European Students' Union

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European Students' Union

Institution	see member list
Location	Mundo-Madou. Avenue des Arts 7/8, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
Established	1982
President	Martina Darmanin
Vice presidents	Zamzam Ibrahim, Jakub Grodecki
Members	45 (40 Countries)
Affiliations	European Youth Forum
Executive Committee	see executive committee
Website	http://www.esu-online.org/

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The European Students' Union (ESU) is the umbrella organisation of 45 national unions of students from 40 countries, representing almost 20 million students. ESU aims to represent and promote the educational, social, economic and cultural interests of students at a European level towards all relevant bodies and, in particular, those of the European Union, Council of Europe and UNESCO. ESU represents the students' voice in Europe by being a consultative member of the Bologna Process. ESU is also a full member of the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the ESU nominee for 2006, was elected as YFJ president.

History[]

On 17 October 1982, seven National Unions of Students (NUSes) from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Iceland, France, Denmark, Norway and Austria established the Western European Students Information Bureau (WESIB) at a gathering in Stockholm. In February 1990, WESIB dropped the "W" to become the European Student Information Bureau (ESIB) following the political upheaval in Europe at the time. In 1992 the name was changed yet again into the National Union of Students in Europe. This reflected the recognition of the changing mission of ESIB from being a pure information-sharing organisation into a political organisation that represented the views of students in European institutions. In May 2007, the current name, European Students' Union (ESU), was introduced.

Over the years, the office of ESU has moved around Europe and was first hosted by the member NUSes. Following the establishment of WESIB in Stockholm, the office was based in the SFS Office in Sweden from 1982 until 1985, funded by a grant by the Swedish Government. By 1985 the grant was running low, and so NUS UK offered to host WESIB in their London headquarters. In 1988 the office moved to the ÖH offices in Vienna and remained there until 2000 when it was decided that for reasons of being near the European institutions, the office should move to Brussels and was hosted by VVS.

Structures[]

The highest ESU structure is the Board Meeting, bringing together representatives from all the National Unions of Students it represents. The Board Meeting sets the organisation's policy direction and elects members to the Executive Committee to run the organisation.

Executive committee[]

The Executive Committee (EC) is elected for a one-year term at the annual Board Meeting by representatives of the member organisations, with each country (not organisation) given two votes. The President and Vice-Presidents together make up the Presidency of ESU, and are responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organisation along with the seven General Members of the EC.^[1]

Title		Name	Country
Presidency	President	Martina Darmanin	Malta
	Vice Presidents	Zamzam Ibrahim	United Kingdom
		Jakub Grodecki	Poland
General Members		Pegi Pavletić	Croatia
		Matteo Vespa	Italy
		Ronja Hesse	Germany
		Otto Rosenlund	Finland
		Kristel Jakobson	Estonia
		Martin Hammerbauer	Czech Republic
		Ruben Janssens	Belgium

Member organisations[]

Country	English Name	Local Name	ESU Abbrev.[nb 1]
Armenia			ANSA
Austria	Austrian Students' Association	Österreichische Hochschülerinnen- und Hochschülerschaft	ÖH
Belarus		Задзіночанне Беларускіх Студэнтаў	BSA
Belarus		БОСС	BOSS
Belgium		Fédération Des Etudiants Francophones	FEF
	Flemish Union of Students	Vlaamse Vereniging van Studenten	VVS
Bosnia and Herzegovina		Unija studenata Republike Srpske	USRS
Bulgaria		Национално представителство на студентските съвети в Република България	NASC
Croatia		Hrvatski Studentski Zbor	CSC
Cyprus		Pagkypria Omospondia Foititikon Enoseon	POFEN
Czech Republic	Student Chamber of the Council of Higher Education Institutions	Studentská komora Rady vysokých škol	SKRVS
Denmark	National Union of Students in Denmark	Danske Studerendes Fællesråd	DSF
Estonia	Federation of Estonian Student Unions	Eesti Üliõpilaskondade Liit	EUL
Finland	National Union of University Students in Finland	Suomen Ylioppilaskuntien Liitto, Finlands studentkårers förbund	SYL, FSF
		Suomen opiskelijakuntien liitto, Finlands studerandekårers förbund	SAMOK
France		Fédération des Associations Générales d'Étudiants	FAGE
Georgia		Georgian Student’s Organizations Association	GSOA
Germany		Freier Zusammenschluss von StudentInnenschaften	FZS
Hungary		Hallgatói Önkormányzatok Országos Konferenciája	HÖOK
Iceland		Landssamtök íslenskra stúdenta	LÍS
Ireland	Union of Students in Ireland	Union of Students in Ireland, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn	USI
Israel	National Union of Israeli Students	התאחדות הסטודנטים בישראל تحاد الطلاب في إسرائيل	NUIS
Italy		Unione degli Universitari	UdU
Latvia	Student Union of Latvia	Latvijas Studentu apvienība	LSA
Lithuania		Lietuvos Studentu Sajunga	LSS
Luxembourg		Union Nationale des Etudiant(e)s du Luxembourg	UNEL
Malta	University Students' Council	Kunsill Studenti Universitarji	KSU
Moldova		Alianta studentilor din Moldova	ASM
Montenegro		Studentski Parlament Univerziteta Crne Gore	SPUM
Netherlands	Dutch National Students Association	Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg	ISO
	Dutch Student Union	Landelijke Studentenvakbond	LSVb
North Macedonia			NSUM
Norway		Norsk studentorganisasjon	NSO
Poland		Parlament Studentów Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej	PSRP
Portugal		Fórum Académico para Informação e Representação Externa	FAIRe
Romania	National Alliance of Student Organizations in Romania	Alianta Nationala a Organizatiilor Studentesti din Romania	ANOSR
Serbia		Studentska konferencija univerzitetâ Srbije	SKONUS
		Studentska Unija Srbije	SUS
Slovakia		Študetská Rada Vysokých Škôl	SRVS
Slovenia		Studenska Organizacija Slovenije	SSU
Spain	Coordinator of Student Representatives of Public Universities	Coordinadora de Representantes de Estudiantes de Universidades Públicas	CREUP
Sweden	Swedish National Union of Students	Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer	SFS
Switzerland	VSS-UNES-USU	Verband Schweizer Studierendenschaften Union des Etudiant-e-s de Suisse Unione Svizzera degli Universitari	VSS-UNES-USU
Ukraine		Українська асоціація студентського самоврядування	UASS
United Kingdom	National Union of Students		NUS-UK

