Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe
The AEGEE, or Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe, known as European Students' Forum in English, is the largest transnational, interdisciplinary student organisation in Europe.
Established in 1985, AEGEE currently has around 13,000 members more than 200 local groups in university cities across Europe, including Russia, Turkey and the Caucasus, with a European board and head office 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 advocates for the needs and interests of European students.
The short name "AEGEE" evokes the Aegean sea, one of the birthplaces of democracy, and the full name includes the first parliament established in France, the États Généraux.
Structure
AEGEE has a yearly elected European board, the Comité Directeur with a head office in Brussels, and a number of European-level working groups. There is a large network of autonomous local groups, the antennae. Active members meet twice a year in Spring and Autumn in a general assembly called 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 establishment or deletion of antennae, working groups and projects. There is also a smaller annual European Planning Meeting, intended to develop projects and campaigns and usually held in late winter: During the EPM, AEGEE also works on developing its Strategic Plan in an Action Agenda for the whole AEGEE network.The association has no national level, and it does not recognize the current national borders within Europe.
Antennae are supported by the Network Commission, a group of experienced members elected 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. Each Network Commissioner has responsibility for a number of locals across several national borders, which can be reorganised at each Agora to prevent the creation of any fixed national or regional division.
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. They sign a contract called Convention d'Adhésion which allows AEGEE to have an antenna wound up in case of inactivity or serious misconduct.
Membership of an antenna is generally open to anyone younger than 35 living in the local area, upon 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.
Most 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 EPMs 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, which is also defined as the official language of the Agora. Most antennae use their own local language for their local activities, however local board members generally need a working knowledge of English.
Its current board consists of six people. The statutory seventh board position remains vacant until the next board takes office.
| Position | Name | AEGEE-Local | Nationality |
| President | Daniël Amesz | Leiden | |
| Secretary General | Monika Mojak | Warsaw | |
| Financial Director | Refik Barış Özçelik | Istanbul | |
| Vice-President & External Relations Director | Álvaro González Pérez | Heidelberg | |
| Communications Director | Batuhan Çarikçi | Izmir | |
| Projects Director | Hanna Alajõe | Tartu | |
| Network & HR Director | Oksana Prokopchenko | Sheffield |
Agora (General Assembly)
Agora is AEGEE's general assembly, which takes place twice a year.Affiliations and platform
AEGEE-Europe is involved in bigger platforms and works with many other international institutions and organizations, in order to bring a students perspective to each one of the processes.AEGEE-Europe is a full member of the European Youth Forum. AEGEE has had 2 representatives in its history in the Board of Directors of European Youth Forum.
AEGEE-Europe is also full member of the European Movement International.
AEGEE-Europe is also a full member in the Lifelong Learning Platform.
AEGEE-Europe was founding member and currently board members of the European Civic Forum. AEGEE-Europe has been in the board of the ECF several terms, always represented by the President of AEGEE-Europe.
AEGEE-Europe works closely inside the Council of Europe. Since 2013 AEGEE is back-to-back an elected to be part of the Advisory Council on Youth of the Council of Europe. AEGEE is also involved in the Conference of INGOs and works closely with the Youth Department and the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe.
AEGEE-Europe has consultative status at the United Nations, working closely with UNESCO, ECOSOC, UNEP, UNFPA, UNDP and other agencies and bodies.
AEGEE-Europe works with the World Bank, the OECD and the OSCE.
AEGEE-Europe is a member of IFISO.
History
; 1985 : The association was born the 16 April 1985 as a result of the EGEE 1 conference, when it held its first event in Paris: an assembly of students from Paris, Leiden, London, Madrid, Milan and Munich, organised by founding president Franck Biancheri in cooperation with five Grandes Écoles in Paris. It had the aim to overcome the paralysis of the European integration process at the time. Franck Biancheri led the whole process and soon all students involved wanted to turn the EGEE conference into an organisation being the platform for young Europeans. The aim of the founders was to create a space for young Europeans to discuss European matters and present their ideas to both the European and national institutions.; 1986 : Three EGEE working groups were formed: Sponsoring, Traineeships and Language Study.
; 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.
; 1990 : Les Anciens d'AEGEE-Europe is founded during the EGEE VI meeting in Paris.
; 1991 :The first European School 1 training is organized in Madrid.
; 1992 : İstanbul has joined the network as the first Turkish antenna.
; 1993 : AEGEE gets official NGO status in the Council of Europe.
; 1994 : AEGEE develops its first website.
; 1995 :Ankara and later 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.
; 1997 : AEGEE organises its first visit to Cyprus. Following this, in 2001 an antenna is created in Mağusa.
; 1998 :AEGEE organizes a Case Study trip to Transilvania
; 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.
; 2001 : AEGEE organises several major projects focusing on peace and stability in southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region under the Education for Democracy project.
; 2002 :AEGEE launches one of the biggest and most successful projects: the Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue between 2002 and 2005. With the establishment of AEGEE locals in Turkey in the 1990s, AEGEE realized the necessity of establishing a dialogue between the neighbors in conflict. Based on its own experience and the tense relations between Turkish and Greek AEGEE members in those first days, AEGEE focused its activities on peace-building between two countries as an organisation acting for peace and stability, proving at the AEGEE scale that cooperation was possible and that the dialogue between people can happen much more easily that the dialogue between the political level.
; 2003 :AEGEE launches Discussing Bologna Process project getting ready for the start of the harmonization of higher education in Europe and bringing a strong student perspective to it.
AEGEE's first study trip to the Caucasus.
; 2004 : AEGEE starts a dialogue with the new neighbours of the enlarged EU in its project Europe & EU, conducted by the International Politics Working Group
; 2005 :AEGEE celebrates its 20th anniversary in Prague and publishes a special edition of its "Key to Europe".
; 2006 :AEGEE starts a campaign to include the European Citizens' Initiative in the Treaty of Lisbon, and conducts several Election Observation Missions as part of its Flagship Project Take Control! – ways to democracy in Europe
; 2007 : AEGEE organised the simulation Model European Union in the premises of the 'European Parliament in Strasbourg.
; 2008 :AEGEE launches Y Vote 2009 – European Youth Choice to encourage voting for young people.
; 2009 : AEGEE wins 1st place in the European Charlemagne Youth Prize for its project YOUrope Needs YOU!!!
; 2010 :AEGEE organises the UN Millennium Development Goals Conference within the framework of the project Beyond Europe Perspectives for Tomorrow's World.
; 2011 : AEGEE initiates the Eastern Partnership Project to give youth a voice and to strengthen civil society in the wider neighbourhood countries.
; 2012 : AEGEE launches its project Europe on Track, sending ambassadors by train all over Europe to gather the opinion of the European Youth on the future they want for the continent.
; 2013 :
Presidents of AEGEE
During the last Agora, which took place in Bucharest on 8–13 of May, three candidates ran for the position of President of the Comité Directeur. Daniel Amesz was elected and took over the presidency by the 1 August 2019.| Name | Local | Nationality | Current position |
| Daniel Amesz | AEGEE-Leiden | Former Mediation Commission President | |
| Evrim Emiroglu | AEGEE-Eskişehir | Network Director of AEGEE-Europe | |
| Roberto Rosetto | AEGEE-Napoli | SU Project School Coordinator |