Luis Alvarado Martínez, former president of AEGEE-Europe 2012-14, is running for Vice President of the European Youth Forum. He discovered a lot through AEGEE and wants to discover even more through a bigger platform. The AEGEEan asked Luis some questions in order to find out if there is life after AEGEE.

The AEGEEan: It’s been a few months since you are no more the president of AEGEE-Europe. How did you feel leaving the House and everything after two years of intense hard work?

Luis Alvarado Martínez: Well, of course you feel a little sad when closing such an amazingly intense and such a passionate chapter in your life. Many memories or moments come to mind why it has been so worth it to live such an experience, and the great things you take with you after it. Now that I have had a little time to reflect, I am very happy and thankful for having been given such opportunity, and especially to have shared it with such a special group of people (each and every one of them in their own particular way). Then of course you have the feeling of calmness, no calls, no emails, and some time to think about yourself and future plans which is always nice. Last but not least you feel uncertain. Has my passing by AEGEE left a mark? Did we actually have an impact and change something? Have I contributed? What will happen with our work? All of the normal thoughts of an end of cycle, and which every Comité Directeur (CD) member has once he/ she finished his/her mandate. But having the great CD which we have coming after us, I can happily sleep at nights knowing that we have people who know how to get the job done.

What have you’ve been up to in the last months?

During the lasts months I have tried to spend as much time at home with my parents, my sister, my girlfriend and my friends back in the Canary Islands. Lots of quality time and recharging batteries in order to be able to come back to the fullest. Also from the end of August, I have started my Master’s Degree in the College of Europe, in the city of Bruges (Belgium), which is the oldest Institute for EU Postgraduate studies in Europe, established back in 1948, after the Second World War, in the famous Hague Congress together with the Council of Europe and the European Movement, and even before the European Union itself, by legendary personalities such as Winston Churchill, Salvador de Madariaga and Paul H. Spaak. So I am very happy to have this opportunity to learn from the very “foundational and federalist” European center in the continent. I am not the only AEGEEan this year. I think it is the perfect post AEGEE environment for all of us who truly believe in the united Europe that our organization supports, so I would recommend any AEGEEan interested to approach me in case they are interested.

Now you are running for Vice President of the European Youth Forum (YFJ). What made you take this decision?

After being more than two years involved in the different processes of the European Youth Forum, working on a daily basis with its other Member Organizations (MOs) on different projects, and trying to improve the lives of young people in Europe, I felt the confidence to make such a step. During the last months, we have been able to gather a lot of support and back-up in order to have a strong candidature, representing the interests not only of AEGEE but of many other organizations. We think we can help bring the platform to a whole new level, and we hope that with my experience and the support of everybody we will make it happen.

How did AEGEE influence you in the decision of running for Vice President of the YFJ?

As mentioned before, after a long period of constant work with the Forum’s reality, its projects and initiatives representing AEGEE, you realize how much potential the platform has. If you imagine the Forum like AEGEE, but much bigger, being a platform composed of almost 100 organizations like AEGEE, you can imagine how powerful the impact can be. Being in the CD and representing AEGEE on a daily basis allows you to learn, grow, develop and be in contact with different realities. Unlike in AEGEE, the Forum is composed of many different ideologies, beliefs, ways of working, expectations, which makes it even more diverse than AEGEE, and sometimes very hard finding compromises and agreements. I guess that’s also the challenge and the magic of the Forum. Seeing the positive impact which we could have in a platform like AEGEE, of course was a big motivator to run for the Board of Directors of a bigger platform with more strength and more resources and even more challenges. If we are able to harmonize our efforts in the Forum, we can be extremely influential in the EU institutions, the Council of Europe and in the United Nations.

Do you think that being the winner of the “Young European of the Year 2014” will bring you some benefits in order to become  the Vice President of the European Youth Forum?

Hopefully the recognition of “Young European” by the Schwarzkopf Foundation will be a good flagship in the elections, also showing how much AEGEE members are prepared in terms of skills, content and leadership, and how much having AEGEE as Vice President of the Forum could be a big added value to the platform.

You are a great example for AEGEE members and you will always have our support! Are you planning to still keep in touch with what happens in AEGEE, maybe taking part in some events?

Well those who know me, know very well what was my policy back then when I was in the Comité Directeur. I strongly believe that AEGEE’s leadership and strength lies in the youth, freshness, idealism, energy and certain level of nativity of its generations. So no, I will not be having an active involvement in the organization nor any official positions. I will of course come to Autumn Agora Cagliari to give our final report, and be around supporting the CD as much as possible, being a member of the Advisory Board, and available for members for whatever help and advice anybody might need. It will always be my pleasure to help AEGEE, in return for changing my life. But I believe that having older members (no matter how long their experience is) staying too long, and more than needed in the organization, covering positions, spotlight and taking active involvement in the internal “politics” of AEGEE, is very counterproductive and harmful. It is not healthy for the person itself (because it is also our responsibility to learn how to let go), nor for the organization. It is the young generation who must decide, dare to try things out and make their own mistakes. Older members and alumni, should be there to give advice and support whenever requested, and not when they think they should do so, and we should gather at the bar with mojitos remembering good old times. I will happily become member of Les Anciens d’AEGEE-Europe, our official alumni organization.

Written by Raluca Radu, AEGEE-Cluj-Napoca

Now that the Comité Directeur 2014 – 2015 has been elected and was already introduced to you, it’s time for the Comité Directeur 2012 – 2014 to make new plans for their future. The AEGEEan spoke to Luis, Lucille, Anna, Miguel, Pavel, Kathrin, Beáta and Pavel to ask about these plans, but also to give them a chance to reflect on their time spent in Brussels.

