Youth Leaders to be Chosen in Krakow

On 22-26 September, Krakow will host the 7th national selection process for participation in the European Youth Parliament (EYP) in Poland. The session will bring together 80 high school participants, students and their teachers, who will be grouped into committees and asked to deliberate selected policy, economic, cultural and social issues. The theme of this year’s selection process will centre on the current Polish presidency of the European Union and its main priorities. The goal of the program is to encourage interest among young people in pondering the importance of this specific period of time for Polish and European politics, both domestic and foreign.

A five-day educational program is planned to give students hands-on experience with team building and committee work by simulating the parliamentary process of the European Union and providing them with access to experts on issues surrounding the Polish presidency. To stress the importance of integration in the European Union, the EYP sessions bring together representatives from 33 countries, among them Austria, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, the Czech Republic, Romania, Switzerland, and Ukraine.

Participants form multi-national committees, each confronted with a different topic, and must produce a resolution which is then defended and debated at the General Assembly. The jury will choose a total of 16 representatives from Poland to participate in the prestigious pan-European sessions of the EYP in Lviv (2010) and Atenach (2011). All meetings and debates take place in English. More information can be found online at eyppoland.com.