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Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe

AEGEE, or Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe, known as European Students' Forum in English, is one of Europe's largest cross-faculty student organisations.

Established in 1985, AEGEE currently has around 15,000 members across 241 local groups (antennae) in university cities across Europe, including Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus, with a European board in Brussels. It promotes an equal, democratic and unified Europe, open to all across national borders. Several hundred conferences, training and cultural events are organised across the network every year, and AEGEE also campaigns and lobbies for the interests of European students, in particular the reduction of visa barriers between European countries.

The short name "AEGEE" derives from the Aegean sea, one of the birthplaces of democracy, and the full name from the first parliament established during the French Revolution, the États Généraux.

Structure

AEGEE has an elected European board, the Comité Directeur with a residential office in Brussels, and a number of European-level working groups as well as its autonomous local antennae. Active members meet twice a year at the end of April and October in a general assembly called an Agora, hosted by a different antenna each time. Most candidates for positions at the European level are elected at the Agora, which also ratifies the creation or deletion of antennae, working groups and projects. There is also a smaller annual European Boards' Meeting, intended to develop projects and campaigns and usually held in late winter.

The association has no national level, and, at least in theory, it does not recognise the current national borders within Europe. In practice, however, many antennae maintain close contact with their national governments, and get financial and political support for their initiatives.

Antennae are supported by the Network Commission, a group of experienced members appointed by the Agora to help the network grow and develop. They provide advice, training and practical help, especially with local human resources and event organisation. Network Commissioners each have responsibility for a number of locals across several national borders, which can be reshuffled at each Agora to stop any fixed national or regional divisions from forming.

Each city antenna is a separate legal person under its own local law, not under the direct control of the Comité Directeur. However, to become a part of the AEGEE network, prospective antennae must include the principles of AEGEE's statute within their own, and have them approved by the Comité Directeur and Juridical Commission. This allows AEGEE to have an antenna wound up in case of inactivity or serious misconduct.

Membership of an antenna is normally open to anyone younger than 30 living in the local area, on payment of a membership fee set by the local board. Many antennae concentrate their promotional activities on students at their home university, and are not very visible to outsiders.

The majority of AEGEE events are open to non-members, however this tends to be poorly promoted except to local students. It is quite common for all participants to be from the host city or other AEGEE antennae. Some activities, most notably the statutory Agorae and EBMs and the Summer University project, are explicitly restricted to AEGEE members who must be approved by their home antenna's board.

AEGEE was founded in France and still uses a number of French terms, but the main working language at European level is now English. Most antennae use their own local language, however local board members generally need a working knowledge of English.

Activities

AEGEE is a full member of the European Youth Forum, collaborating with other youth NGOs to deal with issues such as visa barriers and funding for activities. It also has direct contact with the Council of Europe and European Union, working closely with both these bodies on issues of importance to young people.

Fields of Action

AEGEE organises a wide range of projects, most of which relate to one of four main fields of action: Active Citizenship, Higher Education, Peace & Stability, and Cultural Exchange.

Active citizenship

AEGEE is an independent non-party political organisation, working closely with governments, institutions and other NGOs to realise its goals for Europe. AEGEE aims to provide a political voice for its members at every level, organising conferences on a range of topics and using the results to lobby European institutions.

Higher education

AEGEE represents students who care about the European dimension of higher education. As well as encouraging student mobility, AEGEE supports language learning, promotes international cooperation in the academic world, and campaigns for the further development of European education programmes.

Peace and stability

By encouraging democratic ideals, tolerance and mutual understanding between young adults from communities in conflict, AEGEE contributes to conflict resolution in the Balkans, the Caucasus, on Cyprus, and in Greece and Turkey. AEGEE also organises conferences and seminars on international political issues.

Cultural exchange

Building respect and appreciation between people of different cultures is core to all of AEGEE's work. AEGEE sees this field of action as the core of European integration, believing that integration can never be a top-down process, but must be based on friendship among the peoples of Europe. AEGEE groups organise a substantial number of cultural exchange events every year.

History

April 1985 : The association, originally called EGEE, held its first event: an assembly in Paris of students from Paris, Leiden, London, Madrid, Milan and Munich, organised by founding president Franck Biancheri. October 1986 : Three EGEE working groups were formed: Sponsoring, Traineeships and Language Study.

A conference on cross-border developments in Nijmegen.

By the start of the academic year, EGEE has 26 branches and 6,000 members. November 1986 : In Heidelberg, a conference on relations between the Far East and Europe.

In Toulouse, the first European Space Weekend. December 1986 : In Paris, a conference on the pharmaceutical industry in Europe.