Luis Alvarado Martinez (President)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Luis: I have been accepted to study for nine months in the College of Europe with a full scholarship, so I will go back to do a Master, which I didn’t have before. What I will do in between those studies is still unknown. I plan to keep being involved in other big civil society platforms such as the European Youth Forum and to be engaged in different participatory and political processes too.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Luis: Well, I have been promised an invitation to enter the newly refreshed Les Anciens. I have no plan to be actively engaged in the network. As me and my Comité Directeur have always been saying, the active involvement, political processes and active development of AEGEE should remain in the hands of the young, fresh and motivated generation. This way, AEGEE is able to ensure a high level of energy, creativity and idealism in its work.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Luis: The laughs in the office, good moments with members of your team, the results of your work, people thanking you for what you do, the never ending brainstorming of ideas and initiatives and the satisfactional feeling of getting a good job done.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Luis: Lack of privacy, a messy house, the full time working weekends, collecting bills and the unnecessary stress and drama. [he smiles]

Lucille Rieux (Secretary General) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Lucille: First of all, resting and taking things slow for a month or two. After that, I’m also looking into jobs in Brussels, as I’d like to stay here a bit longer. After doing EVS and two years of Comité Directeur, I believe it’s time to find a real job that will enable me to get some money to plan things out in my life. I plan to travel too, and in a longer perspective I want to discover and experience different kind of organisations working with creative innovation and young people, which could inspire me to create something on my own too.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Lucille: This is a question I cannot answer yet. I won’t cut the link right away, and I could imagine working on a project or in a position I really enjoy, but at the same time, I also feel the need to open a new page in my life, and get to know other associations and other forms of engagement in the civil society.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Lucille: I will probably miss the flexibility and work style of this CD, which gave us space for creativity and leadership. It’s great to work on a variety of topics and also to be able to go from thematic work, to an official meeting and leaving for a training the same week. I’ll probably miss working with the six other specimens [she laughs] that spent those two years with me.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Lucille: Writing Comité Directeur minutes [she smiles]

Anna Gots (Financial Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Anna: Definitely to stay in Brussels: find a job here, maybe study a bit more, master my Dutch skills, engage in other voluntary activities… I have plenty of options in fact [she smiles]. In general the plan for the next year is to slow down the level of stress and responsibility if possible, make more room for creativity and more time for dreaming and developing myself.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Anna: For now I see myself solely as a supporting or advising person for the new generation, only if asked of course. The general feeling is that my time has been, and it’s time to leave a space for the new leaders and new dreamers. But who knows, maybe I can still find some challenges in AEGEE, big enough to keep me active!

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Anna: The amazing team, flexibility and diversity of my working days and being ‘boss’ at the Agora [she laughs].

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Anna: Cleaning the house, travelling with Ryanair in a big group, the registration desk at Agora and reporting General Subvention [she laughs].

Kathrin Renner (Vice President and External Relations Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Kathrin: I’m taking a break for a couple of weeks, and then most probably I will start a Master in Brussels and look for a part time job at the same time. I would like to develop myself into a bit of a different direction though, more business oriented, collect a couple of new experiences and see a different environment.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Kathrin: I will probably stick around for a couple of months in the beginning to support the new Comité Directeur whenever they ask for it. Also, a lot of my friends are members in AEGEE and I will miss seeing those faces regularly. At the same time, I will probably not take any active position anymore. It’s time to make room for the new generation and start a new phase in my life [she smiles].

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Kathrin: My six team mates, because even if we fought and hated each other at times, in the end they are very precious to me, and I will miss especially our stupid jokes and bickering. Also, of course, being able to shape our own ideas into plans and implement them, developing and experimenting with different strategies, setting our own agenda and being our own bosses.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Kathrin: Collecting bills, sharing the house with up to twenty people a weekend and not having my own space, and being a slave of my inbox.

Miguel Gallardo Albajar (Projects Director) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Miguel: I only know one thing for sure: I want to stay in Brussels. It’s the first time I want to stay in a city after my planned period finishes, so I will follow this impulse of settling down, which is surprising my family and friends. I like the city and its culture, I have a circle of friends and more, so now I just have to find a job and a new apartment.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Miguel: Well, I do not want a traumatic break up, but I will not have an imporatnt position anymore. But, it’s quite likely that I will be trying to be useful in one or two teams that are struggling now.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Miguel: Having an overview of all that happens in such a great organisation is a feeling I love, and I have no idea if I will have the same kind of role in my future job. Also, being in all those meetings where important things are discussed, and decided, is thrilling. I will also miss living in the AEGEE house (can you believe it?), with all its randomness and the surprise invitations for cakes and dinner from other team members. And the ritual of watching Game of Thrones in the basement.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Miguel: Filling the reimbursement forms for my expenses. I did it for three years during my research in Morocco and now two years in Brussels. I am fed up with collecting bills.

Beáta Matuszka (Network and Human Resources Director)

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Beáta: I am currently looking for a job in the corporate world, mainly to get experience and preferably start my own business after that or go back to the civil sphere. But I am already thinking about new crazy adventures, such as taking part in the Transsiberian Express TSU next year or just generally discovering everything which is outside of Europe. (I have never really left our old continent [she smiles])

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Beáta: I still have some unfinished business and I would like to be a bit involved in one project, but definitely not with the same intensity like in the past. The friendships I had during these years won’t fade with the end of my active years, I will definitely keep in contact with my friends all around Europe.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Beáta: This crazy lifestyle which was way cooler than my Erasmus, this unbelievable experience which is barely comparable to anything else, the never-ending trips, the possibility to meet amazingly enthusiastic and inspiring people on a weekly basis…  I think I will only realize what I am going to miss once I moved back home.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Beáta: I would say the weather in Brussels, but in the past months it was better than anywhere else in Europe, so I can’t really complain.

Pavel Zborník (European Institutions and Communications Director) 

The AEGEEan: What are your plans for the time after the Comité Directeur?

Pavel: Quite simple for me: I finished my study two years ago, so I will work unless I win in a lottery. I don’t limit myself in terms of places, you never know where life will take you.

The AEGEEan: Are you planning to stay involved in AEGEE?

Pavel: I think and feel my time in AEGEE is over. I might stick around for a few more months, but then it is time to move on, make a clean cut and look for new adventures.

The AEGEEan: What will you miss most about being in the Comité Directeur?

Pavel: Being my own boss and having the flexibility to decide what to do when or not do it at all.

The AEGEEan: What is something you probably won’t miss?

Pavel: Hypocrisy, egoism and lack of identification of members with the organisation.

 Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

Every year a young European, between the ages of 18 and 28, is awarded with the prestigious title of Young European of the Year by Schwarzkopf-Stiftung Junges Europa. On June the 5th our current President Luis Alvarado Martinez was announced as this year’s winner for his engagement and contribution to building a different Europe and for being “a true European by heart and by mind. He is profoundly convinced that his generation, – the only true “European-born”, as he says – has to convince the elder about the need to continue striving for a better Europe.”

