This year’s Summer School of ECPYouth was far from a regular event; the gathering has not only marked the end of a few months of our intense ‘Forward in Faith’ campaigning for the European elections but further coincided with 20 years of the organization’s existence.

The joy of hosting this momentous occasion went to Bucharest, Romania.

Over 30 young leaders, future visionaries, and policy enthusiasts, both alumni and new faces, gathered for a three-day training camp, giving a distinctive allure to the event - a unique blend of future aspirations and two decades of wisdom.

Tracing the two decades

ECPYouth (European Christian Political Youth) is the youth wing of the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), connecting youth organizations from all over Europe.

Being the only European-level political youth movement with an explicit Christian-social view, ECPYouth works towards Christian democratic policies rooted in relational thinking.

Catholicity, dignity, and cooperation are the backbone of the European project we are trying to safeguard.

Over the last twenty years ECPYouth has grown from a small, enthusiastic group to a robust movement with decision-makers in the European, national, and local centers of power.

The Summer Schools, Winter Schools, regional conferences, and institutional study visits have become the foundation of organization where its members meet and harness political skills.

Young aspiring politicians, meanwhile, are likely to find their place at the year-long Christian Changemakers training, growing a new generation of impactful Christian politicians.

As a result, ECPYouth is an active voice, supporting its parliamentarians in their work protecting families, national sovereignty, and economic resilience.

What makes Europe Europe?

The two-decade anniversary couldn't have been a better time for ECPYouth to reflect on the enduring elements that define Europe.

The program has attracted the top academics and politicians, Philip Powel, Dr. Teuta Vodo, Klariska ten Napel, and Dr. Noemi Mena Montes, among others, to reflect on Europe’s unique identity, root ourselves in Jesus’s teaching, and delve into the complexities of EU accession.

The lectures have culminated in the opinionated writing and debate on “What makes Europe Europe?”.

Galvanizing on the fresh insights, intellectual and multicultural burst, ECPYouth has engaged in what it's best known for - honing new skills in practice and delivering tangible outputs.

“We are with the representatives of 18 different countries here. This is what makes ECPYouth so beautifully unique. You challenge yourself, step out of your comfort zone, and learn a bunch of new things, while feeling perfectly at home. What other political organization can boast this?”, shares one of the Summer School participants in the midst of the International Evening.

Unveiling the curtain of the future

The shared joy of such celebrations reminds us of Europe at its core - a shared tapestry of unique cultures and traditions, unified on the foundation of Jesus’s love.

ECPYouth keeps standing as a bastion of this vision. Wrapping up the 2024 Summer School, we are reunited as ever by our collective history and determination to walk a shared path, paved by God.

ECPYouth is now fully set for another twenty years, “moving the EU forward with our Christian faith, and faith in joint cooperation to shape the EU that we envision”.

Our Forward in Faith manifesto will open the curtain on which steps we take to achieve this pledge.

As we walk this path, the doors of ECPYouth are always open to those who are driven by God’s courage for a brighter tomorrow.

Valeriia Petrechkiv is the President of ECPYouth and a Master student at SciencesPo, Paris.