyiv in autumn of 2006.

The International Youth NGO European Youth Parliament – Ukraine (EYP-Ukraine) is a youth organization, members of which are young people aged 16-27. The youth organization co-operates with the Delegation of the European Commission to Ukraine, UN system agencies in Ukraine, diplomatic missions of foreign states, Ukrainian officials in the executive and legislative branches at all levels.

The Session participants are young Europeans. Delegates are selected through rigorous selection process in their countries. Majority of the European Youth Parliament members envision themselves working for the EU institutions in the future. Therefore, EYP-Ukraine is happy to host the future leaders of Europe.