The AEGEEan: First of all congratulations with the Award. What was the first thing that crossed your mind when they announced you as the winner?

Luis: Well, you can imagine probably. I was very very happy, thankful for such a recognition on a personal basis, but also a recognition of AEGEE’s work building a better Europe from the young generations.

The AEGEEan: Burcu Becermen, Tamuna Kekenadze, Anar Jahangirli, Daciana Oana Mailatescu and David Stulik, all AEGEEans who were awarded this prize in the past. Do you think AEGEE has a plus in forming young Europeans?

Luis: Absolutely yes! AEGEE is the ideal platform and space for one to develop personally into the best version of yourself, get inspired by others, and find the resources and people necessary to make your ideas into real projects with impact in society. The long presence which we have in the hall of fame of the Schwarzkopf foundation is the clear evidence of it. Many of our members are instrumental in many of the processes which Europe is going through.

The AEGEEan: Your motto is “ We – the young generation – are no longer the future, we are the present and we are here to influence”. Do you think that young people have enough space to influence politics and society?

Luis: Unfortunately not. Especially on national, regional and local levels. On a European level the situation is improving quite a lot and we see how institutions such as the European Union, the Council of Europe or even the United Nations are opening more and more spaces to young people.

Politics need the idealism, freshness and energy of young people. So young people themselves must be present in political processes and push for what they believe. If no noise is made, young people will simply be ignored. The fact that young people are the ones with the lowest turn out in elections (because of lack of information, lack of knowledge, not feeling represented, etc.) results in political leaders not including proposals for youth in the agendas, but rather for the people who actually vote for them.

So yes, politics needs to open much more, but young people must take full ownership and responsibility of the processes.

The AEGEEan: You have been President of AEGEE-Europe for two years now, what do you think is your major achievement?

Luis: There are no personal achievements. All of the achievements required strong teams behind each one of them. But some examples that come to my mind are: putting AEGEE strongly on the external world, the whole identity process (which still needs a lot of work), the political awakening of many of our members across the continent, an increase in thematic activities with lots of new projects, a coherent visual identity, professionalization and improvements inside the platfrom (Secretariat, Policy Officers and Policy Papers, Impact Measurement).

Last week, some really good news came to all the AEGEEans. It was during the COMEM (Council of Members) of the European Youth Forum (YFJ, which stands for ‘Youth Forum Jeunesse‘) in Brussels.

AEGEE-Europe had just been elected to be one of the 30 organizations inside the Advisory Council (AC) on Youth of the Council of Europe, representing the European Youth Forum Member Organizations.

A great privilege, but also a big challenge. This is a big step forward for AEGEE in order to advocate for youth rights, and The AEGEEan team has spoken to Marko Grdosic, Liaison Officer towards the European Youth Forum, Luis Alvarado Martínez, President of AEGEE-Europe, and Mirosław Krzanik, Board member of the European Youth Forum, in order to know their priorities and expectations after the election.

Luis Alvarado and Marko Grdosic during the Spring COMEM in Brussels

What does it mean for AEGEE to be representing the European Youth Forum in the Council of Europe, and how can it benefit?

Marko Grdosic: AEGEE members should see our newest enrolment within the Advisory Council as a great privilege but as well as a big task. Given the perfect example of co-management Council of Europe gives to Youth through the Advisory Council, this shows the great role it has and how much it can actually influence policies of the CoE.

Having its seat in the AC, AEGEE will directly represent all the members, same as the members of other youth organizations, member organizations of the European Youth Forum. Therefore, AEGEE will now be able to strongly advocate for democracy, human rights and educational policies within the work of the Council of Europe.

Luis Alvarado Martínez: It means that AEGEE-Europe will be one of the 30 organizations inside the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe (CoE). This Advisory Council has co-decision or co-management power inside the Council of Europe to all the initiatives and policies related to youth. We will make sure the needs and interest not only of AEGEE, but of all the Member Organizations of the European Youth Forum are always taken into account.

Mirosław Krzanik: First of all we can directly influence priorities and decisions of the Council of Europe in the field of youth. At the same time let’s not think only about how AEGEE can benefit from it but let’s be happy that we can contribute and help in developing new policies, strategies and projects!

What are the main issues and priorities that AEGEE-Europe is going to deal with?

Marko: This of course will depend on the agenda that is in our world changing very often. If we are to talk nowadays, it will for sure be human rights, as a follow-up of the event organised by AEGEE this week in Strasbourg. Of course, education is as well an ongoing focus.

Mirek: That depends strongly on the people who will directly represent AEGEE in the Advisory Council and on the decisions of the CD and the members.

Luis: We as AEGEE have always showed a particular focus on Non Formal Education, its recognition, validation etc., but lately we have also done a lot regarding Youth Rights and Youth Participation. These topics will be in a core focus, as well as promoting the co-management power which exists in the Council of Europe in other institutions.

Miroslaw Krzanik is currently Board Member of the European Youth Forum

And which are the expectations you are holding?

Marko: I wish to see a strong AEGEE inside the Advisory Council, AEGEE with a good input, making sure to respond to all the challenges this role might bring. It would also be interesting to see if the experience we gain from this co-management system can give us a push when advocating for the same with the EU Institutions.

Luis: We expect to bring AEGEE to a whole new level of expertise, and advocacy action as well as much more involved in the work of the Council of Europe. AEGEE will develop very much and will use all the potential of this new position.

Mirek: I hope the AC will continue its strong focus on developing youth-related policies and advocating for youth rights in particular in regions where the European Union is not present, in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, etc. This way the Council of Europe can complement the actions which are taken by the European Union and strengthen the presence of youth in political discourse in those countries.

As members of the Advisory Council on Youth, and after your experience striving for youth rights and representing students in Europe, what does it mean for you to advocate for young people, and how do you work on it?

Marko: Youth has always been the most unrepresented group and this makes the advocacy work much harder. In general, what is important is to know people, be in a good time on a good place, network and promote. Also, the agenda of the relevant stakeholders has to be followed. In order to create the biggest impact, we always have to act in time with the institutions and mobilize other civil society colleagues to increase the visibility.  In the end, a good advocate has to be trained, social, a great spokesperson.

