Across 40 countries, young people are the ones who plan and implement all activities within the European Youth Parliament network. On a national level, the network is represented by so called National Committees (NCs). The National Committees send representatives to the biannual meeting of all NCs – the Board of National Committees (BNC). The BNC is chaired by an elected board which was just announced. But who are the three people leading the work of the BNC now?
The National Committees, which run EYP’s activities on a national level, promote the objectives of the EYP in their country. They organise sessions, training events, member events etc. independently. NCs are the place to contact for anyone interested in becoming a participant or volunteer in the EYP. Here you can find a map with all National Committees of the European Youth Parliament and their contact information.
The Board of National Committees should act as the voice for the National Committees’ interests according to the Charter of the EYP. It has co-decision power together with the Governing Body (GB) when it comes to policy-making and can also initiate proposals and recommendations. They decide on the EYP Charta and policies as well as other major decisions, such as the recognition of new National Committees. The latest National Committee to be recognized was Denmark at the Spring BNC Meeting 2017. You can find out more about the different organs in the network here.
The Board of National Committees serves as a knowledge-sharing platform to share best practices and know-how on things such as youth work in different countries, organising events, and alumni work.
The BNC gets together biannually for a meeting in Berlin and otherwise works through a mailing list, multiple working groups, online discussions and votes. Their work is facilitated by an elected board, the BNC Board consisting of up to three people. Elections for a new BNC Board are held annually.
The work of the Board of National Committees is moderated and administrated by a board consisting of one Chair and up to two Vice-chairs. They facilitate knowledge-sharing amongst the National Committees, update databases and lists, coordinate the content preparations for the BNC meetings and moderate the discussions. The BNC Board also serves as a contact point for the Governing Body and the International Office in coordinating policy proposals, online votes and overseeing the work of the network’s working groups.
Elections for the newest BNC board take place annually whilst the latest elections took place between May 29 and June 04, 2017. Hannes Ahlvin (SE), Ilija Jerkovic (RS) and Samuel Hönle (AT) were elected for a turn until spring 2018. We wish them good luck in their upcoming tasks!
Here are a few words of introduction from the newly elected BNC Board Members:
