Annual Report 2009 - European Youth Parliament

The 4 th Think Tank of the
European Youth Parliament
Berlin, December 11 th – 13 th , 2009
Once a year the Think Tank engages EYP alumni from all over Europe in the drafting of concrete policy proposals
for European decision-makers. In its first year 2006, the Think Tank drafted its suggestions for the “Berlin
Declaration” six months prior to the actual draft and presented it in a public event to President Barroso. In 2007
the Think Tank developed recommendations for Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner who welcomed the EYP’s
input on the future of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the MEDA region. In 2008 we addressed
the future of the EU’s external trade policy for the then Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton.
This year, the Think Tank worked on the following question for the Spanish EU Presidency and Prime Minister
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero: “Learning from the past to build the future: What strategy should the European
Union and its member states adopt to ensure ecologically and socially sustainable economic growth in the 21st
Century?”
The Participants
The 4th Think Tank involved 22 EYP Alumni who had been selected by a jury composed of university professors
and policy experts. All participants were aged between 22 and 31 and came from 12 different countries.
The group was marked by an extraordinary diversity and included students, employees of national governments,
private companies and NGOs.
After the presentation and discussion with Daniel Martínez Egaña, Financial Counsellor, Embassy of the
Kingdom of Spain in Berlin, the Think Tank developed a set of recommendations and policy papers for the
Spanish EU Presidency.
Results
The outcomes of the intensive work on questions regarding the sustainable economic growth were presented
on Sunday. These policy papers were given to the Spanish Prime Minister, Members of the European Parliament
as well as other stakeholders in this topic area. The full policy papers can be obtained from www.eypej.org >
Activities > Think Tank > Policy Papers.
European Youth Parliament - Annual Report 2009 - www.eypej.org
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