Luis: Well now there is a much bigger responsibility. Before we were only representing AEGEE-Europe (which is also not the easiest task, but we have some common values and ideas). Now we have to represent all the Member Organizations of the Youth Forum, without forgetting all the points of views and needs of all the organizations.

Mirek: I guess it is very important for the entire Network of AEGEE to get actively involved in creating expertise inside the organization. For now a lot of ideas, experience and knowledge are gathered in the CD and around it, among people closely cooperating with them. The challenge is to make more members interested in political issues. First steps have been made, Policy Officers are developing our internal knowledge and continue inviting more and more members to join them, but the more events are organized, the more opportunities to discuss policies and politics are created, the stronger our voice will be. And I guess it has to come from the members directly, without waiting for an incentive from the CD. Whenever you have an idea of what should be changed, what can be improved or developed, simply try to invite other people who share the idea, discuss it and write a summary, share it with the CD and others in AEGEE. This is how the first steps are made in order to inspire others!

At the same time, when you think about inviting external guests you can make a great use of the fact that AEGEE is now present in the European Youth Forum and soon will be in the Advisory Council! Put in your promo materials; use it as an argument for external guests to join your conferences, meetings, trainings!

So, what comes next? Which are the next goals of AEGEE-Europe in terms of advocacy?

Marko: This depends of course on the Comité Directeur, as they are the ones setting up the political agenda of the organization. However, thinking of next steps here in Brussels, it is prominent that we will all be putting our strenghts into stronger funding for youth, co-management questions, development of education area, unemployment and innovation as a key to development.

Luis: This week we are present in Strasbourg first to attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and on Wednesday we also start our event in the European Youth Center also here in Strasbourg. During this event we bring members of 15 different International Youth NGOs and together with them we draft the Youth Rights Campaign which we will launch soon. This campaign is a follow-up of the 9^th Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Saint Petersburg, Russia, were AEGEE was present and protesting for the lack of youth rights and freedom of speech for young people.

After this we will have a conference in Brussels in June, calling the European Union to implement a co-management structure inside the EU for the youth sector. We want the EU also to take the example of the Council of Europe and give a co-decisive power to the youth organizations.

Mirek: I hope that the next step to follow will look back to the membership of AEGEE. Now we are present externally, we are good at it, let’s try all together to use it in our internal growth.

Written by Cosmina Bisboaca, AEGEE-Torino, and Anna Gumbau Martínez, AEGEE-Barcelona

Pictures by the European Youth Forum (flickr)

On Wednesday, 9th January 2013, Luis Alvarado Martinez and Lucille Rieux, President and Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe met Philippe l’Eglise-Costa, the advisor on European Affairs of the President of France, Francois Hollande.

The Comite Directeur had asked for this meeting shortly after M.Hollande’s election to the French presidency. He is characterised by his strong interest in youth issues and his pro-European attitude. In fact, Hollande took up young people’s interests as the core element of his election campaign and once he was elected, he gave a speech about his conviction for the construction of a strong federal Europe.

The appointment was finally set for January 2013. Luis and I decided that during the short time given with M. L’Eglise-Costa, we would focus  on the thorny issue of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 of the European Union which is currently negotiated by the Council. Our aim during the meeting was to defend AEGEE’s position, to stress the need for investing in youth and education, and to save these small budget lines. Our position on this issue was that if cuts are made to small budget lines (like the one of education and youth), the effects will be a lot more painful than in case these cuts were made to a larger budget line. M.Leglise-Costa assured us that France was in agreement with our ideas and the government is doing its best to preserve the education and youth budget. He informed us that currently, the three countries that are considering cutting this budget are Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. This interesting information made us realize how important it is to address directly the decision makers and to make it clear that young people are fully aware of the decisions that are made on their behalf, and that they also want to contribute to them.

We managed to convince M. Leglise-Costa of the importance of supporting the work of youth organizations, especially by making sure that the administrative grants in charge of them won’t disappear with the new programme cycle starting from 2014. Another topic we touched upon during our meeting was the possibility to develop a co-management approach to youth topics within the European Institutions.

This meeting was a good opportunity for AEGEE-Europe to propose the idea of  a possible cooperation regarding the European elections project which is being developed within AEGEE. We have presented the objectives of the campaign, and we can count on the support of  M.Leglise-Costa and the French government.

As a general conclusion, we can say that it was time for AEGEE-Europe to get back to the habit of consulting directly with the governments about policy issues, in order to remind policy makers that young people are here and they are willing to bring new ideas to discussion. Most of the important European decisions are still made by national governments with national interests, and that’s why it is important to bring our European perspective to the table.

AEGEE-Europe and the Comité Directeur will certainly keep going into this direction, and we hope to have the chance to meet German and Dutch representatives in the next month.

Written by Lucille Rieux, Secretary General of AEGEE-Europe

A few days ago the ICPD Global Youth Forum took place in Bali, Indonesia, where 1000 young activists from all over the world gathered to propose concrete recommendations to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon related to youth needs worldwide.

Luis Alvarado Martinez, President of AEGEE-Europe,  participated on behalf of AEGEE-Europe, and he answered a few questions to tell us what happened in Bali and why it has been important for AEGEE to be there.

The AEGEEan: What is the ICPD Global Youth Forum? What does it represent?

Luis Alvarado: The United Nations organized an International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, in 1994. One of the results of this conference was the creation of  the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Around 20,000 delegates from various governments, UN agencies, NGOs, and the media gathered for a discussion of many population issues, including immigration, infant mortality, birth control, family planning, the education of women, education, youth participation and protection for women from unsafe abortion services.

ICPD stands for the International Conference on Population and Development Beyond 2014. The ICPD is an initiative of the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) as a follow-up of all the work done from Cairo in 1994 onwards. It is also a preparation conference for the next conference which will happen in 2014 in Cairo again.

The ICPD Beyond 2014 provides a once-in-a-generation chance to define what needs to be done for a more equal, more sustainable world for the 7 billion people – and more – who share it. It identifies progress and achievements towards the goals set out in the landmark International Conference on Population and Development, when 179 governments committed to a 20 year Programme of Action to deliver human rights based development.

Evidence of what has worked and where challenges remain will be collected from governments, civil society organisations and partners using the ICPD Global Survey, civil society consultations and a series of thematic conferences.

The Beyond 2014 Review process will engage world leaders from governments and civil society and create a renewed consensus and global commitment to create a more equal and more sustainable world.