In Munich, a conference on the European Monetary System. 1987 : EGEE persuades French president François Mitterrand to support funding for the Erasmus programme, a student exchange program financed by the European Commission. 1988 : The association changes its name from EGEE to AEGEE following a trademark dispute. 1989 : After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Agora in Salerno opens up AEGEE to local antennae outside the European Community, making it one of the first European organisations to expand beyond the old Iron Curtain. May 1990 : Les Anciens d'AEGEE-Europe is founded during the EGEE VI meeting in Paris.

A new AEGEE logo is released, representing "Your Key to Europe". 1995 : Head office of the organisation moves to Brussels.

Ankara and several other Turkish antennae join the network. 1996 : More than 1000 students are actively involved in the conference series "Find Your Way..." explaining what students can do in the emerging civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. 1998 : AEGEE organises its first visit to Cyprus. Following this, in 2001 an antenna is created in Mağusa. April 1999 : Foundation of the AEGEE-Academy for training and human resources at Agora-Barcelona, prompted by preparations for the European School in Gießen. 2000 : "Education for Democracy", a new scholarship programme helping students from war-shattered Kosovo to study at universities abroad.

During the autumn, AEGEE-Beograd members took part in the public assembly that learns of Milosevic's defeat. 2001-2002 : AEGEE organises several major projects focusing on peace and stability in southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. 2002 : Launch of AEGEE-Television by AEGEE-Eindhoven. 2003 : AEGEE's first study trip to the Caucasus.

AEGEE organises the first international student conference in the buffer zone on Cyprus. 2007 : AEGEE organised the simulation 'Model European Union' in the presmisses of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Due to the impact of the Bologna Process on students' life, the mandate cycle of the Comtité Direceur has been changed from Spring-Autumn and Autumn-Spring to a full academic year from 1 September - 31 August with a transition period in August, starting from August 2008. 2008 : AEGEE-Eindhoven starts AEGEE-travelwiki.

Presidents of AEGEE so far

Name	Antenna	Period in office
Franck Biancheri	Paris	Apr 1985 - Apr 1988
Vieri Bracco	Milan	Apr 1988 - Nov 1988
Frédéric Pélard	Toulouse	Nov 1988 - Nov 1989
Adolfo Dominguez	Madrid	Nov 1989 - May 1990
Achim Boers	Delft	May 1990 - Nov 1990
Georg von der Gablentz	Berlin	Nov 1990 - Apr 1992
Jeroen Hoogerwerf	Amsterdam	Apr 1992 - Apr 1993
Pavel Miladinovic	Prague	Apr 1993 - Nov 1993
Zsuzsa Kigyós	Budapest	Nov 1993 - Apr 1994
Dorian Selz	Geneve	Apr 1994 - Nov 1994
Christina Thorsson	Lund	Nov 1994 - Apr 1995
Egens van Iterson Scholten	Enschede	Apr 1995 - Nov 1995
Christoph Strohm	Cologne	Nov 1995 - Apr 1996
Jordi Capdevila	Barcelona	Apr 1996 - Nov 1996
Gerhard Kress	Mainz	Nov 1996 - Apr 1997
Peter Ginser	Karlsruhe	Apr 1997 - Nov 1997
Sergio Caredda	Gorizia	Nov 1997 - Apr 1998
Hélène Berard	Aix-en-Provence	Apr 1998 - Oct 1998
Stefan Seidel	Augsburg	Oct 1998 - Apr 1999
László Fésüs	Szeged	Apr 1999 - Nov 1999
Faní Zarifopoúlou	Athens	Nov 1999 - May 2000
Oana Mailatescu	Cluj-Napoca	May 2000 - Nov 2000
Karina Häuslmeier	Passau	Nov 2000 - Nov 2001
Pedro Panizo	Valladolid	Nov 2001 – May 2002
Tomek Helbin	Warsaw	May 2002 – Nov 2002
Mark de Beer	Enschede	Nov 2002 – May 2003
Diana Filip	Cluj-Napoca	May 2003 – Oct 2003
Adrian Pintilie	Bucharest	Oct 2003 – Apr 2004
Nicola Rega	Torino	Apr 2004 – Nov 2004
Silvia Baita	Cagliari	Nov 2004 - May 2005
Burcu Becermen	Ankara	May 2005 - Nov 2005
Leon Bakraceski	Skopje	Nov 2005 - May 2006
Alistair De Gaetano	Valletta	May 2006 - Nov 2006
Theijs van Welij	Utrecht	Nov 2006 - Dec 2007
Laure Onidi	Cologne	Dec 2007 - Sept 2008
Dragan Stojanovski	Niš	Sept 2008 - Present