The enlargement of the European Union will mean 75 million young people in the EU. A substantial group that must be heard not least in the debate on the future of Europe.

Therefore this conference “YOUROPA – THE FUTURE OF EUROPE” 5th-8th of December aims at making more young people participate actively in the debates about the future of Europe.

Hopefully there will also be a number of Liberals attending the conference, and I therefore encourage you to let the rest of us know if you will attend.

The conference is meant to provide a platform for the discussions on essential themes such as the enlargement, the EU and globalisation, a future European constitution and the democratic organisation of the EU.

Youth 2002 and the European Youth Convention
This summer two major youth events took place also with the topic the future of Europe: Youth 2002 which took place the first two weeks of July. 1000 young Europeans (age 18-25) from 33 countries gathered in Denmark at 13 Danish Folk High Schools. The young people were faced with the open question: If a European Constitution comes into being, what then, would we want it to contain? The discussions evolved around three main themes:

Globalisation & Democracy
A European Constitution
The White Paper on Youth Policy

After two weeks Youth 2002 came up with a proposal for a constitution, which can be read at the website.

The second big event of the summer was the Youth Convention in Bruxelles, July 9-12. The Youth Convention gathered 210 young people in the age 18-25 years for three days of work. The central themes at the Youth Convention were:

Missions and Visions for the European Union - What should be the objectives of the EU?

Democracy and Participation in the European Union - What institutional framework and competencies for an EU in touch with its citizens? Does Europe need a Constitution?

Europe in a globalised world - What should be the EU’s role and relationship vis-ŕ-vis other world regions? What should be Europe’s contribution to peace, stability and sustainable development?

The Youth Convention issued a final statement, which can also be downloaded from the website.

It is important to stress that “Youropa – The Future of Europe” is not as such a follow-up to Youth 2002 or the Youth Convention. Yet both the former events have worked with the same issues all related to the future of Europe.

The aim of “Youropa - The Future of Europe”
It is the intent of the organizers of this conference to create a platform for young Europeans to discuss essential themes such as the enlargement, the EU and globalisation, a future European constitution and the democratic organisation of the EU. To make sure that the debate is visionary and enriching, and that the content of the debate will be carried back to the debates going on in other forums, members of the European Parliament, the European Convention, national politicians and representatives of European NGO’s have been invited to give inputs to the workshops.

More information can be found at:
http://www.youropa.dk/conference