The Global Youth Forum as such is a conference which took place in Bali, Indonesia, gathering around 1000 high level youth leaders to draft concrete recommendations to be sent to the Secretary General of UN, Ban Ki Boon, and to Member States on the policies related and which affect young people.

How is/can AEGEE be involved?

It is necessary that our members can see the whole picture. Europe is only the first step. But there is a whole new and big world outside. This is why it is so important to encourage our members also to get involved and participate on a UN Global Level, taking their expertise and knowledge one step further.

We in AEGEE-Europe already count with an NGO consultative status inside UN. This means that we are often asked to give our input in several topics such as participation, civil society, education etc. But this is not enough. Our members must be more involved in UN activities by participating in the different conferences and initiatives organized throughout the year.

What has been AEGEE role in the conference?

AEGEE participated in the drafting of the final recommendations. It is an extraordinary document. They are the recommendations of the world’s youth towards national governments which tackle topics like Education, Health, Family and Sexuality, Employment, and Participation of Young people.

Even though we had lots of pressure from several national governments during the conference, specially the very religious ones, when drafting recommendations about the right to a safe abortion or against imposed marriages, finally we managed to get all the recommendations to pass through. A great job done by all the youth delegates.

Was there a preparation phase before? And what will be the follow up?

There were a set of consultations before the conference as a preparation phase. Now that the document has been approved, it will be sent to the Secretary General of United Nations, Ban Ki Moon himself. As you know, he has set Youth as one of his permanent priorities for the next years. After this, he will present this document to the General Assembly of the United Nations to be adopted and sent to all Member States.

Why was the participation of AEGEE granted by you and not the LO for the UN or a Policy Officer?

The Global Youth Forum is a high level youth meeting. I got an invitation as President to apply for the Conference. After discussing it with the CD we decided that it was appropriate and necessary for AEGEE to get involved further on the global level and influence even more.

There were very few delegates from Europe compared to the numbers from Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Together with the European Youth Forum and organizations like IFMSA (International Federation for Medical Students Association), EFIL (European Federation for Intercultural Learning), with whom we cooperate often in Brussels , I think we did a great job advocating and pushing for the rights of young Europeans.

Did this trip considerably affect the budget of AEGEE-Europe?

It is the policy of the UNFPA to cover the costs of this kind of events for all delegates, so participation on this event did not have an impact on the AEGEE-Europe budget. If we had needed to cover the costs from AEGEE-Europe budget, we would have declined to participate in spite of how relevant the participation can be. We receive plenty of open calls and we always evaluate the cost/benefits of attending each one of them, in terms of economical and time investment.

Did the participation in the event open up for new opportunities / ideas to develop as AEGEE?

Of course. As you can imagine, being a global platform with activists from all over the world gives you possibility to meet a lot of people and brainstorm about many ideas on future cooperation. After this I definitely see the need of AEGEE to get involved not only on the high European level, but also on a more global scale and United Nations level. There are many things which we can influence, as we did during Bali. If you check the recommendations you will see a lot of influence of AEGEE and the European Youth Forum who advocated very much for the presence in the document on things such as Non-Formal Education (NFE), recognition of the role of civil society and youth organizations, youth guarantees, improvements of education systems, co-management structures in governments and institutions for young people, more accessible and inclusive democratic processes for young people to participate, strengthening and supporting financially the National Youth Councils (NYCs) and International Non-Governmental Youth Organizations (INGYOs) like AEGEE and a very long etc.

The European Youth Delegation was very much prepared and experienced to this kind of consultation/conference. This allowed us to be much more efficient in our ideas and proposals.

Written by Alfredo Sellitti, AEGEE-Salerno

Mass protest, public action, objecting and lots of other words recently became for us quite usual and commonly used. In fact, in last 20 years they (serious guys in parliaments, governments, councils etc.) managed “to climb” so high from youth, that our voice can only be heard when it is counted in thousands of people, or when youth does something outstanding against all principles. Young people are tired to stay silent, they want their voice to be heard and they start using all possible methods for this. Thus we start to hear about more and more public actions.

However, every time seeing public action it seems so far away and totally not connected to you, that you barely pay attention. What would you say knowing that in one of the last protests shown in media took part same AEGEE member as you?

The Council of Europe Ministerial Conference on Youth on 24th September, 2012 in St. Petersburg

Behind every mass action there are people who do it. How they manage to organise it? What did they think while protesting? Were they afraid or maybe proud? And one of the most important questions – how did they feel afterwards and which feedback they received?

Luis Alvarado Martinez, the President of AEGEE-Europe, told us about one of the latest silent protests during the opening of the Council of Europe Ministerial Conference on Youth on 24^th September, 2012 in Saint-Petersburg, which caused lots of fuss in the AEGEE network and beyond: “The idea came up because of many violations which Russia carried out towards human rights, freedom of speech and rights of young people”.

The reason of fuss was the “Pussy Riot style” hats the protesters wore while silently standing up at the conference. “We never referred to the Pussy Riot band as such, but used the hats as a symbol for freedom of speech, youth rights and human rights which are being violated by some governments in our continent. If we don’t send clear messages to these governments, things will not change by themselves” points out Luis.

Some blamed protesters for such methods of protest, more supported, but needless to say that whatever the reaction was – the method to attract attention to the issue was chosen brilliant. People started to talk. Luis recalls: “Yes, that day we pissed off a lot of people. But we also made a lot of people proud, they think now that AEGEE can really be different”.

Was it scaring for those young people to protest in this way? Oh yes, it was. “You know that you are exposing yourself and your own security. But it is then when you remember that you have been elected by people to defend certain core values and rights. If you want your organisation to change for better and get more involved in the political happenings in Europe, you must act as an example. Of course, together with the feeling of fear comes the enormous boost of adrenaline and satisfaction. That day we did influence politicians” recalls Luis.

“Listen to what young people have to say!” in Strasbourg

The next youth protest didn’t force us to wait long. Opening of the World Forum for Democracy of the Council of Europe on the 5th October in Strasbourg where AEGEE representative as well participated in the protest of Youth Delegates calling for youth rights – young people standing during the opening and keeping hands of each other with tapes sticking the mouth, which clearly says “Listen to what young people have to say!”