Candidate members[]

Candidate-members are NUSes that have submitted an application of membership to ESU but have not yet been granted member status by the Board Meeting. Candidate-members retain their status for one year and are subject to a "study visit" by ESU to ensure they meet membership criteria. As of March 2020, there are no candidate members.

Country	English Name	Local Name	ESU Abbrev.[nb 1]
Faroe Islands	Faroese National Union of Students	Meginfelag Føroyskra Student	MSF

Associate organisations[]

Associate members of ESU are pan-European and international student organisations that have similar goals to ESU. The criteria for associate membership require the organisation to be democratic and student-run, have either students or NUSes as members, and represent students from at least 8 countries that are parties to the European Cultural Convention. Associate organizations can attend and speak at all ESU meetings, but cannot vote at Board Meetings.^[2]

• Association of Norwegian Students Abroad (ANSA)
• (EDSA)
• (EDSU)
• (ENSA)
• European Medical Students' Association (EMSA)
• European Pharmaceutical Students' Association (EPSA)
• European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS)
• (FEMYSO)
• International Association for Political Science Students (IAPSS)
• International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA)
• International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Youth and Student Organisation (IGLYO)
• International Students of History Association (ISHA)
• Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions (OBESSU)

List of chairpersons[]

Year	Name	Country
2021	Martina Darmanin	Malta
2020	Gohar Hovhannisyan	Armenia
2019-2020	Robert Napier	Malta
2018-2019	Adam Gajek	Poland
2017-2018	Helge Schwitters	Norway
2016-2017	Lea Meister	Switzerland
2015-2016	Fernando Galán	Spain
2014-2015	Elisabeth Gehrke	Sweden
2013-2014	Rok Primozic	Slovenia
2012-2013	Karina Ufert	Lithuania
2011-2012	Allan Päll	Estonia
2010-2011	Bert Vandenkendelaere	Belgium
2008-2010	Ligia Deca	Romania
2007	Koen Geven	The Netherlands
2006	Justin Fenech	Malta
2005	Vanja Ivosevic	Croatia
2004	Johan Almqvist	Sweden
2003	Stefan Bienefeld	Germany
2002	Martina Vukasovic	Serbia
2001	Jacob Henricson	Sweden
2000	Remi Bordu	France
1999	Antti Pentikäinen	Finland
1998	Peter Sondgaard	Denmark
1997	Agnieszka Bolimowska	Poland

Prior to 1997 ESIB was Chaired by a NUS instead of an individual

Year	Union	Country
1996	Hökosz	Hungary
1995	SYL	Finland
1994	SYL	Finland
1993	SFS	Sweden
1992	SFS	Sweden
1991	VVS-UNES	Switzerland
1990	NUS (UK)	United Kingdom
1989	NUS (UK)	United Kingdom
1988	ÖH	Austria

See also[]

• Eurodoc
• European University Association
• Education International

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• ESU Website
• Blog of the ESU Committee on the Commodification of Education