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Diversity. Dialogue. Solidarity.
The first Euro-Mediterranean Youth Parliament
The Euro-Mediterranean conference of foreign ministers in Barcelona in 1995 marked the beginning of a new partnership between the EU states and their partners south and east of the Mediterranean. What has happened since? What expectations do young people from Sweden to Egypt have regarding a future euro-mediterranean co-operation?
During the German EU Council Presidency, the first Euro-Mediterranean Youth Parliament wants to examine and promote the Euro-Mediterranean partnership from the perspective of young adults, overcome prejudice and build bridges.
The German Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Goethe-Institut and the Heinz Schwarzkopf Foundation, in cooperation with the European Commission and the Anna Lindh Foundation for the dialogue between cultures, have invited young adults to discuss current political and social issues. At the first Euro-Mediterranean Youth Parliament, about 100 participants from 38 countries will meet in order to help organise the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in a qualified way in collaboration with representatives of the youth initiatives European Youth Forum, SALTO and Euromed Youth Platform. The goal is to practice parliamentary forms of discussion and to discuss future topics beyond cultural and geographic borders. The programme contains team forming seminars, workshops and expert presentations. The topics include migration, the role of the media, globalisation, arts and culture, energy, youth and politics. The resolutions discussed and produced within the group as well as exemplary solution approaches in the form of project suggestions are presented and discussed in the context of the youth parliament. The project aims at forming multipliers for the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue.
The participants from the eleven Mediterranean neighbouring states are invited to a preparatory conference in Alexandria. From 10 to 15 March, young people from Egypt, Algeria, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritania, the Palestinian autonomous areas, Syria, Turkey and Tunisia will debate issues on Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. They were selected by the Goethe-Institut in North Africa and the Middle East in collaboration with the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Euro-Mediterranean Youth Platform. The European participants, who make up the other half of the delegates, were chosen and prepared by the Heinz Schwarzkopf Foundation and the European Youth Forum. The Euro-Mediterranean Youth Parliament continues the idea of the “European Youth Parliament” supported by the Heinz Schwarzkopf Foundation in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.
From 26 May to 3 June 2007, all 100 Euro-Mediterranean participants will meet in Berlin. The parliamentary meeting will take place on 1 and 2 June in the Berlin House of Representatives.
In the future, too, the organisers want to support the network of new initiatives and projects in the countries on both sides of the Mediterranean. The impulses from the youth parliament are taken to the home countries of the participants via the mutual homepage and by means of follow-up events. The aim of the meetings in Alexandria and Berlin is to provide the impulse for setting up a permanent Euro-Mediterranean Youth Parliament.
A project of the European Commission and the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Concept developed by the Heinz Schwarzkopf Foundation and the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
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