Call for Leadership Amsterdam 2019 EYPNL

EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT THE NETHERLANDS

Call for Leadership for the 19th National Selection Conference of EYP NL

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CALL FOR LEADERSHIP

It is with great excitement that EYP NL would like to announce that the call for Leadership for the 19th National Selection Conference in Amsterdam 2019 is now open! We are looking for one or two President(s), one or two Head(s) of Jury and one or two Editor(s) to join Head Organiser Thanos Theofanakis as part of the Leadership. The call will be open until Wednesday the 15th of August and all applications will be submitted through the members platform. The selection panel will discuss each application individually and all applicants will be notified personally of the selection result.

Academic Theme of the Session Bending Without Breaking: A Modern Union in a Changing Europe There are many reasons why 2019 is a year of reflection for the European Union. Forty years ago, the first European parliamentary elections took place, which were the first ever international elections. At the time, only nine Member States participated. Twenty years ago the Treaty of Amsterdam came into effect, with which, among other things, the Euro was introduced. Three years later, it would become the official currency in twelve countries. The EU then had fifteen member states. Ten years after that, in 2009, the Lisbon Treaty came into force, involving many far-reaching changes, including a greater role for the European Parliament, the introduction of a President of the European Council and the legal implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The European Union then had 27 member states.

In 2019, the EU will have 27 Member States again, for the first time since 2013. With the departure of the United Kingdom, the philosophy of European integration as an irreversible process has been definitively disproved. At the same time, the EU is struggling to find answers to problems such as the migration crisis and global warming, the challenges of the digital age and the ever-growing Euroscepticism in its Member States. Although more than 80% of European Union citizens support its fundamental principles, only a third have confidence in the EU as we know it and a majority thinks the Union is headed in the wrong direction.

The necessity for change is not only evident close to home. The EU's share in the world is shrinking. Whereas in 2005, the EU economy accounted for 26% of the world, this number will be only 20% in 2030. The withdrawal of the United States from the Paris agreement and the Iran deal confronts us with a harsh reality: Europe must become independent enough to stand up for the protection of human rights and the preservation of peace on the international stage without having to rely solely on its traditional allies.

In 2017, the European Commission published the White Paper on the Future of Europe, in which it presents its view of the current state of affairs, identifies the greatest challenges for the European Union and sets out five possible future scenarios for Europe. The European Parliament elections will take place again in 2019. These will not only determine the composition of the European Parliament but will also guide the composition of the European Commission. A new President of the European Council will also be elected in 2019.

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The need to change is clear. The opportunity too. Only the right way forward must be found. The role of young people in this is unmistakable; for the first time since World War II, there is a real chance that the youth will be less well off than the generation of her parents. Throughout Amsterdam 2019, participants will be challenged to explore current problems and find an answer to the question of how the European Union should face the future.

Head Organiser’s Vision for the Session

Just like the European Union, EYP, too, must bend or break. I envision Amsterdam 2019 to be a session during which we can move away from some common EYP practices, mindsets and traditions. First and foremost, I believe that participant welfare has a long way to go in EYP but I see this as one of the most important things to a session and will work with this value in mind throughout the preparations for this session. This means proper food for all participants, those with dietary needs as well, but also a schedule that allows for winding down and getting some good sleep after a long day. It is important to realise that participant welfare will not be treated as a secondary priority during the session but rather as a prerequisite for all officials and delegates to be able to fully enjoy and learn from their session.

Another key aspect of my vision for this session is the manner in which participants interact with each other.

This can be interpreted at the Leadership-level, with different teams often not communicating properly among each other, the official level, which manifests itself in the form of some teams not interacting with the rest of the officials team at all, as well as between officials and delegates. For Amsterdam 2019, I see a session which has delegates and officials learning from each other, not just during the session programme, as well as an officials team which can function as one without internal strife or gross miscommunications.

Finally, I aim for a session which allows for all participants to have a challenging academic experience, focusing in-depth on current issues on the EU level and on participants’ personal development, as well as a unique emotional experience, highlighting the network’s value on a personal level and showing delegates and officials both how special an EYP session can be. Both aspects should be two sides of the same coin, yet all too often EYP sessions seem to select either or, a choice which seems to imply an incompatibility between the two options. However, I believe that, with the right guidance from all Members of the Leadership Team, Amsterdam 2019 has the ability to combine the two into one successful session.

Vision for the Leadership

For the Leadership of Amsterdam 2019, it has been decided to move away from the more traditional structure in which a president is invited and then (co-)selects the other team leaders, as it assumes a certain hierarchy within the Leadership. As a result, a division between different teams can be observed on all levels, with members of the Organising Team or Jury Team not interacting with officials outside their teams but also with team leaders not communicating properly among each other.