Amandine Scocard from AEGEE-Paris, acting as Youth Delegate, speaking on the World Forum for Democracy of the Council of Europe, had to face certain problems before youth voice could finally be heard at the Forum.

Amandine Scocard making the speech at the World Forum for Democracy of the Council of Europe

It was communicated to young people that they would have three minutes for speech from youth, which was of course frustrating for them as all the politicians there had hours to give their speeches. Nevertheless, youth representatives decided to use at least those three minutes to make people to hear them. How surprising was to know the night before opening of the Forum, that youth speech was canceled due to some “misunderstanding”. “Maybe another time…” they said to young people.

The next day trying to clarify the issue the youth got to know that initially they were not allowed to speak officially at the forum and that maybe they could ask additionally to allow them to have a two minutes speech. Amandine recalls: “The Forum started 20 minutes late. Already 10 speeches could be done during that time..”

Therefore youth delegates had decided that after the second speaker, during the opening session, they would put tape on the mouth, stand up and hold hands. “One of us, Joanna, bravely stood up the first one and then we stood up with her”. They didn’t say anything or make any noise, standing there to denounce the silencing of youth voice with tape on the mouth.

There was another group of youth delegates working on distributing flyers, which was decided to make on the night they got to know about cancellation of youth speech. “Missing democracy, when found, please bring it back to youth” was written at the flyer.

“We were not forcing people to take them, just distributing, but immediately a security guy started to take them all back, even from the people who accepted them. Then he started chasing one of us telling her to sit down and took all papers so she couldn’t distribute them anymore” recalls Amandine.

At the same time in the plenary hall after the opening speech and key speakers, youth was finally given the right to speak: “In the end the speech was made, but not during the time when we wanted to do it. When we finally did it, most of the media and lots of people had already left”.

“I felt pissed off, thinking about all those important people who didn’t care at all what we had to say. I felt pissed off because the security was getting close to us. But at the same time I felt glad and proud to be there, standing to denounce that young people all over the world needed to be heard and that youth didn’t want to compromise anymore on their freedom of speech” says Amandine.

The reaction of people

Most of the young people having the wish to protest against some issues are more afraid of the reaction and misunderstanding, than the protest itself. However, the reaction is something that really motivates the protesters.

“I think the message was partially misunderstood as a single protest against the minister of France or the organisation of the MFD” supposes Amandine, as the young protesters stood up during the speech of Bernard Cazeneuve, the French Minister of European and Foreign Affairs. “We got approached during the Forum by a few people who wanted to know more about this protest to understand it better. Most of them understood our point, but a few still had the idea that it was a protest against the organisation, for example, showing the huge intergenerational gap that exists nowadays between young people and our deciders” she says. However, according to Amandine the positive feedback anyway prevaluated: “In the end a lot of people congratulated us and I think it was really motivating for some of them. The picture of the protest became the Facebook cover of many of us”.

The reaction on protest in Saint-Petersbrug was also quite positive by Luis’ memories. Most of the ministers congratulated young protesters in many different ways – they were approached personally by many of them in the corridors, secret messages thanking activists for putting important statements back on the table written on business cards, emails, Facebook messages etc.

“It is in these moments, when politicians really feel thankful to have young activists who will dare to do what they cannot do (because they represent national governments and their economical and diplomatic interests). This made us realise the power which youth organisations and youth activists really have!” says Luis.

Still hesitating if it’s worth protesting and if your voice could be heard? I think these words from Luis Alvarado Martinez, the President of our organisation, will ruin last pieces of hesitation in your mind: “We can really influence and shape Europe step by step, and this is something which all the money in the world cannot pay. We must dare to change because together we can!”

Written by Olga Iatsyna, AEGEE-Dnipropetrovsk

Photos: Facebook archives of Luis Alvarado Martinez & Amandine Scocard

Besides the busy life of the Comité Directeur (CD) members focused on the development of our association, The AEGEEan had the chance to ask the CD members some personal questions. Have a look and get to know the CD personally. 

1. What is the item from your home you could not live without when moving into the CD house in Brussels?

Anna Gots (Financial Director): The pinky calculator from Espe (Remark from The AEGEEan: Esperanza Rodriguez Medina, the President of Audit Commission), which she presented to me at the Spring Agora Enschede.

Miguel Gallardo Albajar (Projects Director): I always travel with my Swiss army knife. It can be very useful during the transition barbeque to look really prepared for anything in front of some of our stakeholders.

Beáta Matuszka (Network and Human Resources Director): I was thinking for a while, as usually I am not really attached to anything, but then I realised what was half of my luggage: my Irish step shoes and my Italian/Hungarian coffee maker. It is really unfortunate that I cannot use the first one for a quite long period of time, but I do my best to get back on the track – at least my CD fellows don’t need to stand that I am dancing around in the house in those noisy shoes like Flatley.

Kathrin Renner (Vice President and External Relations Director): I created quite some laughter when I arrived to the house, because as I had the luxury of my parents bringing me with quite a big car, I took everything. The item that caused most amusement was my beloved mirror, white, baroque style. Huge. Yes, I brought a mirror. My second item was Winnie Pooh: I got him from the CD 2010-2011 when I left the house as assistant. Now he had to come back home of course.

Pavel Zbornik (European Institutions and Communications Director): I have a bit geeky answer, I brought with me my external drive where I have all my music, movies and other important data.

Lucille Rieux (Secretary General): I came by car to Brussels, so for once, I was not as limited as when travelling by car. For me it was very important to be able to carry my guitar along with me. I am not a professional player, but having it around makes me feel better, and playing guitar is one of easy ways for me to rest my mind and disconnect from everything just by playing a bit. I also figured out that it could be nice for my housemates to have some live music once in a while. 

Luis Alvarado Martinez (President): My favourite item is my Ipod with my music.

2. What do you drink in the morning, coffee or tea?

Anna: Tea.

Miguel: I am more for milk with cereals… but if I have to choose, it will be tea.

Beata: Oh, definitely coffee! I love special coffees, their taste and smell, so sometimes it’s not just addiction, but state of art.

Kathrin: It depends on the mood, but mainly tea.

Pavel: Black tea.

Lucille: I am a tea-addicted, easy to decide.

Luis: Depends how much I have slept the night before.

3. How well do you speak French? If yes, how would you translate the following sentence: “The next year will be the best time of my life.”

