Dear JEFers,

Several people have asked me during the last few weeks to consider a candidacy for the elections to the JEF Europe Executive Bureau at the October Congress in Copenhagen. Please allow me to herewith express my decision to do so and elaborate on my motivation to run as a candidate for the next EB. For JEF Europe as a prominent and powerful umbrella organisation of a European popular movement, I see its future role in the following fields:

a) JEF Europe as a facilitator:

JEF Europe should assist its national member sections in what they are not capable of doing themselves. As an umbrella organisation, it should pool resources to enable the national sections to cooperate with each other and with other organisations. Moreover, it should provide the infrastructure and a framework to streamline efforts to facilitate transnational actions, programmes, campaigns and seminars where European youth can meet other young Europeans to learn about European integration, peace and understanding, exchange thoughts and different viewpoints on political issues as well as practical questions of everyday life, such as living, studying or working in another country or making friends across borders. It should therefore complement the network of national sections inasmuch as to support them in their endeavours to provide opportunities for young people to enter Europe, live Europe, and build Europe.

b) JEF Europe as a hub:
Members of JEF, like every social or popular movement in civil society, should be able to critically analyse the current state of political affairs and be able to voice and express their opinion towards European issues that affect our daily lives. Therefore, I see JEF Europe as an organisation that enables the young generation all over Europe in contributing to building a Europe of the citizens. Providing a platform to formulate political visions and agendas, helping explain the complexities of European politics, allowing individual members to share and exchange ideas on a European level and offering opportunities to acquire intercultural competences and to participate in a transnational political movement should in general be key tasks for our organisation.

As a candidate for the Executive Bureau, and thus the Federal Committee, I also see very concrete and specific tasks for our movement which has been existing for more than 60 years now. The teams on previous Boards have had hard work to do, managing our organisation on a European level and it will be difficult to live up to the expectations they have raised. However, we must keep up the efforts as it will be crucial for us to broaden our financial and membership basis, systematically establish stable national sections in all European countries, in order to lobby for the European Idea and be a true and credible voice of a young european civil society.

In my candidacy letter, which has reached you via the jeftalk and fc mailing lists, I give more detailed information about my professional background and I concentrate on three more specific priorities I would like to help realise for JEF Europe during the next two years:

1. Guarantee financial transparency, stability and full accountability

2. Diversify and secure funding from private sources

3. Ensure and realise effective communications policies

Federalism can only be one instrument of many to create a free and democratic Europe based on the rule of law. Decisions must be reached by democratic institutions at the most appropriate level, not in ominous back rooms. It is the task of JEF Europe to press for that on a European level in dialogue with European institutions, parliamentary groups, associations, civil society, human rights organisations and the general public.