This was also the first time a CESI Youth Board was set and elected, 7 national representatives are now member of the board. Aurelia Huberty from Luxembourg (CGFP), Murat Uluocak from Turkey (Bem-Bir-Sen), Angéla Lénart from Hungary (MKKSz), Katarzyna Pawlaczyk from Poland (WZZ), Max Pellikaan (ALE), Grégory Corps from France (CSEN) and Sabrina Pellerito (Confedir) from Italy. Beside the new members of the CESI Youth Board, 38 delegates coming from 18 different CESI member organisations all based in 13 different countries took part in the Congress.

The Congress adopted CESI Youth Statutes and its first motions, which touch upon radicalisation, youth unemployment, common EU values, apprenticeships, exchange programs such as Erasmus+ and digitalisation.

The afternoon of the Congress was organised around a panel discussion on radicalisation of young people and the correlation with democracy. This panel was composed of Roberta Bonazzi, President of the European Foundation for Democracy, Christian Moos, head of the External and International Affairs section in the dbb, Alexandra Stein, writer and educator on social psychology of ideological extremism and Zuzanna Vaneckova, member of the European Youth Forum.

This CESI Youth Congress was crucial in the further development of the CESI Youth. It laid the foundation for a successful future of CESI’s youth platform, with stronger and more involved members, ready to make a change at EU level. The first meeting of the Board was set for the first semester of 2018, where a work plan will be established for the four years to come.