Anna: Well, my French is zero level so far. Therefore, in order not to cheat, I’ll leave this sentence to my colleagues for proper translation.

Miguel: I have been living in francophone countries for several years, so even if my Spanish accent is still strong, I do speak French rather well. Writing it is another matter, as I haven’t had many opportunities to properly study French. Let’s give it a try: “L’année prochaine serait le meilleur temps dans ma vie”

Beata: I am deeply in love with the French language, unfortunately sometimes I feel that this feeling is not mutual. I was learning for some years and I have general and economic language exam, but the level I can speak now is similar to Joey’s from the Friends: 

“Phoebe: Well this looks pretty simple. Ok repeat after me: “Je m’appelle Claude”.
Joey: (…) “Je de coupe plough!”
(Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0583457/quotes)

Kathrin: Well, I can understand some, but when I try to speak I mostly mix it up with Spanish. Therefore, according to tradition: “El año que viene será el mejor año de mi vida.”

Pavel: In French I can say “Je ne sais pas” and there my knowledge ends.

Lucille: I think my French level is quite good, but I still lost a lot of my fluidity in the last years.
I am half kidding, because I think I lived too much time outside of France, and now I sometimes have trouble in building correctly the sentences in French, because I am used to other languages structure…But still, I can manage the translation: L’année a venir sera sans aucun doute, la meilleure année de ma vie.

Luis: I did my Erasmus in France and of course having Lucille near allows me to practice a lot, but of course there is always room for improving!: “Le prochaine année sera la meilleure de toute ma vie.”

4. What piece of furniture do you like most in the CD house?

Anna: My bed. 

Miguel: No doubt, the barbeques in the garden!

Beata: The tiger counts as furniture already, I would choose that. 

Kathrin: My bed. 

Pavel: I don’t have yet any particular piece of furniture which I like more or less, it is just furniture.

Lucille: As you might know, the house is not in its best shape, and there are barely good quality furniture around, but well, I’d say I love the water boiler.

Luis: My bed.

5. If you would have the chance to move the CD house to any other place in Europe, where would that be and why?

Anna: I still believe that the place of CD house is definitely in Brussels. Though in case there were other options, I would have moved it to the country, where visa regulations are not that strict.

Miguel: Well, I think that even with the weather and grey sky, there is no most suitable place for AEGEE to be located than Brussels. However, instead of Schaarbeek I would love to have the house closer to the city center, in a cosy neighbourhood walking distance from the center.

Beata: Hm, I am not the best person to ask, because I would definitely say Ireland, but I don’t even want to explain this, everyone already knows my reasons behind. Or I would move it to the UK – same weather, but better surrounding.

Kathrin: Barcelona or Lisboa! Somewhere where the weather is better, the sky is less grey and living is less expensive for sure.

Pavel: We were in August in Grand Canaria and it is not such a bad place for the CD house.

Lucille: I guess somewhere sunny wouldn’t be bad, I think the weather definitely influences a lot on our mood, so I’d very likely move it to a southern country, let’s see, Portugal, Spain or Italy…or a central city wouldn’t be bad either, like Budapest or Berlin. 

Luis: Las Palmas GC, of course because of the weather.

6. Is there a CD appointed person for your lovely rabbits in the garden?

Miguel: Well, Kathrin feeds them (a lot) and I chase the cats off the garden in my free time. Apart from that, they are not included in the task division so I guess it is more of a common task.

Kathrin: I guess my motherly instincts have taken over and currently I am the one that feeds them most.

Luis: Miguel because he is the biologist.

(Remark from The AEGEEan: The other CD members also answered that Kathrin is taking care of the rabbits.)

7. Personally, what do you wish to achieve within the next year? 

Anna: Personal growth: new knowledge, new experience, new challenges to overcome; learn myself better in order to improve; find out what I want to do further; become more confident; learn how to live with somebody and how to cook.

Miguel: If by the end of the next summer I have some spin-off adventure planned (a trip around the world, an interesting job opportunity, a challenging project to carry on) I will be more than satisfied. But right now it is too early to know what and how. The year will be long and full of learning, so whatever I imagine now will differ much of the real happenings in the summer 2013. And I like it this way.

Beata: This year is a really outstanding possibility to learn those things I never imagined I have the possibility to try out in my life. What I want to achieve is all rather connected to AEGEE, I would be more than satisfied if I realised all the dreams and ideas I started my year with and maybe a bit even more.

Kathrin: A lot of things. First of all, my tasks as External Relations Director as such come with challenges which I am really looking forward to. External representation and negotiation with partners are fields where I can learn extremely much in terms of networking, professionalism, communication. Then, of course, I am looking forward to playing my part in managing the team dynamics, coaching the others and being coached, learning together and pushing each other to new limits.

Pavel: Enjoy Brussels, not to be slave of my inbox and have non-AEGEE activities.

Lucille: I am sure this year will be a great opportunity to expand my comfort zone, just because living together with your team of co-workers, who also turn out to be your friend, is not a simple story.  I am sure I will become more self-aware of myself and my habits, whether they are nice or less nice ones, becoming more open-minded but also enjoying the potential of group thinking! Of course, after this year, I hope I will have a clearer idea of what is it that I want to carry out in my future, because I consider this year as a chance, to actually explore different topics, different situations. If in one year, if I have a clearer picture of who I want to be and what is it that I want to make a real change about for the next years, I will be extremely happy.  

Luis: Finish the term proud of the job we have done and given to the association and having grown a lot.

8. What is your favourite type of chocolate/beer/ice cream?

Anna: Very dark chocolate (90%) or a bit lighter one with the walnuts.

Miguel: I like beers with character, so I am escaping the mainstream beers like Heineken whenever I can. Here in Brussels it is like a paradise for me, as they are proud of the beers and they really have a variety.There are more beers than opportunities for tasting them all. No stress!
Regarding chocolate, I like it dark and bitter. Combined with red chilli is great if the proportions are right.
Ice cream-wise: I like them all, but I prefer not to combine fruit-based ice creams with milk-based ice creams.

Beata: I didn’t have the possibility to taste the Belgian chocolates, so my favourite one is still the Cadbury (Brussels has one year to change my taste). Regarding the beers: I didn’t really buy that many kind of beers in Belgium yet but I went to a Belgian beer festival in Budapest in June and I fell in love with the Mongozo banana beer. But I prefer rather ciders than beers (e.g. Asturian sidra or Strongbow). Ice cream? Well, in Budapest there is a nice place where they make rose-shaped ice cream (near the Basilica), but the Möwenpick’s ice creams are also not bad. 

