The first attempt to raise the voice of young people of Europe during the last summer has echoed also in Latvian youth. JEF Latvia together with the European Youth Convention Delegates and participants of “Youth 2002” has showed the initiative to organize the National Youth Convention in January 2003 - to discover the values and beliefs of young people in Latvia. This project has been set prior to promote discussions on the future of Europe among young people and encourage broader interest in European issues among the society in general. The result of the Latvian Youth Convention will be a non-binding document for the Latvian delegation at the European Convention. The event is put in time frame in between the second and the third sessions of the Latvian National Convention on the future of Europe, which consists of representatives from different governmental institutions, NGOs, entrepreneurs and other persons interested in creating ideological basis for the further integration of Europe.
JEF Latvia (in Latvia known as Club “The House”) was founded 7 years ago as the first non-governmental organization dealing with European issues, and still is the only youth NGO which educates people on EU matters and shares the responsibility in providing information and promoting understanding in the society. As the organization was established, its main aim was to support the integration process in Latvia, to guide the young people towards tolerance and pluralism, and most importantly towards Latvia joining EU. Currently there are more than two hundred members and around 400 hundred supporters, who are spread all over the country. The strong role of the organization in promoting willingness to contribute to the future debate is proved by the fact that every third applicant of the open competition for European Youth Convention was a member of JEF Latvia and finally two out of five chosen Latvian delegates are members of the organization.

JEF Latvia has to keep balance between practical work educating society with the help of organizing different projects – seminars, lectures, debates, competitions, exchange projects etc.; and coming up with political statements on the model of future of Europe. The current situation in the country – lack of knowledge on EU determines our main goals for the period up till the forthcoming referenda, or rather, there is a demand for putting all our resources in educating people.
As we can estimate from the previous debate experience on the future of Europe, it is not on agenda for the young people in Latvia. The main discussions are still centered around the arguments, whether we have to join the European Union or not. The future of Europe is something abstract to an average inhabitant of Latvia, and the most common argument stated among them is – how can we participate in the discussions about the future of Europe (institutional reforms, structural amendments), if we are not aware of the existing system of the European governance yet? At the same time our best contribution to the future debates is crucial for ensuring that kind of Union, what we desire.
The project of Latvian Youth Convention provides an opportunity for 70 young people from all over Latvia to be involved in discussions on future of Europe. The work will be organized in working groups, which will discuss different aspects of further integration. The themes are derived from European Convention and Latvian National Convention. We really do hope that the enthusiasm of the young people will bring the European issues in every day agenda.

Ilze Garoza
Vice-president of JEF Latvia and official delegate of European Youth Convention
ilze_garoza@hotmail.com