Just a small note to begin with: The European Youth Forum (YFJ) is the official platform of all Youth Organizations in Europe, consists of National Youth Councils and International NGOs and is a recognized partner of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the United Nations.
I had the opportunity last weekend to represent YEPP at the Council of Members on the occasion of the CoE Advisory Council elections. Together with Duarte and Emanuele, we attended a number of meetings, policy commissions, working groups and plenary sessions. On our first night discussion with our friends from the sister Organizations DEMYC and EDS, we decided be as participative as possible. The centre right “trio” had a candidate for the elections so we wanted to create a positive impression.
For those of you who have attended our Council Meetings – believe me – it’s a completely different experience. With 200 young europeans, all with their very own view on every issue, it’s practically impossible to reach any kind of consensus. Endless information on countless topics with background knowledge that takes months – if not years – to get full knowledge on. Hundreds of abreviations that you have to remember because they are used in every sentence. In other words, not easy.
However, when Duarte took the floor on the “Vote at 16” campaign saying something different than tha same old youth exciting quotations, everyone supported. When Bernhard from EDS took the floor in the “Crisis Document” Working Group explaining why the CAP is so high and that we shouldn’t go so easy for the populist argument, he made several people agree with him. When i took the floor in plenary explaining why we should be more careful and responsible before getting all revolutionary mentioning terms like “crisis of democracy” in Europe, we passed our amendment rather easily. And it’s not just that. We elected Mia Magazin from Serbia, former Vice – Chairwoman of DEMYC, first in votes among the 20 newly elected members of the Advisory Council. For the first time in the history of the Youth Forum, a candidate from the centre right gets the most votes in such elections. We built new partnerships. We established our strong presence among the PPYOs (Party Political Youth Organizations). We passed our proposals on Youth in Action. We were there.
For months now, i have insisted on YEPP being actively represented in this community. I had the impression, that inside this chaotic mix of people and organizations, most of them having the Youth Forum as the highest point of their agenda, YEPP can get on stage and make a difference. And i think i was right. Very few people in this platform have the political skills that our National Organizations and YEPP itself offer to us. This makes us a responsible, realistic and effective contributor in the YFJ processes, full of ideas on every issue, simply because our political agenda, is full of those. YEPP, in my opinion, is the most representative European Organization of the European Youth Forum. Having points of reference in every country and conflicts of policies even between our members, gives us a more global view on the issues, that nobody else is in place to have in YFJ. That’s why YEPP should be there, forming the agenda of the Youth Forum, being present at the great challenges that the crisis has brought up for our generation.
For all these years, i have been listening to people saying that the Forum is a Left Organization, with extreme views and any responsibility. I think i am now in place to say that this has nothing to do with the truth. The Forum is doing a lot of work, and most people are open to new ideas as long as they come with good arguments.
I guess my point is, if we are there, we can convince people about our principles, we can be the voice of responsibility, we can earn more supporters for our young centre right movement. If we are not there we can’t do anything.
