AEGEE-Europe 20 Years Ago

AEGEE-Könyv.qx 4/18/05 17:37 Page 2 Our Mission We work hard to fulfill the demanding commissions of our clients, work- ing at the highest artistic level with state of the art technology. We keep every project in hand from the first abstract ideas up to the produc- tion and distribution of a finished product. Achievements The majority of our new clients is acquired by public tenders. We feel our greatest strength is our success in main- taining the confidence of our clients and col- laborators, who return to us over the years with a constant stream of new projects. 1114 Budapest, Fadrusz utca 5. Telephone: (+36 1) 279-1174, 279-1175 Fax: (+36 1) 279-1176 E-mail: [email protected] AEGEE-Könyv.qx 4/18/05 17:37 Page 3 Imprint Contents Key to Europe Greetings . .4 Foreword by Bronislaw Geremek . .4 Publisher Salutations by Silvia Baita . .5 AEGEE-Europe PO Box 72, B-1040 Bruxelles-Etterbeek 1 The idea: students for European integration . .6 Phone: +32-2-245 23 00 Fax: +32-2-245 62 60 Statement of principles . .8 E-mail: [email protected] The history of a growing network . .10 Web: www.aegee.org Structure and activities . .14 Life after AEGEE . .24 Fields of Action . .28 Key20 Team Chief editor: Gunnar Erth Active citizenship . .30 Editors: Olivier Genkin, Ursˇka Sˇpeh, Virág Szabó Cultural exchange . .32 Primary proof-reader: Chris Miller Higher education . .34 Supporting proof-readers: Victoria Shenay, Peace and stability . .36 Rikke Ansbjerg A Larsen 20 years, 20 people . .38 1985: Franck Biancheri . .40 Special thanks to: all authors and sponsors, 1986: Christoph H. Vaagt . .44 Attila and Gabi Auth, János Blaskó, Balázs Horváth, 1987: Christophe Leclercq . .48 Csaba Koródi, Tibor Vörös, Christoph Strohm, 1988: Vittorio dell’Áquila . .52 Dorian Selz, Philippe Portalier, 1989: Maria Alvarez . .56 Dorothea Heister-Hovestadt, 1990: Michael Merker . .60 Michael Merker and the Comité Directeur. 1991: Gisella Gori . .64 1992: Ulla Bisgaard . .68 1993: David Stulik . .72 1994: John Stienen . .76 Design: Auth Design Kft., Budapest 1995: Oleh Kyriyenko . .80 Printing: Stadium Nyomda Kft., Budapest 1996: Zsuzsa Kônig . .84 1997: Bart Neerscholten . .88 1998: Bernhard Müller . .92 1999: Faní Zarifopoúlou . .96 Circulation: 25.000 copies 2000: Berber Hettinga . .100 2001: Jasna Bogdanovic . .104 2002: Andrei Popescu . .108 2003: Burcu Becerman . .112 Copyright: AEGEE-Europe, 2005 2004: Olivier Genkin . .116 All rights reserved ISSN 1026-227X Facing the problems of the future . .120 20th Anniversary 3 AEGEE-Könyv.qx 4/18/05 17:37 Page 4 Greetings Dear Reader, Twenty years ago I could only dream about the changes that have now occurred in Europe. At that time I was living in Poland and had to face the oppression of a system which denied its people their democratic rights. I suffered a lot of personal hardships after I became head of the programme council of Solidarnosc. Yet, I held to my beliefs and helped facilitate the round table talks that led to the abolition of the Polish communist party's monopoly on power. Later, as for- eign minister, I had the privilege of supporting the democra- tisation process in my country, and its integration into a new and better Europe. Poland has now regained its natural place in the European family. AEGEE also kept to its beliefs over the past 20 years, and helped shape a Europe which looks so different from that of 1985. At that time your vision of a stronger, more integrated Europe, and your input to the European Commission and other institutions made a real difference. After 1989, your association supported the democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe with many initiatives, but most of all by bringing people from East and West together, showing them and helping them understand each other’s reality. Your work, however, is not finished yet – and neither is mine. Despite last year's accession of ten countries to the European Union, the process of European integration is far from finished – both within the EU and throughout Europe as a whole. Economically the gap between the Central European and the Western European member states has to be closed. We need more long-term think- ing in the European Union to achieve this aim. We must emphasize the role of the European Solidarity Fund in the post-accession process. However, we must develop Europe not only as an economic area, but also And that’s not all. The next enlargement of the European as a civilisation, a community with a specific canon of Union is right in front of us. Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and values. We have to work on it. Turkey want to join the EU, and in the long run, the number of As professor for European Civilisation at the Natolin countries will rise further. Ukraine, after its marvellous “orange campus of the College of Europe, I have often dis- revolution”, is demonstrating its strong European identity and its cussed with my students such questions as: Is there a aspiration to become a member of the EU. It is good to see that European identity? What importance has the Euro- AEGEE has been supporting progess towards stability, democra- pean idea in times of globalisation? The process of rat- tisation and active citizenship in the new candidate countries for ification of the Constitutional Treaty will create an more than a decade. You have already arrived where the EU is still opportunity for a debate on such general issues. trying to reach. Therefore, your groundbreaking and grass-roots AEGEE has also been searching for answers to these support for this process will remain as valuable as ever. questions, in large Europe-wide projects such as “Youth and Globalisation” in 2003 and “Europe’s I wish you every success for your next 20 years and beyond. Identity” in 2004. This shows me that even after 20 years, your association has not lost its spirit and is Yours, still focussing on questions of significance to every Bronisl~aw Geremek single person on this continent. MEP, Patron of AEGEE-Europe 4 AEGEE-Europe AEGEE-Könyv.qx 4/18/05 17:37 Page 5 Greetings Words of Welcome Historia vero testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae… (M. T. Cicero, De Oratore 2:36) “History is the true witness of times, the light of truth, the life of memory, the teacher of life.” With these words, the Roman orator Cicero exhorted us to strengthen our arguments by solidly grounding them in lessons from the past. This is the year for us to take a lesson from the past and look at our future with more in our hands than just hope. Our first 20 years are, for AEGEE, the solid basis upon which we contin- ue to build a splendid future. I feel privileged to write to you here, as a representative of the European board, witness and leader of this process. We have a great opportunity to learn something from the past, from our founding fathers, who were able to manage an association like AEGEE when communication was much more difficult and we had far fewer tools than we do today. The association in these short years has developed so fast that it is amazing for me to list the challenges we undertook and in 2000 and Turkish-Greek Civic Dialogue 2002-2004. the innovative ideas we developed, both related to our active Our activities in the field of mobility were equally success- participation in society and also to the internal organisation ful: Find Your Way in 1996, Borderless Europe in 2000 and of our association. What is important is that we have held Quo Vadis Europe? in 2001, just to name a few. on to our belief in strengthening the European conscience, The Summer University project, our greatest milestone in the also defending by all means the lack of national level as a field of mobility, celebrates a special birthday this year, becom- tool to achieve our aims of a united Europe. ing 18 – and adult. Most impressive of all, however, is the list of Our network has been growing rapidly all these years and achievements in our main field of action: higher education. expanding ever faster in the Eastern part of Europe. We AEGEE's lobbying work helped the Erasmus programme come passed from 7 antennae in 1987 to 260 across 43 coun- into being in 1987. I also think of our participation in the tries in 2005. By 1996, there was clearly a need for a body UNESCO Conference on Higher Education in 1998, and the which would “serve and protect” our local branches, help- projects Socrates on the Move and Eureca in 2000/1. ing them to develop and grow – and thus, the Network History repeats itself, as philosopher Giambattista Vico said. Commission was born. Three years later, the AEGEE- In his opinion, history develops according to three ages - Academy was added, with the mission of organising reg- from the age of barbarousness to that of discretion and back ular human resources training for the network. again, in an endless cycle. Too often in AEGEE we failed to I remember some moments in the past when our asso- learn from our own mistakes and we were unable to play a ciation seized the chance to make history – such as the proactive role in civil society. Sometimes we let things pass us Belgrade student protests in 1996, the Kosovo conflict by without contributing much to their direction, whereas in in 1999, or even a few months ago, when some of our other times we were the real promoters of change.

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