European Youth Parliament 74th International Session Tbilisi, Georgia 4 – 13 October 2013
Creating Europe’s Future together
Each year, the European Youth Parliament (EYP) reaches out to over 20.000 young people in 41 countries to engage them in intercultural dialogue, parliamentary debate and discussion of current European topics. Since 2005, the EYP has offered young people in Georgia the opportunity to engage in European affairs. The EYP is a non-partisan and independent educational project tailored specifically to the needs of young European citizens. Today the EYP is one of the largest European platforms for political debate, intercultural encounters, political educational work and the exchange of ideas among young people in Europe. The EYP consists of a network of 41 European associations and organisations in which thousands of young people are active in a voluntary capacity. The international office of the EYP is hosted by the Schwarzkopf Foundation in Berlin.
The International Session in Tbilisi Every year, the European Youth Parliament holds three International Sessions in different European countries. We are glad to host the 74th International Session this year in Tbilisi. Here, nearly 300 teenagers, 16 to 20 years old, from over 35 European countries will meet and explore Europe together. For ten days, Tbilisi will be a hotspot for exciting debates about European political topics. The young delegates will exchange ideas and visions of Europe’s future and make friends across borders. They will discuss current topics of European politics and draft resolutions, which will then be debated according to the rules of the European Parliament. In the past our International Sessions have enjoyed wide media coverage. The Session will take place under the theme of “Youth Sharing Values”. One particular focus of the meeting is thus the question whether or not we share a set of values across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Caucasus region. The young people work in international committees on various topics, on ideas for the future of their own continent. The developed resolutions are then sent over to decision-makers across Europe. We are especially looking forward to holding our first International Session in this region, because young people from Georgia have been coming to our sessions since 2005, while independently organising meetings and events in Georgia since 2007. www.eyp.org
„I have noted with interest the work of the European Youth Parliament to promote dialogue and sharpen democratic awareness among young Europeans.“ José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission