SFS International Committee has been in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to participate in the 89th Board Meeting of European Students' Union, ESUIt has been an intense and rewarding week of political discussions, positions and strategic work.
What is ESU?
ESU is the primary student organisation at European level. The organisation is an umbrella organisation with 44 member national student organisations from across Europe, representing over 20 million students.
SFS has been a member of ESU since its inception and was one of the initiators of its founding. ESU was founded in 1982 in Stockholm under the name WESIB, West European Student Information Bureau. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the organization has grown to encompass the majority of Europe's student organizations.
Education policy is formally a national competence under the Lisbon Treaty, which means that the EU cannot legislate on the education systems of the member states, but only issue recommendations. Despite this, higher education is greatly influenced by European cooperation and agreements. For example, Erasmus+ has enabled student mobility across borders, and the Bologna Process has led to a common structure with three-year bachelor's programs and two-year master's programs in large parts of Europe, including Sweden.
European higher education policy is constantly changing. For example, on 12 May, member states decided on the introduction of a European degree and moved towards a common European quality assurance system. In these processes, ESU is the main representative of students in negotiations, and plays a crucial role in monitoring and promoting students' interests in the European arena.
What is a Board Meeting?
ESU's Board Meetings are the organization's highest decision-making body, a kind of council meeting, where members gather to decide on ESU's positions and statements, as well as the business plan and management for the coming year.
Host country
This time, the BM was located in Banja Luka, the capital of the Republika Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The host organization, SURS (Student Union of the Republic of Srpska), was founded in 1999, shortly after the bloody wars in the Balkans. The former national student organization played an important role in the democratization process in the country, and student representation is still enshrined in law today.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is an EU candidate country, but is highly influenced by European higher education policy. The country participates in the Erasmus+ programme and in all working groups within the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process) 2021–2025. Four Bosnian universities are part of alliances within the European Universities Initiative.
The theme of the meeting was Western Balkan Accession, a highly topical issue given the ongoing processes towards future EU membership for several countries in the region.
Delegates from the united European student movement
Decisions from the meeting
The meeting resulted in several important decisions, including:
Opinion paper
- A clarification of ESU's view on the rights and inclusion of students with disabilities, with demands that these be strengthened within European higher education policy.
- A statement about the ECTS system (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System), i.e. the system that underlies higher education credits. The statement is particularly relevant in connection with the ongoing revision of the EU's ECTS User's Guide, where ESU has an important role in representing students. The ECTS User's Guide is a guide that describes how ECTS should be used correctly and equally between countries and higher education institutions.
- A statement on student protests in Europe, where ESU expresses solidarity with students protesting against cuts, commercialization and lack of democratic space at their universities.
- A statement on vocational education and training (VET), in light of the EU's increased focus on skills and the vision of a Union of SkillsCritical perspectives were raised about the risk of higher education being unilaterally reduced to an employment engine, rather than including a focus on education and social responsibility.
Resolutions
- Resistance to the far-right's attack on higher education
- Resolution on ensuring safety standards in student housing in Europe
- Resolution on the ban on conversion therapy within the EU
- A fair and inclusive European visa strategy
- Resolution against the continued threat to the funding of student influence in Sweden
Sweden's government criticized by Europe's student movement
Student influence in Sweden was in the spotlight when the SFS resolution on the government's cuts was adopted by the ESU. This means that the entire European student movement now jointly says no: any deterioration in students' opportunities to influence is unacceptable.
Business plan and new management
The meeting adopted ESU's business plan for the upcoming term and elected new leadership. Among other things, a new board and a new presidium. Lana Par, from the Croatian student organization, was elected chairwoman. From the Nordic-Baltic network NOM, Katariina Järve, from the Estonian student organization, was elected to the board, big congratulations!