Instead, by selecting the President(s), Head(s) of Jury and Editor(s) together, we aim to create a Leadership Team whose members work closely together towards more than just the success of their own team, all in an 3 European Youth Parliament the Netherlands

egalitarian setting. The aim for the Leadership Team of Amsterdam 2019 is for its members to feel ownership over all aspects of the session and to be dedicated towards the realisation of this concept. Therefore, one of the most important qualities we are looking for is responsibility, towards one’s own team, towards the Leadership Team and towards the session in general. Concretely, this means that all members of the Leadership Team will be expected to have an active and proactive approach throughout the preparations for the session. Extensive communication between all members of the Leadership Team will be present before, during and after the session until all the work has finished.

In addition to the egalitarian structure of the leadership, another way in which the team will differ from that of most EYP sessions is that Amsterdam 2019 will be the first session to not only allow for co-Editors, but also consider applications for co-Heads of Jury and co-Presidents. This concept has been a topic of discussion for a while now but, during Amsterdam 2019, this structure will have its pilot in EYP NL during a National Selection Conference. The aim of this new approach is to explore how the benefits of dual team-leadership, which are undisputed within the Media Team and Organising Team, transfer to the Chairs Team and Jury Team.

Expected benefits of this structure are the opportunity to spend more time and attention on (pre-)session work, the opportunity for complementary visions and approaches to allow for a more richly varied environment for the teams, and the ability to spend more attention on the personal development of members within the teams. Throughout the pre-session preparation, during the conference and after the event, there will be continuous evaluation of and feedbacking on the functioning of this structure with the long-term aim of turning this pilot into a sustainable and feasible form of leadership within EYP. Please note that, while we hope to be able to experiment with this exciting new idea, solo-applicants and co-applicants will be reviewed by the selection panel equally.

Members of the Leadership Team will have considerable influence in all decision-making of the session, all contributing significantly to the realisation of the Leadership’s vision for the event. In addition to that, all Members of the Leadership Team will have extensive freedom and independence in the way they manage their team with the full support of the organisation to enable any (innovative) plans or ideas you may have.

Furthermore, we are looking for Team Leaders who prioritise the personal development of the members of their respective teams and who dedicate themselves to teaching participants something new. Finally, we are looking for kind leaders who understand that the efforts put in by the alumni of our network are purely on a voluntary basis and that, although the output of the session is not to be underestimated, fun is also an important aspect of every EYP session.

Vision for the Editor(s) In addition to the responsibilities that come with being a Member of the Leadership Team, the Editor(s) will be primarily responsible for the media output of Amsterdam 2019. The Editor(s) is/are invited to explore the session theme using the Media Team’s output, which should also be aimed at bringing all participants of the session closer together, both socially and academically. The Editors will be free to innovate as they wish to achieve this. We hope to work together with one or two Editor(s) who will lead a Media Team that is engaged in the session and that contributes to the atmosphere of the session. The Editor(s) will be able to train the Media Team during one day of CJJO.

It goes without saying that we hope the Editor(s) will be dedicated to the session outcome and take pride in their work and ownership of the event. The Editor(s) can expect full cooperation from the other teams in the realisation of their vision for the session, and vice versa.

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Vision for the Head(s) of Jury In addition to the responsibilities that come with being a Member of the Leadership Team, the Head(s) of Jury will primarily be responsible for the selection of delegates to be sent to International Sessions or other international EYP events. As such, the Head(s) of Jury work(s) closely together with the Board of EYP NL to establish selection criteria and create a working procedure that best fits these. In addition, the Head(s) of Jury should be professional and able to represent EYP NL to any teachers that may be interested in the selection procedure.

However, although the Jury Team’s work primarily concerns the delegates, the Head(s) of Jury is/are encouraged to come up with specific ways in which they will prevent a situation in which the Members of the Jury become “outcasts” in the session, interacting little to none with other officials, as is unfortunately seen at many sessions.

Finally, year after year an incredibly competitive spirit is present at the NSCs of EYP NL. Although we celebrate and nurture this spirit, all too often does this lead to mentality among many delegates which clashes with some of the most fundamental values of EYP NL, such as cooperativeness and mutual learning. We encourage the Head(s) of Jury to come up with a way to ensure that the competitive elements of the session are not lost while simultaneously preserving a constructive, EYP-worthy atmosphere.

The Head(s) of Jury will be able to train their team during one day of CJJO.

Vision for the President(s) In addition to the responsibilities that come with being a Member of the Leadership Team, the President(s) will be primarily responsible for the implementation of the academic side of the session. The President(s) is/are invited to explore the session theme to adapt and implement it in all levels of the academic work of the session however they see fit. Examples of possible approaches would be to approach the session theme by drafting topics which are at the core of the functioning of the European Union, although, ultimately, all decisions regarding the academic implementation of the theme will be up to the discretion of the President(s).

In addition to that, the President(s) will guide a team of 14-16 Chairpersons, co-chairing eight committees, in addition to up to three Vice-presidents. The President(s) will be able to train their team during one day of CJJO.

If you have any questions concerning your application, we hope you will not hesitate to contact the Head Organiser of the session, Thanos Theofanakis (​thanos.theofanakis@eyp.nl​). Best of luck writing your applications!

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