Kathrin: Dark chocolate for sure/Castel Red, a dark cherry beer I discovered in Belgium and Ginger ice cream that you can get in a cafe in Passau.

Pavel: I’m not a big fan of chocolate or ice cream so I’ll answer about beer only. Belgium has many different types of beer and I would say that I mostly enjoy Lambic.

Lucille: I love milk chocolate, white beer and of course, chocolate ice-cream.

Luis: White chocolate always! Any beer will do! Yogurt ice cream!

9. If you would have the choice to learn the native language of one of your CD members, which language would it be and why?

Anna: I guess I would go for French, it sounds very good.

Miguel: I wish I could learn German just by wishing it, because it is a very useful one, but this has not been a strong enough reason to motivate me to learn it. On the other hand, learning to speak Russian has always been in my mind because of all the territory that it opens for traveling and discovery. And well, how cool it would be to speak a language like Czech or Hungarian!

Beata: I already started French and Spanish in high school and continued during my university year, it would be great to improve them. But if I had all the time of the world, I would learn all of them, I really like to feel confident in a country and one of the ways is to know the language.

Kathrin: French, because now I realise how useful it is. Spanish, because I can speak it already, but I would love to speak it perfectly. Czech because I always wanted to be able to speak a Slavic language. Hard to decide.

Pavel: It would be Spanish and Russian which at some point I started to learn, but didn’t get so far.

Lucille:  Haha, I haven’t yet heard Pavel speaking in its native language, so I don’t know how Czech sounds like. I think it would be cool to know how to speak German, because it is a very useful language, and Germany is a country I’d be happy to explore. I should see with Kathrin if I can trade some French stuff for her German skills.

Luis: I would ask Anna to teach me Russian or maybe Kathrin to teach me German! Hungarian would be way too hard!

Written by Stephanie Müller, AEGEE-Heidelberg

Dear AEGEEans,

On the second week of September 2012 AEGEE-Europe was represented at the European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference, which is the biggest Education Conference in Europe gathering more than 4300 participants and representatives of more than 1500 Universities from around 100 countries. The EAIE organises the conference on a yearly basis. This year it took place in Dublin.

Next one will happen in September 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey.

During the conference, President of AEGEE-Europe Luis Alvarado Martinez was invited by ETS as a speaker for one of their sessions called:

21^st century skills: Are students ready to succeed?

During this session, AEGEE presented to other European Stakeholders, like the European Parliament, European Commission, Universities around the world and other educational platforms, how we work with Non Formal and Informal Education in AEGEE to provide opportunities for our members to acquire skills and competences.

These help our members to have a better and smother transition from higher education toward the labor market. The abilities and experience we gain in AEGEE, are something which Universities of nowadays cannot provide. We develop and grow by using different approaches and methodologies as in Formal Education like horizontal learning (peer to peer, where the teacher and student are on the same level) and a lot of practical work (learning by doing). This allows us to be more prepared for the labor market´s needs.

Therefore, AEGEE is the perfect platform for our member to develop and prepare themselves for what is waiting for them in the outside world.

Our President took this opportunity to make a call upon European and International Stakeholders toward a further recognition of Non Formal Education and the role of Civil Society Youth Organisations like AEGEE, as well as of the need to allow students and young people to become co-managers of their own learning.

The organisation which invited us, ETS, advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research.

ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® General and Subject Tests and The Praxis Series assessments — in more than 180 countries, at more than 9,000 locations worldwide.

Stay tuned for more news soon.

Written by Luis Alvarado Martinez, President of AEGEE-Europe 2012-2013 & member of AEGEE-Las Palmas

On 11 August 2011, the European Commission proposed 2013 as the “European Year of Citizens” to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the European Union Citizenship under the Maastricht Treaty in 1993.

European civil society organizations and networks, members of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Liaison Group have created a civil society Alliance aiming to advocate on Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for a broader understanding of European citizenship within the proposal to designate 2013 the European Year of Citizens.

For a long time, we have been advocating for citizenship to become a transversal dimension of European policies. This proposal is an important step forward in the building of a citizen-friendly European Union that would no longer be reduced to merely economic preoccupations. Nevertheless, we are deeply concerned that, in the framework of the European Year of Citizens 2013, the EU citizenship tends to be confined to an individual rights-based approach and does not tackle the

Europeans’ sense of belonging to the common European Union.

Considering that the main objective of Commission’s proposal to designate 2013 as the “European Year of Citizens” is to raise awareness on union citizens’ rights, with a view to facilitating the exercise of the right of free movement and residence, AEGEE-Europe together with the other members of the Alliance ask the European Parliament:

• to broaden the focus of the European Year 2013 and give European citizenship its full meaning and scope by taking into account the new prospects opened up by article 11 of the treaty on the European Union for citizens’ participation in the democratic life of the European Union.

• to ensure that the preparation and implementation of the European Year 2013 is given appropriate financial means, since the current budget proposal of one million euro would only allow for top-down communication measures and not for tangible actions and does not foresee co-financing for citizens’ and civil society organizations’ initiatives;

• to call on the Commission to closely involve civil society organizations in the preparation and the implementation of the 2013 European Year, since they have a key role to play in carrying forward the European project so that it fully meets the expectations of its citizens.

Since the very beginning AEGEE-Europe has been involved in the creation of the alliance. The European Civil Forum (where we are also board members) is taking the lead of this alliance for 2013.

In the next few months, several Working Groups will be created on the themes of: Participatory citizenship and civil dialogue in the context of crisis, economic social and political citizenship, and citizenship for non EU residents and their mobility (Roma people).

On the 10^th of September 2012 AEGEE-Europe was represented by its Secretary General Lucille Rieux and President Luis Alvarado Martinez.

The Comité Directeur is researching all the different ways of getting the AEGEE network involved in this alliance. In the following months you might receive emails from CD asking you to get involved on the different national coalitions, asking you to help translate the manifesto to different languages, participate in international projects etc.

So stay tuned with the European Year of Citizens´Alliance 2013!

Written by Luis Alvarado Martinez, President of AEGEE-Europe and member of AEGEE-Las Palmas