President

AEGEE-Europe warmly welcomes the “Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan” published by the European Commission earlier this month. As an organisation striving to provide young people with the necessary tools to take their future into their own hands, and concerned by the dangerously high levels of especially youth unemployment throughout the continent, AEGEE-Europe strongly supports the Commission’s aim of reigniting the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe. Photo: The European Commission When going through the Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan, one could almost say it has been written after consultation with the teams of the “Europe on Track” project and the hundreds of [...]

Italian Erasmus students and young people abroad for the General Election 2013: the final decision of the Consiglio dei Ministri and the surprising reaction of the Italian Erasmus students. The Council of Ministers held yesterday a meeting with a deep evaluation about the institution of the vote for the Italian General Election 2013 while being abroad for Italian students involved in the Erasmus Programme. During the debate some “insuperable difficulties” (as it was written in the official communication) emerged: the time for changing a constitutional law is too short. The Council of Ministers wishes for the resolution of this important issue [...]

It is a hard time for AEGEE now. Before the General Assembly in Budapest, a call changed our mood. We were informed that Frank Biancheri, founder of AEGEE-Europe, had passed away on October 29th. The members of AEGEE have reacted instantly to the news, sharing their memories of meeting him, remembering how innovative his ideas were, how he had the ability to create debate around him, making new ideas flourish in the minds of those who had the opportunity to meet him. His belief that youth was a necessary actor in the building of Europe has inspired generations of active citizens [...]

AEGEE (European Students’ Forum), ESN (Erasmus Student Network) and ESU (European Student Union), Europe’s biggest student organisations, representing more than 11 million students and 30.000 volunteers from 47 countries, call upon the European Union decision-makers for adequate support to education and youth programmes in the budget negotiations under the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2010.  As representative student organisations, we fully support the European Commission proposal to increase funding for education, training, youth and sport programmes to 19 billion EUR over 7 years. We believe that it is the minimum amount required to achieve the objective of sustainable growth and jobs, as agreed in the [...]

AEGEE-Europe has started a petition asking the relevant EU bodies to secure funding for the Erasmus programme. To view and sign the petition, click here. October started with a worrying statement from the Chair of the Committee on Budgets of the European Parliament, Mr. Alain Lamassoure: “We have not foreseen in the 2012 budget enough credit payments … so the cohesion funds are at risk, also the European Social Fund, the Erasmus and life-long learning programmes, and even the research and innovation programmes”. [1] These words, coming from inside the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets, shocked the European society, and especially the [...]

At a time when the idea of Europe is being questioned, we think it is important to ask its youth, what is their position and what are their expectations from the Europe of tomorrow. As a youth platform, we think it is fundamental to give voice to the young generation, in order to take their opinion, their realities and their wishes into account. AEGEE-Europe, in collaboration with its partner, Interrail, is launching the "Europe on Track" project. Along with our wish to build a stronger identity of our association, we are launching this project, which will enable us to capture young [...]