The EFIL Board met in Brussels, Belgium, on 27-29 October 2017. It was the Board’s third and last in-person Board meeting of 2017. The draft minutes of the meeting, as well as selected background documents, have been shared with the EFIL Member Organisations and the AFS network via e-mail and the AFS Announcements.
Some of the main outcomes are listed below.
- There’s a significant increase in the number of participants in the annual European Citizenship Trimester Programme (ECTP) this year (+50).
- EFIL is involved in an increasing number of projects which is in line with the objective to expand EFIL’s activity scope following the GA-approved investment of part of EFIL’s reserves.
- The updated joint position paper on school students’ mobility within Erasmus+ was well received by the Commission and Parliament.
- Ms. Ulrike Lunacek, Vice-President of the European Parliament and AFS returnee, who has supported EFIL since many years, stepped down from her position and has left Brussels.
- MEP Negrescu, the main supporter of the campaign around the recognition of study periods abroad, is no longer a member of the European Parliament and the preparatory action ‘Recognise Study Abroad’ has been rejected by the Parliament.
- The lobbying for an increased administrative grant for youth organisations under Erasmus+ for 2018-2020 was not successful.
- Further internal debate is needed on how to get EFIL Member Organisations more engaged in Intercultural Dialogue Day and in activities that reach out to the external environment.
- The Board discussed the EFIL Advocacy Strategy 2017-2020 referring to the lobbying for increased efforts to convince European policy makers to release more funding for pupil mobility, as was raised in a motion at EFIL’s GA May 2017.
- The Board discussed the outcomes of the meeting that took place in Accra between AFS INT and EFIL, mostly focusing on the requirements for International Associates and the changes in the policy on these requirements.
- Following a request by the EFIL GA, the Board has initiated discussions on which criteria to take into consideration for non-AFS organisations to join the Federation.
- The Board took note of the current budget situation and the extrapolation to the year-end, which shows that we are heading for a balanced 2017 budget.
- The Board looked back at EFIL’s efforts in the field of Intercultural Learning over the past year, using the EFIL ICL Strategy as a monitoring tool.
- An extra-ordinary General Assembly will be held on 30 May 2018 during the Heads of Office retreat in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- There’s an interest from a number of member organisations to create a platform for discussion and reflection by the Chairs.